Learning Target: By the completion of this module, you will learn what is needed to participate in this course, understand the benefits to completion, and write a personal learning goal.

This series of modules will support you to explore a rationale for the use of Twitter for PD, identify benefits, challenges, and needed resources and plan next steps towards initial implementation. You will create a draft plan to support the educators in your context with ongoing PL using Twitter that maximizes funding, makes efficient use of time, allows for differentiation according to teacher choice and need, and aligns with student needs.

At the completion of the series, you will have created a draft professional development plan and action steps for using Twitter that is aligned with your district or school improvement goals. You will share your draft plan and receive and provide feedback to other colleagues/learners. At the completion of the course, you will have access to all the draft plans developed by learners in this course.

The course consists of six asynchronous modules that you may access and work through in your own timing. To support collaborative learning, you will also join a commnity of learners in GC Scholar for sharing insights and questions. Feedback, additional insights and questions will be provided by the course facilitator and other district and school leaders participating in these modules.

Your time investment for each module may vary with your background knowledge and interest levels. You can plan for about one hour to review the curated content and provide responses and reflections within the module. You can allow approximately one additional hour to complete the application activity and post in the Scholar Community at the conclusion of each module. Some posts will be in response to a prompt from the facilitator and some will be in response to the posts of other learners in the course. This is an important part of this collaborative learning experience and required for continuing education credit hours.

Participants who complete all the requirements will have access to the array of learner generated artifacts created by all learners and will receive applicable credit.

Alignment: This content aligns with Illinois Performance Standards for School Leaders, Standard III: Improving Teaching and Learning, Indicator G- Develops systems and structures for staff professional development and sharing of effective practices including providing and protecting time allotted for development.

Differentiation: Depending upon your prior experience with Twitter, you may wish to move beyond some of the videos or media examples within the course. Please respond to the ‘Consider’ question, read applicable articles, post to the discussion board and complete all of the activities in order to gain the most from this learning opportunity and support the collaborative learning of your colleagues.

Module Structure: Each module is structured using instructional design and adult learning principles to scaffold your learning, including the process of Systematic Design of Instruction (Dick & Carey, 2009) and principles of Learning by Design (Cope & Kalantzis, 2011).

The process of working through each module will include these learning phases:

Learning Target: understand the learning goal for each module

Consider: set a focus for learning and application

Explore: use written text and media resources to build knowledge and skills

Synthesize: bring this new knowledge together for making sense of what was learned

Reflect: process new knowledge and consider new insights and personal growth

Apply: an activity to support use and application of what you have learned to your own context, contribute to the learning of others and begin developing a useable, shareable artifact

Let’s begin with an introduction to the topic of using Twitter for professional development in districts and schools.

Explore: Now that you have an understanding of the way this online learning will be supported, watch this introductory video with Alec Couros, an educator within the Government of South Australia, Department for Education and Child Development, on “Using Twitter Effectively in Education”. (Retrieved 4.20.20).

(Source: Teaching and Learning, South Australia. 2013. YouTube: accessed 4.20.20)

Synthesize: Record any insights or questions you have after listening to this explanation of the use of Twitter in education? What new ideas might you have?

Reflect: Set a learning goal for this series in one or two sentences. What would you like to gain as a result of participating in these modules? Then, to help you get acquainted with the discussion board, post your learning goal there. Reach out to the facilitator if you have any difficulties.

             Discussion Board: CGScholar Community 

Apply:

Please complete the pre-assessment portion of this pre-post assessment and save it with you name. You will complete the post-assessment section of same document at the end of the course and submit it to the facilitator for PL credit.  

Thank you for participating in and completing Module 1. Please remember to post in the discussion board.

-Learning Target: At the completion of this module, you will be able to draft a one paragraph rationale for using Twitter to support effective PL including at least one research source, reference, or example.

-Consider: (Essential question) What have you found to be essential features of an effective PL plan? If a plan is effective, what might you as an instructional leader expect to see within your schools or classrooms?

-Explore

As a school leader, your desire is to lead your staff in professional development that is effective and efficient, and that maximizes effort while minimizing cost. Optimally, effective PD also  leads to changes in classroom level behaviors in order to improve student outcomes, the focus of our education efforts.

