Creating Community: School Leaders Use of Reddit to Build Professional Learning Networks

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: School Leadership: Looking at History and Innovating for the Future (Table 1)

Abstract

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand how the use of Reddit could support school leaders in cultivating a professional learning network among their peers. An online community consisting of individuals with similar experiences has the potential to support a leader’s call to make timely and important decisions. Data was derived from 46 practicing and preservice school leaders in graduate educational administration classes at a large, Midwestern university. Findings revealed that school leaders 1) are willing to engage in online communities, 2) are willing to embrace the use of technology if provided exposure to such communities, and 3) are more likely to interact openly with colleagues in online discussions versus with their peers in more traditional settings.

Authors

• Dustin Wade Miller, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Shantanu Tilak, Chesapeake Bay Academy
  Presenting Author

• Marvin Evans, Coastal Carolina University
  Presenting Author

• Michael Glassman, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author