Twitter Chats and the evolution of Teacher Professional Development
Abstract: As various technologies become accessible to educational professionals, a new space is emerging for teachers to gather and connect with each other. Particularly, the social media landscape has options such as Twitter, where teachers can regularly connect with each other and their own chosen experts. In this paper we use data from #oklaed TwitterChats, to examine how social media is changing the practice of Teacher Professional Development (TPD). Specifically, we seek to find if Twitter offers an alternative space for TPD. Our findings indicate that the future of professional development in teaching and learning institutions may not hinge only on the institutions choosing when TPD will occur, but in finding ways to incorporate the way teachers use their own Professional Learning Network (PLN) as a source of TPD.
Presider: Joyce Pittman, Drexel University