Share Paper: Professional Learning Networks for Pre-Service Teachers: A Social Network Analysis of a Program-Wide Teacher Education Twitter Hashtag

1. Jeffrey Carpenter, Elon University, United States
2. Scott Morrison, Elon University, United States
3. Joshua Rosenberg, University of Tennessee, United States
4. Katrice Hawthorne, Elon University, United States

Abstract: This article explores one teacher education program’s use of a program-wide Twitter hashtag as a space in which to help pre-service teachers (PSTs) build their professional learning networks. After describing context around the hashtag’s use, we use descriptive and social network analysis methods to analyze a data set of more than 49,000 tweets sent over five years. We describe the nature of the traffic associated with the Twitter hashtag, the users who contributed to that traffic, and the interactions that occurred among those users. The hashtag facilitated opportunities for PSTs to observe and interact with peers, alumni, faculty, and various ...