Building a social learning community: Tips and tools for surviving a PhD and professional learning during a pandemic and beyond. A summary of our fireside chat at #SocMedHE21 Sue Beckingham, Deb Baff, Suzanne Faulkner, Dawne Irving-Bell, Sarah Hallam and Rachelle O’Brien @suebecks @debbaff @SFaulknerPandO @belld17 @Sarah_Hallam @rachelleeobrien Undertaking independent professional learning or further study such as a PhD or EdD can be an isolating experience. You may be juggling full-time work and studying part-time; have caring responsibilities; studying in person or as a distance learner. Irrespective of study mode, the experience of being a PhD or EdD student is very different to a taught undergraduate or postgraduate degree where a cohort of students study together and follow the same curriculum for the main part of their degree. The PhD experience whilst an individual learning experience, can still open up opportunities for serendipitous conversations. These may occur on campus in the corridor, seminars, guest lectures, in the workplace, during social activities or through attending conferences. However, during the pandemic opportunities for such interactions were curtailed and all contact was shifted online through remote learning. The session will be facilitated through a ‘fireside chat’ where we will share the spaces (tools), places (groups), and resources that have helped us through the pandemic; considering those we will take forward to support our continued journey, those that we will try to incorporate, and those that we are glad to leave behind. This session will provide input to a co-created toolkit which will be shared openly for use and adaptation by others. The toolkit could also be used by individuals undertaking other types of professional development. This might include scholarship, research or study, for example an Academic Professional Higher Degree Apprenticeships, Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice or applying for a Senior/Principal Fellowship, SEDA Fellowship, CMALT (Certified Membership of ALT) or other professional recognition scheme.

1. Tips and tools for independant professional learning
Social
Learning
Communities
Undertaking further study such as a PhD or EdD
or independent professional learning e.g.
CMALT, SFHEA, FSEDA can be an isolating
experience. You may be juggling full-time work
and studying part-time; have caring
responsibilities; studying in person or as a
distance learner.
However there are a variety of ways you can
develop a social learning community. We share
some of the things that have worked for us as
students.
SPACES PLACES
Spaces can be described as the physical or
virtual location where you may choose to be.
Places are what give spaces meaning and where
meaningful social connections can be made.
These can take place in person or virtually.
On campus in the corridor,
during seminars and guest lectures, or
coffee breaks and over lunch.
In person meetings
External conferences, seminars and
workshops provide opportunities to meet
new people beyond your own university.
Exchange emails and reach out to connect on your chosen professional social networks e.g.
LinkedIn and Twitter. This is a great way to extend your personal learning network.
2
WhatsApp has become a popular
space to create private groups
where peers can engage in those
'coffee break' type conversations,
missed when unable to meet in
person.
Chat apps
1
When sharing links to resources it can be easier to
use the web version!
https://web.whatsapp.com/
Tip
3Online
meetings
The next best thing to in person
meetings is the ability to see each other
online. Spaces like Zoom, MS Teams,
Skype and Blackboard Collaborate can
provide a place to meet and interact.
Tip
Find out 'what's on' and try to attend a variety of different events.
Other examples include Snapchat
groups, Twitter group DMs,
Telgraph and Discord. All accessible
via apps to use on your phone.
It’s recommended that
we eat at least five
portions of different
types of fruit and
vegetable a day.
4 Twitter
Begin by following others with shared
interests. Ask friends for suggestions.
@ThomsonPat @thesiswhisperer
@researchwhisperer @PhDStudents
@PhDForum @thoughtsofaphd
@GetThePhTea @ithinkwellHugh
@WriteThatPhD @firstphdchat
Take part in tweet chats and discussions
e.g. #PhDchat #LTHEchat #CMALT
#advanceHE_chat #SFHEA #PFHEA
Tip
If you follow someone interesting
check out who they follow as way to
extend your network.
5Blogs
There are a growing collection of blogs sharing
experiences about everything from wellbeing, study
and writing tips to detailed information about
undertaking research and professional accreditation.
Here are some useful ones to start with:
https://thesiswhisperer.com/
https://patthomson.net/
https://drkriukow.com/
https://www.phdstudent.com/
https://www.thephdforum.com/
https://www.alt.ac.uk/category/topic/cmalt
https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/fellowship
https://aldinhe.ac.uk/aldinhe-professional-
accreditation/
https://www.seda.ac.uk/professional-
development-opportunities/fellowships-
scheme/fellowship/
6Video
tutorials
Tips on 'isms' and 'ologogies' and more!
Some examples:
https://www.youtube.com/c/HelenKaraWriter
https://www.youtube.com/c/QualitativeResearche
r/videos
Tip
Create your own playlist of videos by
clicking on the + SAVE icon. Then 'create a
new playlist' and give it a name.
7
Visual
aids
To unpack new information have a go at creating a
sketchnote.
@
Further examples:
https://padlet.com/Debbaff/sketchnotes
Created by:
Sue Beckingham @suebecks
Deb Baff @debbaff
Suzanne Faulkner @SFaulknerPandO
Dawne Irving-Bell @belld17
Sarah Hallam @Sarah__Hallam
Rachelle O'Brien @rachelleeobrien
Presented at the Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference 2021
#SocMedHE21