Week 29 - Using online networks in my professional development

Week 29
Using social online networks in my professional development


In this weeks post I will be using the Jay and Johnson’s (2002) reflection model to reflect on how social media is being used in my professional development.
Descriptive
I have been using social media tools such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram for the past 12 years to connect to family and friends around the world. I have also used limited, various social media as a teaching tool in the classroom, however it wasn’t until this year, when I changed levels from year 1 to year 5 students that I have that I truly realised it’s potential and started using social media to inform my teaching practice and connect to social networks. This has opened up a whole new world for me and I now connect daily to see what’s happening  globally in the ‘teaching world’, ask questions and find new ideas to bring into the classroom.
Comparative
After filing out the social media survey, it got me thinking about how and why I use social media in my learning development and how others might use it in theirs. Up until now, I have failed to see the value in Twitter as a tool to inform my professional development, as have others I have spoken to, however with further conversations with colleagues and online communities I have come to understand that it was my lack of understanding. Melhuish (2013) mentions how the tool we choose can mediate the learning and how we can harness this power and use it to make the learning more authentic. If I understood how to use Twitter for my professional development I could use this this knowledge to inform my practice.  I have watched a fellow colleague use and teach using modern and innovative social media tools. She is an early adopter and a big part of this is the fact that she is globally connected and using a plethora of social media tools in her classroom. This highlights the benefits of connecting regularly to online social media and partaking in conversations with others with shared interests and common goals.
Critical Reflection
When writing this reflection, the first thing I did was go on to my Mindlab Google+ Community to see what others were writing/talking about in response to this topic. Connecting with my CoP’s, PLN’s and online communities has now become a regular and daily practice for me since starting Mindlab, although finding the time to do this has been a bit of a struggle. Whitiker et al., (2015) points out that as educators we need to integrate technology into our schooling lives like we do in our personal lives. What was once a social media tool for my personal life has now become a tool for my professional development as I learn to become not just a lifelong learner but a Connected Educator (2013). Up until this point, social media such as Twitter and Facebook have had no meaning or relevance to me in my professional learning, however, I now realise that it is my lack of understanding of what and how they can be used to benefit me in my professional development. My teaching practice is changing daily, and I am starting to see a crossover with personal social media tools into my professional development. I am inspired to follow and implement a PLN via Twitter using Melhuish’s (2013) model of becoming a connected educator through the Follow 5, Find 5, Take 5 to get me started on my professional development Twitter journey. Wish me luck!
Word count: 658
References
Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstr eam/han…
Office of Ed Tech. (2013, Sep 18). Connected Educators. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=216&v=K4Vd4JP_DB8
Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015). What connected educators do differently. New York, NY: Routledge.

Comments

  1. Ms Driver18 June 2018 at 01:02

    All the best for a new future of learning via social media Susan. I'm happy to help you out, and perhaps this should be a Friday briefing feature? Or a teacher only day session at the start of next year? There are ethical issues around using social media in your classroom, and as we update our staff user agreements and make everyone aware of these, then we will all become more digitally competent and hopefully utilise social media for professional learning. Being connected is were it is at and you've moved a long way this year. A good reflection in this post with the change in level and how you can do more this year to engage online.

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  2. Jessica Neave18 June 2018 at 20:46

    A good reflection in this post about social media that you use in your professional development. I agree with what you have said about how important it is to connect with online communities and learning from others. That is also something that I go to when I need help or to ask and answer questions.

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  3. steph20 June 2018 at 02:50

    It is interesting to see the change in the use of Facebook over the years as well as Twitter, as moving from just a socialisation tool, to a more deep connecting media with 'professionals' using the platforms to create CoL or PLN - even my husband has a serious Facebook group on fishing in the Hauraki Gulf!! It is an amazing resource and one that our students already know. If we teach them to navigate it to improve and grow their learning then they too will see these platforms for what they are truely worth. There are ethical issues and we need a code by which to teach using social media - sometimes parents see the negative issues surrounding social media - but to prevent students from learning this way would be like banning video to preserve the radio star!

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