A qualitative analysis of discussion posts on the Personal Learning Network of California Agriculture Education Teachers’ Discussion Lab Facebook was conducted. Emerging themes were pursuance of personal needs, leveraging collective wisdom, a culture of growth, and self-reflection. Administrators could use these findings to design more effective professional development for teachers.
Introduction
With the internet, personal computers, and smart phones now a daily part of our lives, individuals are able to learn outside of formal settings. These situations provide for the investigation on the learner’s terms including what, when, and how they want to learn (Collins & Halverson, 2009, pp. 3-4; Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall, 2012, p. 10). Nussbaum-Beach and Ritter Hall (2012) refered to educators who network with others online as connected learners. Those who engage online can benefit from the collective intelligence of those around the world to solve problems, share ideas, and ultimately increase their effectiveness as a teacher.
Technology has become a catalyst for individuals to connect and collaborate around the world, and bring their shared knowledge back to classrooms and districts (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall, 2012). Educators direct their own learning, on their own timeline in order to meet their learning objectives. The collective wisdom of a group of connected educators, can be used to increase educator’s effectiveness and student learning. This participatory culture is founded on the basis where others cannot learn from you and build on your ideas, unless you are willing to share (Trust, Krutka, & Carpenter, 2016).
Educator groups like those on Facebook, can help teachers to engage in informal professional growth, meeting several of the criterion for successful professional development (Rutherford, 2013). The platform allows users to join and follow groups which align with their personal interests. Users can engage in conversation relating to user generated topics, and because participation in these groups aligns the ideas outlined by Rutherford (2013), participation in Facebook and other online informal learning groups should be regarded as a valid source of professional development for teachers (Trust et al., 2016).
Conceptual Framework
Literature has shown teacher collaboration to have a positive impact on educators, as well as on student learning (Goddard, Goddard, & Tschannen-Moran, 2007; Trust et al., 2016). Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s) create an environment in which teachers can simultaneously learn and share in a reciprocal fashion. Each educator designs their PLN by selecting the appropriate groups or platforms to foster collaboration based on their individual needs (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall, 2012; Trust et al., 2016). Social media sites are one of many ways educators can engage in knowledge sharing and making (Trust et al., 2016). Trust et al. (2016) found Twitter, Edmodo, blogs, Google+, Facebook, Discovery Education, and Pinterest to the most popular sites. It should also be noted that 84% of respondents engaged in more than one platform.
Krutka, Carpenter, and Trust (2016) developed a model to depict the complex relationship of teacher engagement in PLN’s based on the findings of Trust et al. (2016). Krutka et al. (2016) discussed multiple ways in which teachers engage and participate in their PLN, each of which is unique to the individual’s motivation. Discovery encompasses the exposure to ideas, resources, and methods as a result of PLN’s that were not part of a teacher’s specific quest to answer an individual question. Experimentation refers to the testing of new discoveries. Reflection, addresses the consideration of outputs and changed behavior. Sharing denotes the teacher’s individual contributions in the form of knowledge, skill or resources. Each of the five areas can be connected to several other elements of the model to best clarify the complex nature of PLN’s and their role in educator’s growth as a whole person.
Rutherford (2013) examined an Ontario based teacher group of 384 members on Facebook. The researcher used Shulman’s categorization of teacher knowledge, in addition to an “other” category to code 187 discussion posts that had more than one response. The text of each discussion was copied from Facebook, and HyperResearch software was then used to facilitate coding. A second researcher coded a subset of 50 discussions, with an 80% agreeance. Each discussion averaged 10 response posts, which exemplifies the collaborative nature of the platform (Rutherford, 2013). Because education Facebook groups’ posts are participant generated, they meet tenants of adult education (Merriam, 2001), as well as the key’s to successful professional development outlined by Rutherford (2013). Further, 70% of the posts reviewed by Rutherford (2013) pertained to Shulman’s categorization of teacher knowledge, an indication that the discussions taking place on the site could have potential impact on teachers.
Purpose and Objectives
Gaining insight into teachers use of their PLN, and the platform of Facebook can provide insight into teacher’s informal professional development needs and usage and may be useful in designing formal professional development opportunities based on the themes that emerge.
Research Methodology
A qualitative content analysis approach was utilized to conduct a review of discussion posts, comments and resources shared within the California Ag Education Discussion Lab Facebook group, from its inception in June 2016 to the last post prior to the beginning of this study on March 24, 2018. There were 369 members in the group, of which, it is believed members are current or past agriculture educators at the preservice, secondary or post-secondary level. All subjects in the group are adults. All posts and comments in the group were transcribed by the researcher in an effort to ensure saturation of data to increase trustworthiness (Elo et al., 2014; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Approximately half way through transcription a list of participants was created and sorted alphabetically by first name, then each member was assigned a number starting at the top of the list with 101. As transcription continued more names were added to create a comprehensive list of all 99 participants. Each post and its corresponding comments were numbered, starting with 1, and continuing chronologically after the groups creation. Whole conversations (post and its comments), as well as individual participant numbers are noted in the findings. To protect the privacy of the group’s members, no direct quotes or names have been utilized in this report. Instead, participants posts and interactions are summarized by the researcher, and a participant or post number is noted where appropriate.
Conclusions
The content of discussions in this study in which teachers were attempting to pursue personal needs, leveraging collective wisdom, creating a culture of growth, and self-reflecting, surrounded topics relating to the three circles of agriculture education. Although many school sites have social media sites blocked, literature has shown that teachers are using these platforms as a means to attain informal professional development on topics of specific interest to them. The topics of the conversation in this study were directly related to secondary agriculture education, and therefore can be considered a valid form of informal professional development because it meets their own learning objectives on their timeline (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall, 2012; Trust et al., 2016).
This study supported theories and research regarding adult education and teacher PLN’s as evidence by their participation in the California Agriculture Education Discussion Lab group. The theories and models can be combined and organized to explain the emergent themes of the findings of this study including need-based pursuance of knowledge and skill, leveraging collective wisdom, a culture of growth, and self-reflection. The most notable connections relate to the model created by Krutka et al. (2016), and its web of interconnected elements of teachers use of their PLN. The five areas outlined by the researchers can be applied to each individual teacher and their use of their PLN. Each teacher brings forth their own background and experience to their unique agriculture education program. Because each teacher is using their PLN in a way that’s unique to them, in each discussion post there are often several elements occurring in a single post and its comments as described by Krutka et al. (2016).
Although the findings of the study supported literature regarding adult education and professional growth in educators, when considering the transferability of this study it would be important to consider the subjects in this group may have relationships of various closeness with any number of individuals in the group and these relationships could impact individuals’ willingness to interact within the group. California agriculture educators are encouraged to participate in several formal professional development activities per year, in which they collaborate with other agriculture educators. These activities can include sectional meetings, regional meetings, [conference name], and the state conference. Additional opportunities are available to those at different stages of their career including the [conference name] (years 1-3), as well as the [conference name] (years 5 and up). When compared to other subject areas in secondary education, the area of agriculture is unrivaled in their efforts to encourage professional growth and networking in their teachers.
Based on the findings of this study and literature, further study with a more in-depth approach may reveal greater complexities of how teachers are using their PLN’s, and what role the discussion groups play in their professional development continuum. Study of school administrators views of social media platforms as part of the teacher professional development continuum compared to teachers use of these resources may provide insight into creating a more effective approach to formal and informal professional development for teachers in secondary agriculture programs.