Beyond Bans: Factors Influencing Teachers’ Social Media Selection for Language Teaching and Its Implications for TPACK in Restrictive Contexts

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 9:45am
  In Poster Session: Diverse Learners and Inclusive Teaching Practices

Abstract

This study investigates the factors influencing Russian foreign language teachers’ selection of specific social media platforms for teaching in a context of state-imposed restrictions. Drawing on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, the study highlights how platform choices are shaped by a combination of pedagogical goals, technological affordances, and contextual limitations. Through qualitative case studies and thematic analysis of interviews and digital artifacts, the research reveals that teachers adaptively navigate bans using workarounds and platform-specific strategies. Findings demonstrate how teachers’ decisions expand the TPACK model, particularly its contextual dimension (XK), by illustrating how educators align personal beliefs, student needs, and institutional constraints with social media’s pedagogical potential in digitally constrained environments.

Author

• Aisel Akhmedova, Michigan State University