“You Could Use Twitter Like That?” Employing Twitter to Prepare 21st-Century Teachers

• In Event: How Teacher Preparation Is Being Transformed by Digital Technologies at an Urban Comprehensive College

Abstract

Objectives
Social networking sites have become part of our cultural milieu, functioning as the lived environments where people construct, articulate, and participate in the formation of their social realities. Yet, many teacher preparation programs are not equipping teacher candidates and teachers to engage youth in these digital settings (Johnson & Templeton, 2011). In an effort to prepare the next generation of teachers with the requisite skills and knowledge bases to work with 21st century learners, this presentation shares the results of a qualitative study that explored the benefits and limitations of using Twitter to augment the preparation of Masters teacher candidates.

Conceptual Framework
A conceptual framework that blends elements from Critical Educators (Howard, 2010; Nieto & McDonough, 2011) and Cultural-Historical Activity Theorists (Cole, 1996; Daniels, 2001) informed this study as it focused on the ways Twitter mediated emerging pedagogical beliefs, tools, and practices and the intended and unintended consequences of participation and interaction in this online community.

Methods
Three questions that guided this qualitative study: 1) How can Twitter be employed to augment the development of Masters teacher candidates? 2) What are the assessments of Masters teacher candidates and their use of Twitter as an instructional and learning tool?; 3) What are the intended and unintended consequences of implementing Twitter as part of teacher preparation? I employed an interpretative analysis (Amos, 2002) to examine the participation and interactions of Masters teacher candidates online, using other data sources to ensure validity of results.

Data Sources
Data were drawn from two comprehensive, concurrent studies over an 8-month period that explored how social networking sites mediated the development of a critical consciousness in future and current P-12 teachers. Both studies used a combination of student generated tweet threads (Greenhow and Gleason, 2012), journal reflections, and semi-structured interviews collected from 36 Masters teacher candidates enrolled in a teacher preparation program located in the northeastern part of the United States.

Results
Results from this study indicated that Masters teacher candidates found Twitter provided them with additional opportunities to develop and/ or extend emerging digital and online pedagogies. This development included challenging and affirming beliefs about P-12 learning and instruction, cultivating literacy instructional strategies and effective feedback techniques for English Language Arts classrooms, and embracing creative, technological practices to accomplish student-learning objectives. While positive, productive outcomes in using Twitter were reported by candidates, they also articulated levels of frustration associated with implementing this type of technology as part of the classroom environment in schools where the U.S. educational zeitgeist is embedded in constraining conceptions of learning and instruction.

Scholarly Significance
As the growth of social networking sites continues to spread across the social landscape of youth and young adults, it becomes increasingly important to consider and cultivate the potential these digital environments hold for learning and instruction. This study contributes to this evolving field, as teacher educators work towards ensuring that we have a population of teachers who can harness the possibilities within this online terrain. To do so is paramount for 21st century learning.

Author

• Jevon D. Hunter, SUNY - Buffalo State College