In the following video you will hear from educators who are using Twitter for within the district schools, grade level teams and personal, professional learning.  This edutopia video shares the story of Albemarle County Public Schools in Charlotesville, Virginia. In this district, the Superintendent, teachers, and a librarian contribute to a district specific hashtag. Explore their ideas and experiences and relate those to your own situation as an instructional leader.

                                                (Edutopia, 2015; accessed 4-23-20)

How does this district's story help you to develop your own rational for using Twitter in your district or school?

Here are additional examples that you might consider as you begin to develop a rationale for using Twitter for professional development for all or for some of your staff. Read this blog article to understand more about how social media in general might work within your district or school PD plan. This short article is written by Kylie Budge in "The Teaching Tomtom" and titled "Social Media as Professional Development - Can it Work for You?".

 

https://theteachingtomtom.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/social-media-as-professional-development-%E2%80%93-can-it-work-for-you/

 

-Synthesize

First, Read pages 1-6 of this Ed Web Report that shares the results of a survey of principals on the use of social networking in schools. As you read, think about the reasons principals and other educators share for using social networking to improve their schools. Do the responses of these educators surprise you in any way? How might this apply to your context? How does this information impact the development of your rationale for using or not using Twitter in PD for your staff?

 

Next, consider the three sources in the module and list some potential reasons for using Twitter as mentioned by the authors of these works. List any barriers that you might also be thinking about. What might be any additional reasons to use Twitter that could benefit your own context?

-Reflect

List any new learning, ideas for application, and questions you still have as a post in the Scholar Community. 

- Apply:  

Draft a one paragraph rationale for using Twitter to support effective PL within your context. Base your rationale on today’s learning and post as an update to the Scholar Community. Please reference one resource from within the module. You may choose to include an additional resource that you have found as well. 

Thank you for participating in and completing Module 2. Your discussion posts add to the collaborative learning for yourself and your colleagues. 

Learning Target: At the completion of the module, you will be able to describe 3-5 benefits of using Twitter for professional learning including teacher perceptions.

-Consider: Essential question: Given what you currentlly know, how might using Twitter for professional development benefit to your current PL plan?

-Explore

What is Twitter?  According to Encyclopedia Britannica's website, Twitter is "an online microblogging service for distributing short messages among groups of recipients via personal computer or mobile telephone" (accessed 4.23.20)  

Twitter has vocabulary that is unique to its platform and use and you may already be acquainted with some of that vocabulary.

Quick Quiz:

Which of the following basic Twitter terms could you define?

• Tweet
• Hashtag
• Follow
• Retweet
• Microblogging
• Twitter Chat

Don’t worry if you were not able to answer all of those terms, the following videos will explain those terms and support you to develop a full understanding of how to use Twitter.

Differentiation Tip: If you are a Twitter user already, you may want to skip and just watch the Intermediate level video. If you are a beginner, you might benefit from watching both videos. 

If you have started to build a rationale for using Twitter and are thinking about next steps, how do you anticipate your staff might respond to this change from your current plan and format for PD. It will be important to have support from your staff as you make this change and also to support your staff as they make this change. Adult learners do not typically like to feel uncertain in their learning. Adult learners typically benefit more from learning when they see the relevance of the learning and when they feel confident. (Keller, 1987).

There was some recent research on teachers' perceptions of using Twitter for PD .Davis (2015) analyzed Twitter posts to #Edchat and identified themes within teachers’ perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. The chart below shows the response categories seen within 15,120 Tweets from educators using the #edchat hashtag in 2011.

Themes	Subtheme
Sharing knowledge and resources	Collaborative inquiry
Sense of belonging	Emotional support
Meaningful professional development	Diverse perspectives and experiences, reflective thinking, choice
Technological benefits	Instant access

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Themes from teacher posts to #edchat (Davis, 2015)

 

 The complete article is linked below: 

Here are some additional examples of educational professional development uses for Twitter. As you watch, consider the Davis (2015) research, the concept of "top-down v. peer-peer" professional development and the value of connection for educators. Tom Whitby, founder of #edchat shares in this video presentation. 

 

                                       (US Dept. of Tech., 2013, accessed 4.20.20) 

 

The following video shares experience in using Twitter for professional development in OLHD 123.

