Profiles of Secondary School Teachers’ Use of Social Media and Their Views about the Role of Social Media in Education

SABANCI A., Urhan M. U.

8th International Congress on New Trends in Education, Antalya, Turkey, 27 - 29 May 2013, pp.59-60, (Full Text)

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • City: Antalya
  • Country: Turkey
  • Page Numbers: pp.59-60
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Problem Statement: As the internet continues to evolve, educators must keep pace with the latest tools and understand both the opportunities and threats these present. Instead of opposing in-school and out-of-school learning, the advent of new learning technologies describes a pluralistic world in which out-of-school learning can complement in-school education

Purpose of Study: The purpose of this paper is to explore the profiles of secondary school teachers’ use of social media and their views about the role of social media in education.

Methods: This research was based on phenomenological approach which is a qualitative research design. The participants were determined by maximum variation sampling which is a type of purposeful sampling. As a result the work group consisted of fourteen secondary school teachers. The data were gathered by qualitative interviewing using standardized open-ended interviews. The data were analysed by content analysis technique in two ways: first the interviews were read through in order to get a feel for what is being said, identifying key themes and issues in each text; secondly, NVivo 10, computer software package was used for further analysis.

Findings and Results: The findings show that teachers are social networks users to some extent especially face book and you tube. Their purposes at using networks seem to share materials and information fast and free. The findings indicate that teachers use social networks for educational issues such as professional problems, daily events of their schools, exam issues, and branches thought directly and indirectly. According to Teachers views, they do not benefit from network for professional development. Some teachers said that they have a slight relation which is not functional with their students in network. Teachers asserted that students should be controlled while using network while some teachers said that a teacher should not communicate their students at all in the net.

Conclusions and Recommendations: Consequently, in the current use of social networks teachers believe that they do not contribute to students learning. In order to benefit social networks by means of educating students, teachers’ awareness and technical skills should be strengthened.

 

Key Words: Social media; instructional strategy; formal learning; informal learning; social networking