Virtual Social Networks and Social Media: Shaping Teaching, Learning, and Policy Discourse

• In Event: 66.040 - Virtual Social Networks and Social Media: Shaping Teaching, Learning, and Policy Discourse

Abstract

This symposium focuses on the educational activities happening within social media sites online. We present the state-of-the-field on interactions within virtual spaces and teaching and learning in and out of school, examining the virtual social networks of teachers and educators in two popular social media platforms—Pinterest and Twitter. Paper results demonstrate how knowledge, resources, and social capital diffuse across virtual networks within a particular social media site, and how participants’ behaviors in virtual spaces shape their conceptualization of teaching, learning, and education policy conversations. Finally, we discuss how ones’ physical networks relate directly and indirectly to teaching knowledge and resource diffusion.

Authors

• Christine M. Greenhow, Michigan State University

• Emilia Askari, Michigan State University