Design of Informal Educator Learning Communities
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This dissertation studied the design of five state education Twitter chats by interviewing their organizers. It categorized the chats by structure, from moderator-driven to host-driven. The interviews explored how chat design aligned with the organizers' teaching philosophies and the processes, tools and changes they used. The study found leadership, design, regularity and support are needed for online learning communities to develop. It concluded that without leadership, communities may fail, moderators are the social glue, and maintaining a chat is time-intensive and requires team support.
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Design of Informal Educator Learning Communities
- 1. DESIGN OF INFORMAL ONLINE LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN EDUCATION Disserta(on Defense Whitney Kilgore June 20, 2016
- 2. @whitneykilgore THE PURPOSE Categorized their structure and explained the lived experiences of the chat designers Twitter chats
- 3. @whitneykilgore TOPICS OF INQUIRY How does the Twitter chat structure align with the designer of the chat’s teaching philosophy? What practical processes are in place to support the Twitter chat? How are the chats run and by whom? What structural changes have been made since the initial design of the chat? What is the perceived value or utility of the chat?
- 4. @whitneykilgore Literature Review THE LITERATURE US DOE’s Office of Ed Tech Future Ready program advises use Twitter chats as a no-cost option for professional development. Little academic research available regarding the use of microblogging as professional development. No existing comparative analysis of Twitter chat designs.
- 6. @whitneykilgore CATEGORIZATION Documented Design Elements Format of Chat (Q/A, other) Volume of Tweets Availability of an Chat Archive Website recorded on USDOE website Digital Presence (website) Use of a Moderator account or hosts
- 7. @whitneykilgore INCLUSION CRITERIA Used existing criteria defined by the USDOE selected state Twitter chats to include
- 8. @whitneykilgore CHAT CATEGORIES State Hashtag Twitter Chats Organized by Category Moderator Driven Host Driven Guest Host with Mod Support Live Google Hangout During Chat Rotating Moderators #vachat #nebedchat #edchatri #nyedchat #caedchat #wyoedchat #paedchat #iledchat #iaedchat #njed #gaed #edchatme #sced #edchathi #nced #kyedchat #wischat #ndedchat #arkedchat #edchatma #fledchat #ohedchat #mtedchat #aledchat #sdedchat #inelearn #moedchat #miched #vted #txeduchat #idedchat #oklaed
- 9. @whitneykilgore PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS Chat Chat Format Pseudonym Age Gender Position Chat A Moderator Driven Rachel 40 Female Principal at private school Chat B Rotating Moderator Phoebe 39 Female Educational consultant Chat C Chat with Live GHO on Air Chandler 48 Male High school principal Chat D Guest Host w/Moderator Support Ross 50 Male Supt. of K12 school district Chat E Host Driven Joey 35 Male Middle school vice principal Chat Miscategorized
- 11. @whitneykilgore TOI #1 PHILOSOPHY Interviewee Pedagogical Philosophy Chat Design Level of Moderator Control Alignment of Chat to Philosophy Rachel Flexible pedagogy, meeting learners need Moderator Driven High Misaligned: Chat is highly controlled by the moderator Phoebe Student Led & Inquiry- based Rotating Moderator Moderate Somewhat Aligned: Not student led, but the Q/A format supports Inquiry Based Learning Chandler Create positive experiences and leave a legacy Chat with Live Google Hangout on Air High Aligned: The high moderator control supports his desire to create the experience Ross Shifted from Controller of information to facilitator Guest Host with Moderator Support Low Aligned: The low moderator control is aligned with facilitating Joey Education is about relationships Host Driven None *This chat was miscategorized
- 13. @whitneykilgore TOI #2 PROCESSES Interviewee Chat Design Co- mod Hosts Topics Planning Tools Rachel Moderator Driven 2 No Flexible topics: state issues, but more appeal with broader issues Google doc & storify Phoebe Rotating Moderator 10 Occasional Topics from curiosity, personal research, happening in the Twitterverse Google tools (docs, sites, sheets) Meet face to face annually, rotate moderators Chandler Chat with Live Google Hangout on Air 6 Yes Occasionally State specific topic - due to state board of edu Conference call & Google doc recently added Voxer Ross Guest Host with Moderator Support 1 Yes General topics of interest Occasional state specific topics (legislative) Google spreadsheet Joey Host Driven 6 No Topics with broad appeal Google docs
- 14. @whitneykilgore TOI #3 CHANGES Chat A: none Chat B: attempted to add in GHO but they were too distracting & provided questions in advance of chat time Chat C: added a second time and GHO into the chat Chat D: none Chat E: quit having the chat due to scheduling but added more moderators and back online
- 16. @whitneykilgore IMPLICATIONS Mandatory Components • Leadership • Design • Regularity • Support Needed for Learning Community Development • Promotion • Appealing Topics • Participants
- 17. @whitneykilgore LIMITATIONS Hard to determine value without chat participants input First study to evaluate Twitter chat designs Additional design focused research needed to support findings
- 18. @whitneykilgore FUTURE RESEARCH Social Network Analysis (SNA) Explore Dormant Chats Participants perceptions of Twitter chat value
- 19. @whitneykilgore CONCLUSIONS 1 2 3 # 3 Without leadership online communities may fail # 2 Moderators are the social glue # 1 Time intensive & requires team support
- 20. QUESTIONS?