                                                 (OLHD 123, accessed 2.23.20)

 

This final video targets the topic of using Twitter for professional development. This video learning is titled "A Beginners Guide to Using Twitter for Professional Development". If you have not found definitions for any of those vocabulary words in the Quick Quiz earlier, you will certainly hear those here. This video is twenty-four minutes long, but full of very helpful information. This might be a good resource to use in a future team discussion on this topic. 

                                        (Technology for Teachers and Students, 2015)

 

-Synthesize

First, take a moment to rank yourself on familiarity with Twitter use. If 1 is beginner status and 5 is confident expert, where do you feel you are now?

Next consider the perceptions shared by Davis (2015). You may want to refer back to the table of results. Which of these would you anticipate finding within your own staff?

Finally, within the three video examples, what uses of Twitter did you relate to as beneficial for your own school district?

-Reflect

Consider these questions as you reflect on this module. 

• What are your thoughts about top-down versus peer to peer PD as mentioned in the first video? What are some advantages of each model? What might be some disadvantages?
• Consider some of the barriers you may be experiencing in providing PD to your district or school’s educators? Where might you see the use of Twitter addressing those barriers?

- Apply

In consideration of what you may have learned today, list 3-5 potential benefits to using Twitter in your context for professional development. Post your list of benefits in the Scholar Community. Respond to at least two other posts from week 1 or 2 or later. Share your answer to the reflection question and read and consider the responses of colleagues.

 

Thank you for participating in and completing Module 3. Take advantage of the opportunity for collaborative learning found in the posts of your colleagues. 

Learning Target: At the conclusion of this module you will be able to share 2-3 potential uses or examples of using Twitter for PD and begin curating a sharable resource of educator related Twitter supports, sites and hashtags.

Differentiation Tip: Depending upon your prior experience with Twitter, you may wish to move beyond some of the videos or media examples within the course. The approximate level of each video is indicated below.

-Consider: Essential Question: What resources might you need in order to begin utilizing Twitter within your current PD plan? Where might you be able to locate those resources?

-Explore

The first step in the process of curating your sharable resource is to set up a Twitter account for yourself. If you don’t have an account, first watch the Beginner Level video. Then watch the Intermediate Level video and follow along as the author guides you to set up an account. If you have an account already, you can start with the Intermediate Level video.

Remember! If this is new learning, be patient with yourself. If this seems beyond your ‘zone of proximal development’, use the additional helps provided here to scaffold your learning. You may also use the discussion board to request help from a colleague or the facilitator.

Another thing to remember is than many of our students are digital natives and they are very comfortable with social media of all kinds, Twitter included. More and more of our staff use social media tools in their personal lives and engaging student and adult learners will likely require use of these tools. It’s worth the time you may spend figuring it all out.

Beginner Level: This video from Tech Boomers will walk you through the process of setting up a Twitter account, profile, reading your notifications, retweeting and adding pictures and video. 

                                                           (TechBoomers, 2017, accessed 4.23.20)

Intermediate Level:  This longer video by TechTalk will support you to do some additional tasks within Twitter like customizing your profile, navigating Twitter, terminology and offers tips for easy and efficient use of the Twitter platform. 

                                            (Techtalk, 2015, accessed 4.23.20)

If you need additional assistance, or just like having a test reference, here is a online aid from Twitter Help.

https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/how-to-tweet

You should have been able to set up a Twitter account if you did not have one or possibly learned how to personalize your profile and add photos or videos to an existing account. Once you have done that much, search for one of more of these common education related groups;

• #edchat
• #ilprincipals
• #ISBE 
• #learningforward

Choose to follow at least one of those organizations. Look at the tweets for that organization and read several that interest you. As you look at the ‘followers’ of each organization, you may find other persons or organizations that you also wish to follow.

-Synthesize

If you have an author, speaker or organization that you relate to, search to see if they have a Twitter account. As you explore Twitter, look for a topic or tweet that might apply to a current professional development topic that you are interested in.

-Reflect

Reflect on your work in this module. What stood out to you as new learning? Did the process build your empathetic understanding of any of your students or staff? What skills did you gain in this process?

-Apply

In the Scholar Community, post a short summary of your experience. Share at least 2-4 new skills gained. Resource List by sharing at least one tweet with its handle that was interesting to you. Comment on 2-3 posts of your colleagues, they likely found some additional educators or organizations that you may want to follow.

