Virtual Professional Development and Informal Learning via Social NetworksRelease Date: June, 2012. Copyright © 2012. 364 pages.
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In Stock. Have it as soon as May. 23 with express shipping*. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1815-2, ISBN13: 9781466618152, ISBN10: 1466618159, EISBN13: 9781466618169  | | TopDescriptionPeople are increasingly engaged in profession-related learning via social networks supported by Web 2.0 tools. Some of these informal online learners are already actively engaged in a profession, whereas others are preparing to enter a profession. Their online interactions enhance their formal education and face-to-face professional experiences Virtual Professional Development and Informal Learning via Social Networks will examine how individuals and organizations are using Web 2.0 tools to create informal learning and professional development opportunities. Informal learning is learning which occurs outside of a formal educational context, typically driven by a personal question or an immediate need. In other instances, informal learning may occur as a by-product of other social interactions. In this context, we focus on informal learning that occurs through online social networks on a voluntary basis. Professional development, then, is defined as learning that will enhance one's job-related knowledge or career growth. This book is perfectly suited for academics and practitioners as it is written in a manner that is clearly accessible and includes implications for practice. TopTable of Contents and List of Contributors
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Reset | 1. |
Indi M. Williams (Arizona State University, USA), Bolanie A. Olaniran (Texas Tech University, USA)
This chapter presents a fresh look at collaborative applications and their use in professional development and informal learning. The chapter addresses some of the c...
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| 2. |
Kerry J. Burner (Walden University, USA & Florida State University, USA)
This chapter explores the issues that can arise when professionals employ Web 2.0 social networking technologies in service of their professional development by way...
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| 3. |
Shuang Hao (Florida State University, USA)
The number of mobile devices and active users is growing. Mobile devices expand the reach of technology-mediated communication possibilities for many people. They ha...
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| 4. |
Joseph M. Terantino (Kennesaw State University, USA)
This chapter discusses the adoption of activity theory (Engeström, 1987, 2001; Leont’ev, 1978, 1981) as a conceptual framework for analyzing learning processes relat...
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| 5. |
Xiaojun Chen (Purdue University, USA), Jea H. Choi (Purdue University, USA), Ji Hyun Yu (Purdue University, USA)
Recently, researchers in the instructional technology and learning sciences arenas have started to pay attention to the concept of Personal Learning Environments (PL...
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| 6. |
Magdalena Bielenia-Grajewska (University of Gdansk, Poland & Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Italy)
This chapter discusses the role of corporate online social networks in the process of informal learning. The first part of these studies offers some introduction to...
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| 7. |
Maria Elena Corbeil (The University of Texas at Brownsville, USA), Joseph Rene Corbeil (The University of Texas at Brownsville, USA)
Professionals who want to remain competitive in their fields are turning to Web 2.0 to learn the knowledge and skills they need in order to do their work more effici...
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| 8. |
Hanna Yakavenka (University of Greenwich, UK)
This chapter utilizes a peer learning community as an example to explore whether and how information exchange, learning, and knowledge creation occur when students u...
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| 9. |
Kyle Christensen (Columbus State University, USA), Iris M. Saltiel (Columbus State University, USA)
This chapter describes one university-based social network created for peer mentoring, knowledge brokering, and resource sharing for faculty and students to collabor...
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| 10. |
Mariliis Vahe (Florida State University, USA), Khawaja Zain-Ul-Abdin (Florida State University, USA), Yalin Kiliç Türel (Firat University, Turkey)
Social media has become one of the most dominant information phenomena of our time. As its commercial, social, activist, and informational uses multiply, questions a...
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| 11. |
Luke Rodesiler (University of Florida, USA), Lauren Tripp (University of Florida, USA)
Given the potential of informal online learning via social networks for supporting the career-long professional growth of in-service teachers, research must be condu...
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| 12. |
Aline Maria de Medeiros Rodrigues Reali (Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil), Regina Maria Simões Puccinelli Tancredi (Presbyterian University Mackenzie, Brazil & Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil), Maria da Graça Nicoletti Mizukami (Presbyterian University Mackenzie, Brazil & Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil)
This chapter examines the results of an investigation carried out by the researchers from a Brazilian public institution and experienced teachers (mentors) that aime...
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| 13. |
Jung Won Hur (Auburn University, USA), Thomas Brush (Indiana University, USA), Curt Bonk (Indiana University, USA)
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the findings of a research study analyzing knowledge and emotional sharing in a self-generated online teacher community. Al...
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| 14. |
Vanessa Paz Dennen (Florida State University, USA), Wenting Jiang (Florida State University, USA)
Social media provides professional organizations with a new means of distributing information and perhaps even facilitating learning among their members. This study...
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| 15. |
Wayne A. Slabon (Columbus State University, USA), Randy L. Richards (St. Ambrose University, USA)
In this chapter, the authors describe an initiative to create a cross-organization, knowledge building communal network built from the personal workplace stories vol...
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| 16. |
Richard Brandt (Metroplex Dermatology, USA), Rich Rice (Texas Tech University, USA)
Polymorphic innovations of Web 2.0 have both inspired and facilitated a near ubiquitous learning architecture centered on mobility, customization, and collective int...
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TopTopics Covered- Case studies of cognitive apprenticeship, mentoring, and knowledge brokering through online social networks.
- Case studies of social network development
- Empirical research on network interactions in professional development networks
- Evaluations of online professional development networks
- How norms and practices develop in professional development networks
- How professional development networks are designed and developed
- Pedagogical frameworks for informal online professional development
- Social networking frameworks for informal online professional development
- technologies used for professional development networks
- Technology support for informal online professional development
TopAuthor(s)/Editor(s) BiographyVanessa P. Dennen is an Associate Professor of Instructional Systems at Florida State University. She earned a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University. Her research investigates the nexus of cognitive, motivational, and social elements in computer-mediated communication, concentrating on two major issues: learner participation in online activities, and interactions, norm development, and informal learning within online communities of practice. Vanessa’s publications, which have been well cited, have appeared in Instructional Science; Distance Education; Computers in Human Behavior; The Handbook of Distance Education; The Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology; and The International Handbook of Collaborative Learning among others. Additionally, she recently co-edited (with Stefan Hrastinski) a special issue of The Internet and Higher Education on Social Media in Higher Education. Jennifer B. Myers is the ASSIST Project Director and an instructional designer and consultant at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in South Carolina. Additionally, she is a Ph.D. candidate at Florida State University in the Instructional Systems program under the College of Education. Previously, Myers worked as a middle school teacher in North Carolina and earned her Master’s degree in Instructional Systems at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has designed and developed a number of instructional courses and materials for a variety of organizations and audiences in the K-12, higher education, and non-profit sectors and has taught graduate and undergraduate level courses in addition to her experiences teaching in K-12. She has presented her research at various professional conferences. Additionally, she is working on her dissertation examining self-regulated learning within an informal online community of practice. More broadly, her research interests surround informal learning, professional development, mentoring, self-regulated learning, social learning, knowledge brokering, and online communities of practice. |
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