Abstract:
There are increasing requirements for teachers to engage in and document their professional development. Linked to this, there are tighter regulations about what can count towards this professional development, and numerous groups that provide oversight of this, and the teaching profession as a whole, at systemic, state and national levels. When faced with this amount of regulation, it would be understandable if teachers were to lose interest in engaging with their peers in professional learning beyond the mandated requirements, especially considering ongoing concerns regarding workloads for teachers. However, despite this, numerous teachers across Australia are regularly engaging in voluntary and informal forms of professional development, often mediated through social media or internet-enabled platforms.
This paper analyses one such phenomena: #edureading. This is a loose network of Australian and international teachers who have used Twitter and Flip to critically examine research related to teaching over the last four years. The critical examination takes the form of individual reading of academic articles, discussion via a Twitter-based slow chat, as well as recording of video responses to prompts via Flip that are watched by other members of the #edureading group. Originally a small group, #edureading has now expanded to more than 500 members who regularly contribute, and includes participants from all over Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
The 15 most active members of #edureading were interviewed about their practices and how belonging to the group contributed to their development as educators. They were also asked to consider how this practice was different to other formal and non-formal professional development, and how the use of technology influenced their learning and participation. They identified the features of repeatability, the ability to follow their own interests, a flexible schedule and multiple means of engagement as being central to their ongoing involvement with the group and the value they derived from participation.
This ongoing research informs the start of a framework to reconceptualise teacher professional development that sekes to to take advantage of the affordances of social media and educational technology in order to provide a more 'balanced diet' for teachers than the current offerings.
This paper analyses one such phenomena: #edureading. This is a loose network of Australian and international teachers who have used Twitter and Flip to critically examine research related to teaching over the last four years. The critical examination takes the form of individual reading of academic articles, discussion via a Twitter-based slow chat, as well as recording of video responses to prompts via Flip that are watched by other members of the #edureading group. Originally a small group, #edureading has now expanded to more than 500 members who regularly contribute, and includes participants from all over Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
The 15 most active members of #edureading were interviewed about their practices and how belonging to the group contributed to their development as educators. They were also asked to consider how this practice was different to other formal and non-formal professional development, and how the use of technology influenced their learning and participation. They identified the features of repeatability, the ability to follow their own interests, a flexible schedule and multiple means of engagement as being central to their ongoing involvement with the group and the value they derived from participation.
This ongoing research informs the start of a framework to reconceptualise teacher professional development that sekes to to take advantage of the affordances of social media and educational technology in order to provide a more 'balanced diet' for teachers than the current offerings.