You are here:

PK-12 Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Professional Learning Networks
PROCEEDING

, Elon University, United States ; , Texas Woman's University, United States ; , University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, in Savannah, GA, United States ISBN 978-1-939797-13-1 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Chesapeake, VA

Full Text

Abstract

Adapting and responding to the present era’s rapid technological and educational change requires educators to possess new knowledge, skills, and dispositions. With dissatisfaction regarding traditional teacher professional development (PD) well documented, educators have increasingly used digital sites to cultivate and extend Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) in order to learn and improve their practice. While many educators claim to benefit from PLNs, much remains unknown about how teachers conceive of PLNs and what they learn from them. In this paper we report the findings of a qualitative study in which we investigated teachers’ understandings of PLNs through the analysis of survey data from 732 participants in Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade settings. The majority of respondents described multifaceted networks that incorporated a variety of different technologies and people, and many PLNs were described in terms of a combination of both online and offline elements.

Citation

Carpenter, J., Krutka, D. & Trust, T. (2016). PK-12 Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Professional Learning Networks. In G. Chamblee & L. Langub (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1936-1942). Savannah, GA, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved December 5, 2019 from .

© 2016 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

References

View References & Citations Map
  1. Andrews, D., Nonnecke, B., & Preece, J. (2003). Electronic survey methodology: A case study in reaching hard-toinvolve Internet users. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 16(2), 185-210.
  2. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
  3. Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain. Educational researcher, 33(8), 3-15.
  4. Boston Consulting Group. (2014). Teachers know best: Teachers’ views on professional development. Retrieved from: http://collegeready.gatesfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Gates-PDMarketResearchDec5.pdf
  5. Carpenter, J.P. (2015). Preservice Teachers’ Microblogging: Professional Development via Twitter. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 15(2), 209-234.
  6. Carpenter, J.P., & Krutka, D.G. (2014). How and why educators use Twitter: A survey of the field. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 46(4), 414-434.
  7. Coutinho, C.P., & Lisbôa, E.S. (2013). Social networks as spaces for informal teacher professional development: challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 9(2), 199-211.
  8. Desimone, L. (2009). Improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: Toward better conceptualizations and measures. Educational Researcher, 38(3), 181–199.
  9. El-Hani, C.N., & Greca, I.M. (2013). ComPratica: A virtual community of practice for promoting biology teachers’ professional development in Brazil. Research in Science Education, 43(4), 1327-1359.
  10. Forte, A., Humphreys, M., & Park, T. (2012). Grassroots professional development: How teachers use Twitter. Presented at the Sixth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, 2012, Dublin, Ireland.
  11. Garet, M.S., Porter, A.C., Desimone, L., Birman, B.F., & Yoon, K.S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915-945.
  12. Gesthuizen, R.J. (2012). Why build your own PLN? Proceedings from ACEC2012: Australian Computers in Education Conference. Perth, Australia. Retrieved from http://acec2012.acce.edu.au/why-build-your-ownprofessionallearning-network.
  13. Hur, J.W., & Brush, T.A. (2009). Teacher participation in online communities: Why do teachers want to participate in self-generated online communities of K-12 teachers? Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(3), 279–303. Doi:10.1080/15391523.2009.10782532
  14. Krutka, D.G., & Carpenter, J.P. (2016). Why social media should have a place in schools. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 52(1), 6-10.
  15. Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
  16. Macià, M., & García, I. (2016). Informal online communities and networks as a source of teacher professional development: A review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 291-307.
  17. Matzat, U. (2013). Do blended virtual learning communities enhance teachers' professional development more than purely virtual ones? A large scale empirical comparison. Computers& Education, 60(1), 40-51.
  18. OECD. (2014). TALIS 2013 results. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-AssetManagement/oecd/education/talis-2013-results_9789264196261-en#page1
  19. Opfer, V.D., & Pedder, D. (2011). Conceptualizing teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 376-407.
  20. Risser, H.S. (2013). Virtual induction: A novice teacher’s use of Twitter to form an informal mentoring network. Teaching& Teacher Education, 35, 25-33.
  21. Ronfeldt, M., Farmer, S.O., McQueen, K., & Grissom, J.A. (2015). Teacher collaboration in instructional teams and student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 52(3), 475-514.
  22. Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage.
  23. Scholastic (2014). Primary sources: America’s teachers on teaching in an era of change (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/primarysources/PrimarySources3rdEditionWithAppendix.pdf Timperley, H., & Alton-Lee, A. (2008). Reframing teacher professional learning: An alternative policy approach to strengthening valued outcomes for diverse learners. Review of Research in Education, 32(1), 328-369.
  24. Trust, T. (2013). Beyond school walls: teachers’ use of professional learning networks to receive help on a global scale. International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 1(3), 270-286.
  25. Trust, T. (2015). Deconstructing an online community of practice: teachers’ actions in the edmodo math subject community. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 31(2), 73-81.
  26. Van den Bergh, L., Ros, A., & Beijaard, D. (2014). Improving teacher feedback during active learning: Effects of a professional development program. American Educational Research Journal, 51(4), 772-809.
  27. Webster-Wright, A. (2009). Reframing professional development through understanding authentic professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 702-739.
  28. Wenger, E., Trayner, B., & De Laat, M. (2011). Promoting and assessing value creation in communities and networks: A conceptual framework. The Netherlands: Ruud de Moor Centrum. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/documents/Wenger_Trayner_DeLaat_Value_creation.pdf.
  29. Zuidema, L.A. (2012). Making Space for Informal Inquiry Inquiry as Stance in an Online Induction Network. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(2), 132-146.

These references have been extracted automatically and may have some errors. Signed in users can suggest corrections to these mistakes.

Suggest Corrections to References

Also Read

Related Collections