Timing Is Everything: Comparing Synchronous and Asynchronous Modes of Twitter for Teacher Professional Learning

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Insights for In-Service Teacher Professional Development (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge)

Abstract

One understudied aspect of teachers’ use of Twitter for professional learning is differences between uses that are synchronous (i.e., immediate responses) and those that are asynchronous (i.e., delayed responses). This study helps to address this gap in the research by exploring how participation in one educational hashtag space on Twitter (#miched) differs between synchronous and asynchronous modes for teacher professional learning. We found clear differences in terms of the amount of activity, the content of the discourse, the levels of interaction between users, and the portals (e.g., hyperlinks or hashtags) used to enter the conversation; these differences suggest parallel social learning contexts within the #miched space. We discuss the implications of these findings for practitioners and researchers.

Authors

• Spencer Paul Greenhalgh, Michigan State University

• Bret Staudt Willet, Michigan State University

• Joshua Michael Rosenberg, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

• Mete Akcaoglu, Georgia Southern University

• Matthew J. Koehler, Michigan State University