Exploring Higher Education Professionals' Use of Twitter For
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Exploring higher education professionals’ use of Twitter for learning. Muireann Broe O’Keeffe September 2016 Institute of Education, University College London Doctor in Education Declaration I hereby declare that, except where explicit attribution is made, the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Word count (exclusive of appendices and references but including figures, footnotes, and tables): 45,227. Signed ..................................................... The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. ii Acknowledgments I want to give special thanks to those who have supported me through this study. I would like to express gratitude to my supervisors Professor Norbert Pachler and Dr Gwyneth Hughes for their feedback and supervision during the process of the EdD. I thank them for the patience with many drafts and musings along the way and their constructive questioning which enabled me to develop insights into the topics of this research. My heartfelt thanks goes to other researchers in this field who openly share new knowledge in the area and whose online contributions, comments and discussion on Twitter and blogs supported my critical thinking in this study. I especially want to thank Catherine Cronin for her interest, encouragement and care provided as a fellow researcher in this field of study. To my parents, siblings and wider family who supported me with time, space, patience and nourishing food when I needed it. I am also grateful to my wider network of friends who have supported and listened to my EdD ramblings and frustrations along the way. To the former students of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Masters in Applied eLearning programme who agreed to participate in this study. I am very grateful to them for their openness and their time given for interviews. I am grateful for the support provided by those I have worked with during this journey, namely staff of the Dublin Institute of Technology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), and Dublin City University (DCU). Finally, ‘go raibh míle maith agaibh’ to those of you who read many drafts of my writing and for providing useful comments and suggestions to help clarify the findings of my dissertation. iii Abstract This study draws on the responses of seven higher education professionals working in various roles in higher education in Ireland. Individual case studies illustrate participants’ use of the social networking service, Twitter, for professional learning. Cross-case analysis is used to highlight similarities and differences among cases. There are increasing pressures in higher education to professionalise teaching to provide excellent teaching to students. Opportunities for formal learning exist for those who teach and support teaching but recently online social networks have emerged as ways of accessing informal professional learning opportunities through sharing and discussing practice online. However this study calls into question the widely accepted notion that Twitter inherently enables social learning and thus enables professional learning. Wenger’s (1998) community of practice model, which proposes that learning occurs in relationships between people and that mutually negotiated activities contribute to identity construction, was used to problematise how professionals used Twitter for learning. White and Le Cornu’s (2011) Visitor and Resident typology helped identify online engagement of participants on Twitter and highlighted differences in social presence and participation. While all participants recognised Twitter as valuable for informal learning, what was most interesting about findings was that Visitor participants experienced barriers inhibiting them from establishing social presence and participating in social activities on Twitter. These factors included the capacity to participate in social networking activities, issues of confidence and vulnerability, and absence of belonging in online spaces. These findings have implications for those who advocate online social networks for learning and professional development and this study argues that support is needed for higher education professionals in using public online social spaces, such as Twitter. Such support should include critical thinking and dialogue about the complexity of online social spaces coupled with identity development work, while building digital capabilities of professionals. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... iii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents........................................................................................................ v List of Tables .............................................................................................................. ix List of Figures .............................................................................................................. x Glossary of terminology ............................................................................................ xi Reflection on Learning ............................................................................................ xiv Chapter 1 Introduction and Rationale ...................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Professionalisation of teaching within higher education .............................. 1 1.3 Flexible opportunities for professional learning ........................................... 3 1.4 My professional context .............................................................................. 4 1.5 Social networks and Twitter for learning ...................................................... 6 1.6 Research focus ............................................................................................. 7 1.7 Concepts underpinning this study ................................................................. 8 1.8 Summary and thesis structure .................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 Engaging with relevant literature ....................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Engaging with the literature ....................................................................... 11 2.3 Exploring professionalism.......................................................................... 12 2.4 What is teaching professionalism in contemporary higher education? . 13 2.5 Professionalism and accountability ........................................................... 15 2.6 New ways of working in higher education ................................................ 15 2.7 Developing teaching professionalism in higher education ...................... 16 2.8 Becoming a professional ............................................................................ 17 2.9 Learning professionals ............................................................................... 19 2.10 Professionals in a digital age ..................................................................... 20 2.11 Online social networking in HE - not yet fully understood .................... 22 2.12 Social networking for professional learning ............................................ 25 2.13 Attentive professionalism on online social networks ............................. 28 2.14 Social Networks: developing capabilities ................................................. 30 2.14.1 Developing networked professional identities ................................. 31 2.15 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 33 Chapter 3 Learning as a professional in digital times: theories and concepts 35 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 35 3.2 Learning and professional practice .......................................................... 35 3.3 Professional learning as informal learning .............................................. 37 3.4 Social learning ........................................................................................... 38 3.5 An approach to social learning: Communities of Practice (CoP) ........... 39 3.5.1 Participation, belonging and identity in social learning ...................... 41 3.6 Social learning in online spaces ................................................................ 43 3.7 Modes of online participation: Visitors and Residents ........................... 47 3.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 48 Chapter 4 Research design ................................................................................. 50 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 50 v 4.2 Aims and rationale .................................................................................... 50 4.2.1 Research questions ................................................................................ 50 4.3 Research Approach....................................................................................