Running head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER Professional Development Using Twitter A Dissertation submitted by Trish Wallinger to College of Saint Mary in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION With an emphasis on Educational Leadership This Dissertation has been accepted for the faculty of College of Saint Mary by: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 2 We hereby certify that this Dissertation, submitted by Patricia A. Wallinger, conforms to acceptable standards and fully fulfills the Dissertation requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education from College of Saint Mary Merryellen Towey-Schulz, Ph.D. Committee Chair Melanie K. Felton, Ph.D. Committee Member Barbara Schweiger, Ph.D. Committee Member PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 3 Copyright © 2016 Patricia Wallinger PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 4 Dedication Page This work is dedicated to the teachers in my life. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 5 Acknowledgement Page Thanks and acknowledgement to Merryellen Towey-Schulz for her support and advice. Her seminar kept me going and lifted me up when I needed encouragement. Thank you, also, to the rest of my committee, Dr. Melanie Felton and Dr. Barbara Schweiger, two very resilient and strong women. I am deeply grateful for your insight and suggestions. A very special thank you to my extraordinary family. Ted, my patient and understanding husband, you have always encouraged me to follow my heart and pursue my dreams. Katie and Emily, my beautiful daughters, I am so blessed to be your mom. I am proud of the independent minded women you are. I am at the finish line because all three of you stepped in and gave me the time to work on this project. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 6 Abstract Teacher professional development has the power to affect day-to-day educational practice. Every school district wrestles with planning strategically for the expenditure of funds to improve student learning through curriculum, methodology, and personnel. With the largest portion of the budget being spent on personnel, developing teachers and staff professionally will always be a priority. Taking into consideration the nature of adult learners, changes in educational and technological resources, and new literacies, professional development has already become an area ripe for change. The purpose of this case study was to explore whether a Twitter users group, created as a teacher-to-teacher network for the purpose of real-time, asynchronous communication, facilitated professional development by a group of fourteen teachers in various school districts who participated in an independent Twitter forum. Through analysis of tweeted commentary and interviews, this dissertation investigates: teacher’s attitudes about Twitter for professional development; the uses of Twitter to share experiences, give advice, share lessons, and recommend apps; collaboration related to the use of Twitter; and the idea that reflection is an important part of the professional development process. It was the conclusion of the researcher that collaborative, immediate, and interactive methods more clearly aligned with a school district’s goal of providing professional learning opportunities for teachers as adult learners in the most efficient and meaningful ways. Findings indicated that future professional development program designs should include learner directed, virtual formats through the use of social media platforms. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 7 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 7 List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 11 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... 12 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ 13 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 14 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................. 14 Background and Rationale ........................................................................................................ 15 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................... 20 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 22 Definitions of Terms ................................................................................................................. 22 Assumption, Limitation, Delimitation ...................................................................................... 24 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...................................................................... 27 Historical Perspective ............................................................................................................... 27 Malcolm Knowles’ Theory of Adult Learning with TPACK ................................................... 28 Adult learners and the need to know. .................................................................................... 31 Self-directed learning. ........................................................................................................... 33 Experiential learning. ............................................................................................................ 35 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 8 Readiness to learn. ................................................................................................................ 38 Problem-centeredness of learning. ........................................................................................ 39 Internal motivation to learn. .................................................................................................. 42 Professional Development Reform ............................................................................................... 43 Coaching ................................................................................................................................... 47 Collaborative Communities ...................................................................................................... 49 Professional Learning Communities ......................................................................................... 49 New Literacies .......................................................................................................................... 53 Problem-Based Learning .......................................................................................................... 55 Leveraging Technology Resources ........................................................................................... 57 Social Networking .................................................................................................................... 59 Wikis ......................................................................................................................................... 63 Micro-blogging (or Twitter) ..................................................................................................... 64 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 69 Research design ........................................................................................................................ 69 Participants and Setting............................................................................................................. 71 Procedure .................................................................................................................................. 72 Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 73 TPACK Framework Workshop goals and objectives ............................................................... 75 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT USING TWITTER 9 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 76 Data Quality Measures .............................................................................................................. 77 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 78 Delimitations ............................................................................................................................. 78 Summary ..................................................................................................................................