15 Years of Research on Preservice Teachers' Learning With Social Media: Insights on the State of the Field

• In Event: A Multifaceted Perspective on Current Approaches for High-Quality Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

Today, half the world’s population use social media to find people and resources for information and connection across geographical and cultural borders (Statista, 2021). Given these trends educators must bridge cloud to class, developing network literacy across physical classroom boundaries, distributing quality instructional resources within changing organizational contexts, and advancing teachers’ professional knowledge base.

Purpose. This paper provides a systematic review of fifteen years of educational research from around the world to present the state-of-the-field of teacher preparation. Specifically, the paper reviews empirical research to examine how the next generation of K-12 educators: pre-service teachers, perceive and use social media for pedagogy and professional development.

Perspectives. This work extends previous reviews that focused only on one social media (e.g., Facebook) or on studies concerning college students, not K-12 pre-service teachers or their students (e.g., Manca & Ranieri, 2013). In response to the 2022 AERA Call for Submissions, we review research on preservice teachers’ learning with social media to outline an agenda for future research, methodological techniques, and theory-building needed to advance the “full range of knowledges, skills, and mindsets required to thrive in the 21st century era” (p. 1).

Methods and Data. Following standards for quality in systematic literature reviews (Machi & McEvoy, 2016; Moher et al., 2009), we outline categories to which the reviewer must attend in conducting a review: coverage (having criteria for inclusion/exclusion); synthesis (summary, analysis, synthesis of selected literature); and significance (discussion of implications of existing research). A first inclusion criterion was that an article had been published between 2007-2021. A second criterion was that the article had been published in peer-reviewed journals dedicated mostly or entirely to the topic (e.g., educational technology journals) or in high quality general education journals (e.g., Review of Education Research).
Using four major educational research databases searches and table-of-content scans covering over 100 journals, we identified 1,282 empirical articles. Two raters screened these articles based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria. To establish the quality of selected articles, empirical articles needed to demonstrate: clear statement of research questions; claims and interpretations grounded in evidence and theory; and systematic documentation of procedures (Freeman et al., 2007). Our scan of selected journals and database queries yielded a total of 55 empirical peer-reviewed journal articles deemed appropriate for review.

Results. Three themes were evident in the reviewed studies; the studies focused on: pre-service teachers’ perceptions of and motivations for using social media (or not) in their student teaching; pre-service teachers’ development of content knowledge, reflective practices and informal professional learning networks (e.g., peer-to-peer and mentoring networks) via social media; and the design of formal, social media-enabled communities of practice.

Scholarly Significance. This review paper advances understanding of teacher professional development possibilities that utilize social media affordances for informal online learning and specifically addresses early career educators’ needs and practices. Implications for future research and teacher preparation initiatives are discussed.

Authors

• Christine M. Greenhow, Michigan State University

• Emilia Askari, Michigan State University

• Sarah Galvin, C3 Industries

• Diana L. Brandon, Florida State University