"Life Will Eventually Get Back to Normal": School Districts' Twitter Use in Response to COVID-19

• In Event: Technology as an Agent of Change in Teaching and Learning SIG Poster Session

Abstract

COVID-19 introduced challenges and opportunities for school districts to respond in creative, responsive ways. In this study, we sought to understand districts’ communicated responses to the pandemic through a sample of social media posts from more than 57,000 tweets by over 1,000 school district accounts across the United States (U.S.). Using a qualitative analysis of the themes of districts’ posts over nearly two months, we found that the general tone of district tweets was optimistic and kept students as a central focus. We discuss our findings in light of research on the roles of social media in education and highlight future directions around how disparities in educational opportunities may be reflected in school districts’ social media posts.

Authors

• Esther Michela, Kennedy Krieger Institute

• Joshua Michael Rosenberg, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

• Omiya Sultana

• Macy Burchfield, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

• Tayla Thomas, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

• Royce Kimmons, Brigham Young University