Thank you for participating in and completing Module 4 of the series. There are two additional modules remaining, so take advantage of the discussion board to learn from your colleagues and to contribute to their learning.

 

Learning Target: During this module you will use a current PD plan to identify opportunities within your own context where Twitter might be used. You will create a draft PD plan incorporating Twitter to be shared with peers for review and additional suggestions.

-Consider: Essential Question: What priorities for school improvement do you have that might be supported using Twitter for professional development?

-Explore

This module will support you a bit differently in your professional learning around using Twitter for PD.  For this module, use the 50 minute time frame to access the supports in order to draft your own PD plan incorporate Twitter in a meaningful way. You can refer back to any of the resources in previous modules and on the discussion board.

As you think about pulling together your plan, it might also be helpful to pre-plan for potential barriers or challenges you may encounter when implementing your plan. Being proactive about negative impressions or misuses of Twitter can bolster the implementation of your plan.

The positive themes identified by teachers for using Twitter were shown in Module 3, but Davis (2015) also identified themes of potential barriers from the responses of those teachers. In a survey of teachers’ perceptions of using Twitter for PD, Davis (2015) found that some teachers expressed ‘drawbacks’ to using Twitter that centered primarily on the technology aspect of its use.

Here is a summary of those statements:

• Managing the flow of information: the amount of information can be overwhelming.
• Misperceptions of Twitter: impression that Twitter is not a ‘legitimate’ platform for PD/ negative prior experiences with the platform or its use.
• Time: especially if Twitter use is blocked by school policies during the school day.
• Miscommunication: the character limit can lead to truncated and misinterpreted messages.
• Limits to participation: referring to school policy and limits on Tweets within Twitte.r
• Not being heard: lack of a moderator to acknowledge all views, especially those that differ from the mainstream message in the hashtag discussion.

Many of those barriers could be proactively addressed within your PD plan. In addition, here are some suggestions for Twitter 'etiquette' for professional use to support positive relationships within and outside of the school environment.

Using Twitter for Professional Development: Crafting the Perfect Account & Maximizing Professional Opportunities

https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/career-resource-center/using-twitter-professional-development/

Once you have completed your draft plan, you will submit it within the Scholar Community for feedback from your colleagues in this learning experience. You will also provide feedback to other plans. The course facilitator will assign reviewers as plans are submitted. Please try to complete plans and reviews in a timely manner. The course facilitator can be a helpful resource if you encounter barriers. 

Here is the Peer Feedback Rubric you will use:

You may use the plan template that you typically use in your school or district for this project.

If you would like to look at some additional examples of the ways that schools use Twitter to connect in the classroom, with their school boards, communities and parents. Here is a 2018 blog post by Steve Williams.

https://www.campussuite.com/blog/4-ways-use-twitter-for-schools-increase-engagement

Here is an example of using Twitter with an existing CoP:

https://www.allthingsplc.info/blog/view/44/tech-tools-for-teams-collaborate-using-twitter

-Synthesize

Steps to consider as you develop your plan:

1. Identify a place in your current plan where using Twitter might be helpful.           This might be small scale to allow for a pilot. E.g. consider using Twitter to connect the P.E. teachers across your district in implementing a particular standard.or evidence-based practice.
2. Identify the goal for your plan. E.g. To facilitate consistent implementation of a current P.E. standard that staff will identify as a worthy target.
3. Identify the additional components of your plan as described in your school’s template or the sample template provided. Consider what additional resources will you will need to implement your plan. Remember to include PD for your staff on the rationale and logistics of using Twitter.
4. Create a draft communication plan – who needs to know about this and when do they need to know and how will they know.

-Reflect

Reflect on your proposed plan before submitting it to the discussion board. You may choose to revise your plan after seeing the submissions of your colleagues and receiving feedback rubrics for you own proposal. 

- Apply 

 After you complete your draft PD plan, post it as an update in the Scholar Community. The facilitator will assign you at least two other plans posted by colleagues to review. You are welcome to read any plans that interest you, but there will be only two formal rubric reviewers for each plan. The course facilitator will assist you in assigning and locating needed reviews or with any additional questions you may have. 

