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Digital Library Directory > The Future of Education 13th Edition 2023
The Future of Education 13th Edition 2023

The Use of Social Media as a Tool for Building Teacher Expertise through Bridging and Bonding

Amanda Shuford Mayeaux; Jennifer Bihm Dixon

Abstract

For over two decades, social media has increasingly become a powerful tool for professional learning for teachers due to the ability for teachers to bridge and bond across the world (Kelly & Antonio, 2016; Marcia & Garcia, 2016; Trust, Krutka, & Carpenter, 2016).  The use of social media and other technology tools has allowed teachers to develop professional networks to enhance their practice regardless of location and proximity with peers in such a network. Understanding how and why teachers who pursue expertise may bridge with peers in informally developed online learning communities is important in our understanding of how teachers form social capital through social media. The collective case study design was chosen to explore how teachers use social media to bond and bridge to create social capital.  The qualitative collective case study focused on the social media presence of teachers followed by others for their teaching expertise. Three research questions were formed to drive the study. The questions were directly related to questions suggested in multiple studies to better understand teachers’ professional learning activities in informally developed online learning communities, as well as more formal groups such as professional learning communities (Lantz-Andersson, Lundin, Selwyn, 2018; van Brommel, Randahl, Liljekvist, & Ruthven, 2020).  Findings demonstrated teachers are savvy in how they use social media to increase their own expertise. They are wise and efficient consumers, who engage for specific reasons. Additionally, there was a surprising lack of community built around platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. The most interesting element is the monetization of their knowledge the teachers bring to the platforms.

 

 

Please do not use headers and footnotes.

 

Keywords

Social Media, Expert Teachers, Professional Kinship, Bridging and Bonding

 

References

Kelly, N., & Antonio, A. (2016). Teacher peer support in social network sites. Teaching and Teacher Education, 56, 138–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.02.007">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.02.007

 

Lantz-Andersson, A., Peterson, L., Hillman, T., Lundin, M., & Bergviken Rensfeldt, A. (2017).  Sharing repertoires in a teacher professional Facebook group. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 15, 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.07.001">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.07.001

 

Lantz-Andersson, A., Lundin, M., & Selwyn, N. (2018). Twenty years of online teacher communities: A systematic review of formally organized and informally-developed professional learning groups. Teaching and Teacher Education, 75, 302–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.07.008">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.07.008

 

Macià, M., & García, I. (2016). Informal online communities and networks as a source of teacher professional development: A review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 291–307.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.01.021">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.01.021

 

Trust, T., Krutka, D. G., & Carpenter, J. P. (2016). “Together we are better”: Professional learning networks for teachers. Computers & Education, 102, 15–34.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.06.007">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.06.007

 

van Bommel, J., Randahl, A. C., Liljekvist, Y., & Ruthven, K. (2020). Tracing teachers’ transformation of knowledge in social media. Teaching and Teacher Education, 87, 102958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102958">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102958

 

 


Publication date: 2023/06/30
ISBN: 979-12-80225-59-7
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