Twitter: Ego boosting echo chamber or learning tool?

Twitter: ego boosting echo chamber or learning tool?

Muireann O’Keeffe DCU @muireannOK#edtech16 May 2016

Education Developer DCUEdD student University College LondonTwitter for Professional Learning

What you can do for me …..• Ask questions• Provide suggestions

• Or tweet @muireannOK

Benefits of Twitter Top Tool

for Learning

Collaboration & learning

Supports sharing of practice

Builds connections

Keep up-to-date

Twitter for Learning?

Gerstein (2011) claims that Twitter is a professional learning tool

Lack of research literature….

Lack of EvidenceResearch evidence of benefits of Twitter = SparseTwitter criticised as a self-promoting, ego-boosting echo chamber

(Crump, 2014) (Lupton, 2014)

The Gap• What is lacking in the research

literature is an understanding of how Twitter is being used as a tool for professional learning

(Gerstein, Veletsianos, Lupton)

• How is Twitter influencing learning particularly of staff in higher education regarding learning & teaching practices?

Research Needed

Calls for deep and rich qualitative research on the use of social networking within higher education.

(Lupton 2014) (Veletsianos, 2012)

Relevant Concepts & Theories

Learning is social

Social constructivism

Socio-cultural theory

Wenger (1998) CoP

model

community

practice

meaning

identity

Concepts that underpin online informal professional learning

Concepts that underpin online informal professional learning

Wenger (1998) CoP

model

community

practice

meaning

identity

Factors for informal

professional learning (Eraut,

2010)

Challenge and Support

Confidence

Commitment

Personal Agency

Wenger (1998) CoP

model

community

practice

meaning

identity

Factors for informal

professional learning

(Eraut, 2010)

Challenge and Support

Confidence

Commitment

Personal Agency

Online as a space/place (White & Le Cornu, 2011; Gee, 2005)

Wenger (1998) CoP

model

community

practice

meaning

identity

Factors for informal

professional learning

(Eraut, 2010)

Challenge and Support

Confidence

Commitment

Personal Agency

Online Residents online

(Twittersphere)

Online Visitors

Wenger (1998) CoP

model

community

practice

meaning

identity

Factors for informal

professional learning

(Eraut, 2010)

Challenge and Support

Confidence

Commitment

Personal Agency

Residents- Participation

Motivation for this Research • I was encouraging Twitter

as a learning tool with higher education staff

• Curiosity to explore Twitter for learning with higher education staff

• Is learning occurring? How?

Research Questions 1. What are the activities of higher

education professionals using the social networking service Twitter?

2. How are activities on the social networking service Twitter supporting the learning of these higher education professionals?

3. What are the barriers and enablers that exist to these higher education professionals in engaging in learning activities on Twitter?

Case Study & Participants• Group of Irish

higher education professionals (8)

• Lecturers, learning technologists, academic developers

• Twitter users

Data Collection & Analysis• Twitter – Data Harvest– TAGS explorer (Hawskey 2014)

• Follow-up interviews– Semi-structured – Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006)

• Data analysis revealed enablers and barriers for professionals in using Twitter for learning.

Findings: Activities

Visitors• Information

gathering

Residents• Connecting

and interacting w/ other professionals

So What?• Professionals learn in

social contexts• Online is a connected

informal space for learning (Hayes & Gee)

• So why did only 2 participants show strong evidence of social network activities (social learning) on Twitter?

4

2

2

Visitor Mix of approaches

Resident

VisitorsI don’t have the

bravery ( confidence)

I’m not ready

I’m not confident about it being

massively open

I’m hyper sensitive of people judging

my comments

I would agonise over tweets for too

long

colleagues who know a lot more’

... Because people I subscribe to are kind of fairly high up...

ResidentsThere is a tendency

for group think

It’s all about having the correct etiquette and just

being a nice person I think confidence is

a huge issue.

It’s a subject I feel very confident in

you have the freedom to say ‘actually this is what

I believe’ and maybe I don’t know ‘I’m happy to be proved wrong

I suppose people would be perhaps cautious that they may say something

silly, misrepresent the institution, misrepresent

themselves

Capacity to participate Visitors Traits Resident traits

• Lack of Time• Vulnerability • Caution • Not ready• Professional confidence • More knowledgable others• Hierarchy

• Easy to use in timely ways• Professional confidence • Establishing a social presence• Playfulness• Understanding the rules of

engagement • Engaging in critical discussions • Flat structure of Twitter

Emotional barriers• Participants had an emotional response to

using Twitter

• Trust: important in CoP’s – Wenger (1998)• Confidence

“Much learning at work occurs through doing things and being proactive in seeking learning opportunities, and this requires confidence” (Eraut 2004)

Professional confidence

Identity

Belonging and

participation

ResidentsConfident

Social networking

Establishing connectionsCollaborations

Growth in professional

identify

Visitors Confident

Social networking

Establishing connectionscollaborations

Growth in professional

identify

Complexity

• Findings show the complexity of professional learning in online public spaces such as Twitter

• While participants were technically competent using Twitter, ‘visitor’ participants’ sense of belonging and identity in the digital space perhaps needs further development.

Implications of findings • Implications for academic

developers and learning technologists – especially if we continue to advocate Twitter or other open public social networks

• We need to support HE staff more in online identity development (and possibly other digital literacies)

Duty of Care?How are we involved in protecting people from that gap?(Stewart 2016)

Veletsianos: Care and vulnerability online (2014)

• 10 days of Twitter etc.

• Worthwhile but…What of: Awareness raising, discussing pitfalls, identity development, confidence building….

Twitter support

Thank you!Feedback & questions…

Muireann O’Keeffe

@muireannOKopenuplearning.wordpress.com/ http://www.slideshare.net/muir31

References • Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative

Research in Psychology, 3 (2). pp. 77-101. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/11735 • Crump, H. (2014, October 31). My Open Tour: a critical turn. Retrieved November 3, 2014

from Learningcreep: http://helencrump.net/2014/10/31/my-open-tour-a-critical-turn/• Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. Oxon: Routledge.• Gerstein, J. (2011). The Use of Twitter for Professional Growth and Development.

International Journal on E-Learning , 10 (3), 273-276.• Hart, J. (2015, March 31). Twitter for Learning: The Past, Present and Future. Retrieved

April 20, 2015 from Learning in the Social Workplace: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/2015/03/31/twitter-for-learning-the-past-present-and-future/

• Hawskey, M. (2014) Available from https://tags.hawksey.info/. • Lupton, D. (2014). ‘Feeling Better Connected’: Academics’ Use of Social Media. News &

Media Research Centre, University of Canberra. Canberra: University of Canberra.• Seely Brown, J., & Thomas, D. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the

Imagination for a World of Constant Change. Copyright by Thomas & Seely Brown.• Veletsianos, G. (2012). Higher Education Scholars’ Participation and Practices on Twitter.

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning , 28 (4), 336-349.