Presentation to accompany the paper presented at Castle IX SSTEP COnference at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England.

1. The Ninth International Conference on Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices
August 15-19, 2012 Herstmonceux Castle
East Sussex, England
USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO ENGAGE
TEACHER CANDIDATES IN RELEVANT,
TIMELY, AND RICH LEARNING
EXPERIENCES
Michael Nantais & Jacqueline Kirk
Faculty of Education
Brandon University
photo: by Robert Rongen (TopCastles) http://www.flickr.com/photos/topcastles/4619336201/

2. Let’s get acquainted!
• You will find a survey on your table.
• Please take a minute to fill it in to help us
get to know more about the people in the
group.
• Once you have filled in the information, pass
your survey form to the front so that we can
collate the results!
• Of course, you can choose not to participate
but you will miss out on the fun and fabulous
official Brandon University
(Participants MUST be present at the time of the draw
to claim the prize!!)

3. Our Context

4. ★ Teacher K-12
★ Administrator
★ ICT Coordinator
★ Now, I teach Classroom
Management and
Educational Administration.
Jackie’s Background

5. teacher
ICT coordinator
administrator
now teach Math
Methods & Ed tech
Mike’s Background

6. Teacher Educators!

7. Purpose
Our goal was to explore how our practice could be improved by
the development and implementation of an online community.
... we considered how the use of an online community
enhanced the experience of students in our teacher
education program.

8. 1. What strategies can we use to engage our
students in meaningful online community
building that will contribute to their
achievement of course outcomes?
2. What, if anything, can we do to motivate
students to continue their participation in
professional online communities?
3. What motivates individuals to participate in
online professional learning networks?
Research Questions

9. Why use
social media?

10. poster by D. Kuropatwa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkuropatwa/3862101829/

11. “human learning presupposes a
specific social nature”
(Vygotsky)

12. “we are prepared
by both our
cultural and
biological
heritage to use
language and
cultural tools
and to learn from
each other”
(Rogoff)

13. We learn through social interactions
in authentic, situated contexts ...
A Community of Practice
(Lave & Wenger)
photo by A. Forgave: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aforgrave/6078336311/

14. • reflective
journals
• critical friends
conversations
• document
analysis
• observations
Data Collection and Analysis

15. Findings
• We experimented with different ways of motivating participation.
• Participation from Faculty and from students increased (565 members,
July 24, 2012)
• Students appreciated “learning beyond the classroom lecture.”
Barriers
•Asynchronous discussions led
to an I-can-do-it-later approach.
•Too many online spaces that
need attention.

16. Implications, Applications
& Discussion
what are your experiences?
• What are the benefits for teacher candidates and
beginning teachers who participate in professional social
networks?
• What are some strategies for engaging education students
in professional online communities of practice?
• What are the possibilities for creating communities that
students will continue to access as they move into their

17. nantaism@brandonu.ca kirkj@brandonu.ca
@miken_bu @jackie007_41
Thank you ... and to conclude ...