Examining the Virtual Diffusion of Educational Resources Across One- and Two-Mode Networks Over Time

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

Abstract

Teacherpreneurs take initiative to find, share, and/or sell materials or ideas related to their teaching practice. Over time, one may observe teachers’ resource exchanges across social media spaces. Both teachers’ physical and virtual social network ties may mediate one’s social capital and accrued resources.

This study examines how teacherpreneurial behavior differs across social networks within virtual spaces. We identify three related social contexts in which teachers may interact and exchange instructional online resources; teachers’ physical network, virtual networks, and common online resources accessed. Resources accessed are compared across network affiliations and relative to teachers’ local position.

Teacher’s instructional learning is situated in the social context to which they are exposed. Informal network ties among teachers may be developed through interactions across virtual and physical spaces, with one’s physical social network expanding into virtual spaces. (Baker-Doyle & Yoon, 2010; Frank, Zhao & Borman, 2004). Teachers may also meet online and connect with others who share similar interests and resources (Wellman, 2001). The virtual and physical ties teachers maintain facilitate the diffusion of knowledge across their social network (Wellman, 2004; Jimerson, 2014).

We use Frank’s (2006) clustering technique for two mode network data to identify teachers’ local positions in teacher-source affiliation networks. In addition, with time-ordered data on teacher’s resource sharing activities, we employ relational event modeling to estimate three types of network influences on teacherpreneurial behavior, their physical and virtual network, and local position in a teacher-source affiliation network.

Egocentric physical network data are collected through survey on early career teachers from three Midwestern states in the 2014-2015 school year, networks are mapped to virtual social networks observed within Pinterest. Using a sample of 6 early career teachers and their corresponding collegial nominations from three active social networks, we observe 26 teacherpreneurs on Pinterest, identifying the online math sources teachers share, patterns in the online resources they access, and potential relationships between resources shared and network ties.

We observe 26 teachers share 977 unique online sources, of which 209 sources are shared by more than one teacher within our sample. In the affiliation network, we identify 13 clusters containing teachers and common sources. Within cluster, we find patterns in shared sources by network ties in both physical and virtual networks, and by one’s local position in the affiliation network. Teachers sharing a physical network are observed sharing virtual networks directly and found to be part of the same local position across two-mode sources. Moreover, teachers who do not share the same social network or school, yet work within the same district share local positions through two-mode sources. Therefore, though teachers may not connect informally, membership within a district seems to impact online resources accessed.

Descriptive evidence indicates differential access to online resources mediated by informal physical and virtual networks as well as one’s local district. Various social contexts may impact teacherpreneurial behavior and the instructional resources within classrooms. An increasing rise in virtual spaces suggests teachers’ informal networks will persists and be an important lever for knowledge diffusion and education reform.

Authors

• Yuqing Liu, Michigan State University

• Kaitlin T Torphy, Michigan State University

• Sihua Hu, Michigan State University

• Zixi Chen, Michigan State University

• Kacy Martin, Michigan State University