This presentation contains the data from a survey conducted among educators in Australia concerned with Science education.
A summary of the data contained in this survey can be found at http://1nbm.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/socmedsurvey
1. @ASTA_online Social Media survey June 2011 Survey designed and conducted by Nigel Mitchell Manager of Online Professional Learning Australian Science Teachers Association 27 May – 26 June 2011 www.asta.edu.au Email [email_address]
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4. The survey included responses from a wide range of teachers. Specialist Science teachers made up 50% of the total respondents, with the remainder being generalist teachers, specialists in other areas, administrators and academics.
5. The various sectors of Australian education were well represented in the survey sample.
7. Exactly 50% of the respondents identified themselves as personal members of their STA. The fact that only 3 respondents (2%) were unaware of their membership status is encouraging.
8. The age profile of the survey sample seems to represent fairly closely the profile of the profession as a whole.
9. The survey sample represents a wealth of experience in the teaching profession.
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11. Email is ubiquitous, and it is noteworthy that more than 50% of respondents use Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia regularly in their personal lives.
12. Email, YouTube and Wikipedia are the main web 2.0 tools used by teachers for academic study and lesson preparation.
13. When we move from personal use to interaction with others, the impact of all web 2.0 tools other than email falls away markedly.
14. Facebook and Twitter are used to some extent for interaction with professional colleagues beyond the immediate workplace, but Email remains the most widely used medium.
15. The use of web 2.0 tools other than Email for interaction with students is negligible, but see the following slide.
16. The responses to this question seem to indicate that although teachers do not use web 2.0 tools for interaction with students, a number of tools are significantly integrated into their teaching. Note that YouTube is the most significant tool mentioned.
17. Only 25% of respondents have a blog and 36% have a twitter account.
18. Respondents who have Facebook overwhelmingly use their accounts primarily as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends.
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20. Other platforms mentioned by respondents included dimdim, discoverE, MeetingPlace (CSIRO), Connections (NSWDET). Some also mentioned attending sessions in Skype and Second Life.
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22. Although 44% of respondents indicated that they are aware of Moodle, only about 20% of teachers indicate any experience of working with the Learning Management System.
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24. Teachers were asked about the restrictions placed on the use of social media tools in school time by their students. Generally the results seem to indicate that teachers are satisfied with the restrictions currently in place.