#Adjunct and #AltAc Empowerment: Using Twitter to Foster Online Learner Community in a Shifting Higher Education -- 4th International Academic Identities Conference 2014 Collingwood College, Durham University, UK July 8-9, 2014

1. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
#Adjunct and #AltAc Empowerment:
Using Twitter to Foster Online Learner
Community in a Shifting Higher Education
Jeffrey M. Keefer
New York University, USA
4th
International Academic Identities Conference 2014
Collingwood College, Durham University, UK
July 8-9, 2014

2. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Who uses Twitter? Why (not)? How?

3. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Higher Education (HE) is changing!

4. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Doctoral studies does not guarantee
a full-time academic position.

5. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
More doctorally prepared candidates than jobs =
University hiring shifts = Reliance on adjunct,
contingent, casual, or part-timers.

6. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Why pay benefits or have troublesome
long-term contracts when it is less
expensive to buy when needed and let go
when unnecessary?

7. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
What does this all mean for those who have
committed many years of their lives to
engage in doctoral work, hoping for a
permanent academic appointment that will
increasingly become a fleeting dream?

8. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Screaming in a 20-Mile Zone?

9. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
How manage from a PhD worker’s perspective?

10. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Full-time HE instructors is a cost, one of
many, that needs to be managed to
maximize return. Alas . . .

11. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Those marginalized in higher education
systems can feel alone and powerless.
Why not network with one another for the
support, ideas, and sharing of resources
by those who need it
for those who need it?

12. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Networked Learning
“Learning and teaching carried out largely via
the Internet/Web which emphasizes dialogic
learning, collaborative and cooperative
learning, group work, interactions with on-line
materials, and knowledge production”
(McConnell, Hodgson, & Dirckinck-Holmdeld, 2012, p. 11).
Communities of Practice
Communities of practice are groups of people
who share a concern or a passion for
something they do and learn how to do it
better as they interact regularly.
(Wenger, 2012, p. 1)

13. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Twitter is used in
courses and by
academic institutions,
and its growth as
related to learner
support is only
increasing.

14. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
How can this educational use expand
to help those who teach as well, or
at least those who want to teach in a
full-time, regular capacity?

15. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
It is in higher education hash tags < # > that
informal communities develop, where new
and unexpected academic identities
may be known.

16. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
#adjunct (adjunct, part-time, sessional, contingent instructors)
#AdjunctChat (adjuncts who discuss set topics each week)
#AltAc (alternative academic work)
#PostAC (those who left FT HE teaching and research)
#ECRchat (early career researchers)
#ScholarSunday (suggesting scholarly academics to follow)
#PhDChat (those on the road to a PhD)

17. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
#adjuncts
#auscasual
#auscasuals
#AdjunctBragging
#NotYourAdjunctSidekick
#adjunctivitis
#HigherEd
#IvoryTower
#K12
#dreamers
#undocumented
#WeAreAllInThisTogether
#adjunctnation
#academicfreedom
#aaup
#badmin
#research
#phdforum
#AcWri
#digilit
#nerdland
#scotus
#affirmativeaction
#equity
#cocal
#cocalXI
#madjunct
#withaphd
#phd
#postphd
#phdforum
#contingent

18. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
Next Steps:
What value do you gain in using Twitter to
network or collaborate in your work in
higher education?
How do you use Twitter tags to network or
collaborate?

19. Jeffrey M. Keefer ~ @JeffreyKeefer ~ #ACIDC2014
#Adjunct and #AltAc Empowerment:
Using Twitter to Foster Online Learner
Community in a Shifting Higher Education
Jeffrey M. Keefer
New York University, USA
4th
International Academic Identities Conference 2014
Collingwood College, Durham University, UK
July 8-9, 2014