Social Media: Interflections That Explore Changing Practice Over Time

• In Event: Researching Innovative Pedagogies in Physical Education

Abstract

The purpose is to present social media as a new qualitative research method that can be used to generate data over time. From 1864 interactions over two years, between teachers and a researcher, social media is positioned as a form of interflection – a hybrid of interviews and reflection. Social media created a purposeful communicative space that extended the data obtained from within the school context. The use of social media is positioned as authentic and represents an activist approach, in as much that social media emerged as a method and teachers were willing to engage with social media due to convenience. Therefore, social media can be used as a method to strengthen the quality and rigor of research.

Authors

• Victoria Anne Goodyear, University of Bedfordshire

• Ashley Casey, University of Bedfordshire

• David Kirk, University of Strathclyde