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Social media for networking and participatory professional learning
McLoughlin, Catherine
McLoughlin, Catherine
Author
Abstract
There is widespread acceptance of the need for professional learning opportunities and support for teachers and for academics transitioning into the higher education workforce. In Australia and globally, social networking sites (SNS) provide teachers with formal and informal networking opportunities. While higher education institutions are responding to an everchanging digital environment, scholarly work aimed at understanding optimal use of, and interaction with new Web 2.0 capabilities is a pressing area of concern among academics. Limited studies are available on how and why teachers in higher education employ social networking tools to create learning networks, share professional ideas and build creative collegiality. This scoping review article investigates motivations for the adoption of SNS in higher education and the benefits and opportunities presented by social networking tools such as blogs and Twitter in teacher professional learning and practice. Results show that academics are interested in connecting with peers, sharing knowledge and networking in open participatory forums as means of building community and accessing resources. The findings indicate that the affordances of microblogging and SNS are valued by academics and that they appreciate the immediacy, relational aspects and interactions that expand their professional networks.
Keywords
informal learning, networking, Twitter, social networks, knowledge, sharing.
Date
2016
Type
Conference item
Journal
HEAd'16
Book
Volume
Issue
Page Range
461-471
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
Diamond Open Access.