teacher networks for professional development

Socialmedianetworksinschoolsandinteachers’lives

WorkshopinMedia&LearningConference

Brussels,Belgium14.11.2012

Welcome-thissession!• TeachernetworksforprofessionaldevelopmentRiinaVuorikari,TellnetProjectmanager,EuropeanSchoolnet

• Teachers’useofsocialmediainschoolsJaniceRichardson,CoordinatoroftheInsafeandSMILE,EuropeanSchoolnet

• Teachernetworksin2025YvesPunie,InstituteforProspectiveTechnologicalStudies

Teachernetworksforprofessionaldevelopment

Outlineofthispresentation• Context:

– Whatareteachersneedsforprofessionaldevelopment?

– Whatareteachernetworks?– Whatisteachers’co-operation?

• Casestudy:eTwinning– SocialNetworkAnalysis(SNA)forteachernetworks

Somecontextforthisworkshop

“morethanhalfoftheteacherssurveyed

reportedhavingwanted

moreprofessionaldevelopment

thantheyhadreceived.”

TeachingandLearningInternationalSurvey(Talis)

OECD,2009

Context1.

Context1.

TALIS,OECD,2009

Teachers’co-operation

• TheTALIS(OECD,2009)studiedvariousformsofteachersworkingtogether– Frequencytoundertakeactivitieson6-pointscalerangingfrom“never”to“weekly”

• Possibletogroupactivities:– Exchangeandco-ordinationforteaching– Professionalcollaboration

Context2.

Teachers’co-operation

EXCHANGEANDCO-ORDINATIONforteaching

• Discussanddecideontheselectionofinstructionalmedia(e.g.textbooks,exercisebooks).

• Exchangeteachingmaterialswithcolleagues.

• AttendteamconferencesfortheagegroupIteach.

PROFESSIONALCOLLABORATION

• Observeotherteachers’classesandprovidefeedback.

• Teachjointlyasateaminthesameclass.

• Engageinjointactivitiesacrossdifferentclassesandagegroups(e.g.projects).

eTwinning projects!

Benefitsofteachers’co-operation

• Co-operationamongstaffcreatesopportunitiesfor– socialandemotionalsupport,– exchangeofideasand– practicaladvice.

• Itcanenhance– professionalism,– feelingsofself-efficacyand– preventstressand“burnout”

• Differentkindsofcollaborationmaynothavethesameeffects!

Whatareteachernetworks?• Learningnetworks,i.e.technology-supportedcommunities– learnersshareknowledgewithoneanother– jointlydevelopnewknowledge

• Canexistonmanylevels– withinaschool– acrossschoolsatregional,nationalandinternationallevel

• Moreandmoreoften,blendednetworks=>digitalworldismixedwiththephysicalone

Like our lives too!

Context3.

• Includesvariousformsofteachers’co-operation,i.e.teachesworkingtogetheringroupsorteamstoimproveeducationalprocessesandoutcomes(OECD,2009)

• Contributetothequalityof– theteachingprofessionand– thelearningexperienceofstudents– byencouragingcollaborationandknowledgeexchangeatbothteacherandstudentlevel

Context3.

Whatareteachernetworks?

Thecasestudy-

eTwinning

183162teachers

eTwinningoffers

1. Cross-borderschoolprojects• UsingInformationandCommunicationTechnologies

2. Formalandinformalprofessionaldevelopment• On-line:distancecoursesandonlineinterestforteachers,

• Off-line:ProfessionalDevelopmentWorkshops,nationalmeetings

3. Socialnetworkingtools

Teachers’co-operation

A contact ofmy contact knowsa contact of your

contact!

SocialNetworkAnalysis(SNA)forteachernetworks

• Socialcapital• ability of actors to derive benefits from their

membership in social networks• a property of the teachers and of groups

DoessocialcapitalexistineTwinning?

Gatekeeper

Spreadingapositiveviruscalled

pedagogicalinnovation.

Whowillnotgetthevirus?

Channels through whichinformation, ideas and innovation flow

=

Whowillnotgetthevirus?

Theoneswhoarenot

connected,e.g.whoarenot

collaboratingwithothers.

• SNA (Social Network Analysis) methods can bewell applied to the study of Teacher networks,e.g. eTwinning

• Teachers position in the network can be anindicator for their “performance” in eTwinningprojects and their potential development path

• More studies are needed to understand how,when and why teacher networks advance learning!

www.tellnet.eun.org

Discusswithyourneighbour:whatisthispicture?