Using Social Media to Drive Pedagogical Change

Reading "Tweet me, message me, like me: using social media to facilitate pedagogical change within an emerging community of practice" by Goodyear et al. made me reflect on my experiences of professional development and pedagogical change and how much has been in person and virtual in my experience (and also what I prefer).

Professional Development Days

I love professional development. In my district in BC, we have designated professional development days that are either self-directed, run by our district or school-wide. The professional development days, 'Pro-D days' for short, that are held by the district typically recruit presenters and other professionals and have been in person before the pandemic. I enjoyed being able to have a designated day and invest in myself as an educator. Since the pandemic, these Pro-D days have been hosted online. 

Do I prefer online or in person? I believe because our Pro-D days were virtual, I attended more because I had the time to attend, since the commitment entailed listening from my computer at home). However, I connected with the presenters and other educators attending these conferences more in person. Since the pandemic, most virtual conferences were done through Microsoft TEAMS and Zoom, which did not allow for much collaboration. 

Social Media and Pedagogical Change

Goodyear et al. conclude that social media has the potential to be a new method for professional learning that supports pedagogical change and that "interactions through Facebook and Twitter promoted teacher inquiry, and challenged teachers to develop their existing  use of an innovation further" (p. 940). Reflecting on the methods for professional learning, I would say that the most powerful and meaningful professional learning does not come from Pro-D days. It comes from my collaborating with my colleagues (both in person or by text, Facebook or email) and it comes from the community of teachers I belong to online (Facebook groups, blogs and Pinterest). I am surprised that Pinterest was not examined in Goodyear et al.'s study, as I believe it is a popular and powerful tool for pedagogical change among educators. 

Inspiration and The Potential of Social Media in the Context of Professional Learning 

My favourite part of teaching is designing and creating lessons and units, I take pride in my organization and my themed activities. My goal is to engage my learners and make their learning come to life. Not every lesson is like this, however, when I do plan these lessons, my ideas and inspiration come from Pinterest. Pinterest is the tool that I use the most for my professional development and I believe it leads to pedagogical change in my own teaching practices and to the colleagues I collaborate with. For example, Daily 5 is a literacy program that has a book to explain the routines and pedagogy. The book is great, but when you search "Daily 5" on Pinterest, that is when the inspiration and ideas come to life. I have even learned some literacy and behaviour management practices from TikTok this year. The possibilities of informal and formal learning through social media seems endless and is exciting! After reading Goodyear et al.'s article, I would like to explore Twitter more in the context of pedagogical change and teaching practices.