As you read, use the rubric to record your feedback on:

• Use of Twitter to support an existing improvment goal
• Reinforcing helpful or unique ideas and planning
• Suggestions that you have for strengthening their plan
• Potential challenges or pitfalls you see and suggestions for avoiding them

Here is the Peer Feedback Rubric you will use: <insert rubric here>

You may use the plan template that you typically use in your school or district for this project. If you need a template to use, here is an example:

Professional Learning Plan Template: <insert sample LP Template>

Thank you for participating in and completing in Module 5: Remember that you will have access to all the plans of your collegues within the Scholar Community at the close of the course. Applicable course credit will be awarded at the completion of all required components: weekly posts, updates, draft PD Plan, Rubrice eviews and pre-post assessments. 

 

Learning Target: At the conclusion of this module you will be able to identify needed resources for using Twitter within an existing PL plan and identify 3-5 next steps.

-Consider: Essential Question: What resources might you need in order to begin utilizing Twitter within your current PD plan? Where might you be able to locate those resources?

-Explore

At this point in the course you should have a draft plan for incorporating Twitter into your staff professional learning. You may have had opportunity to receive and possibly incorporate feedback from colleagues to strengthen that plan. In this final module we are going to look at supporting features for your plan: incorporating best practices in professional learning and creating a supportive culture.

As instructional leaders in your schools it is likely that you have developed professional development plans for your district or school. In the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2012, professional development is referred to as ‘professional learning’. A concept promoted by the national organization Learning Forward in the 2011 revision of their standards. Learning Forward, together with many other education organizations outlined seven guiding principles for effective professional development that, when considered together, scaffold the “learning, facilitation, implementation, and evaluation of professional learning.” (Learning Forward, 2011, p.1)

Let’s take a look at an overview of the Learning Forward Standards from former president, Stephanie Hirsch.

                                       (Learning Forward, 2011; accessed 2.25.20)

 

Each of the seven Learning Forward standards begins with the same initial stem:

1. Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all student occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement collective responsibility and goal alignment.
2.  Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all student requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.
3.  Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires prioritizing, monitoring, and coordinating resources for educator learning.
4.  Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students uses a variety of sources and types of student educator and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate professional learning.
5. Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all student integrates theories, research, and models of human learning to achieve its intended outcomes.
6. Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all student applies research on change and sustains support for implementation of professional learning for long-term change.
7. -Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all student aligns its outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards.

As a district or school leader, your role is particularly key to a successful plan for professional development and learning. Here is a deeper explanation of the LF Leadership standard from Superintendent Mike Ford.

 

Read through the standards and note what stands out to you? Which of these standards would you consider to be a strength of your district or school? Where can you see room for growth?

                                                        (Learning Forward, 2011)

 

After listening to Mike Ford, how do you see the leadership role described within this standard compare to your current role and perspective on instructional leadership?

Another area where you might need to provide leadership for effective professional developmen is in the creation of a receptive culture for this new innovation. This article by Elana Leoni titled "8 Tips to Create a Twitter Driven School Culture" might be helpful to you. Take a few moments to read this Eductopia article. 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/create-twitter-driven-school-culture-elana-leoni

-Synthesize

Read through the standards one more time and note what stands out to you as a strength of your district or school? Which of these standards might you see reflected in the PD plan draft that you created for this course? 

-Reflect

This is final module of this course. For this module's reflection, take out the personal learning goal that you wrote at the end of Module 1. How much of that goal has been accomplished through this course? If you have additional questions, post those to the discussion board.

- Apply 

You will have two more weeks to post to the Scholar community or submit PD plans, reviews and revisions. After that date the Community will close and, but you can view the artifacts and information from the course as you wish. 

After you have completed all of the course requirements and the post-assessment, you will qualify to receive PL Credit Hours through the granting institution. 

The post-assessment is the second part of the pre-assessment that you downloaded and completed in Module 1. You should have saved it with your name after downloading and completed the pre-assessement earlier. You should open that document, complete the post-assessment section and send it to the facilitator as an attachment. That will be used in partial fulfillment of the course requirements. 

Thank you for participating in and completing this course. We hope it has been helpful to you as you seek to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your professional development planning! 

Remember that applicable course credit will be awarded at the completion of all required components: weekly posts, updates, draft PD Plan, Rubric reviews and pre-post assessments.

*For additional learning in this area, see the Learning Module “Professional Development: Integrating Educational Technologies in the 21st Century Classroom” (Creator(s): Joshua Lewyckyj, 2019). Cited and linked in the References Section.