Abstract
Teacher candidates in teacher education programs are using Twitter for a variety of reasons. This chapter explores teacher candidates' use of Twitter to make their service learning experiences in the L.E.A.D. program visible. Applying Bandura's (1978) reciprocal determinism, this chapter presents a lens for understanding how teacher candidates' Twitter use contributes to social learning while engaged in a high-impact practice. A set of six effective practices for using Twitter to make service learning visible are provided, with specific reference to the tweets of L.E.A.D. teacher candidates. The chapter concludes with next steps, considerations for teacher educators, and opportunities for further research into teacher candidates' uses of social media in service learning.
TopTwitter (www.twitter.com) is a social media platform where users post short messages in a micro-blogging style. Originally designed around the concept of posting information online in messages (i.e., “tweets”) the size of one text message (SMS)—140 characters—Twitter’s conceptual design was intended to complement the societal shift, and society’s subsequent dependence on, portable and mobile digital technologies. Twitter exhibits the basic functionality of Web 2.0 technology: content creation, content exchange, and user communication. Currently, Twitter supports messages including up to 280 characters of text, in addition to up to four images and video clips of up to 2 minutes, 20 seconds in length. The multimodal message content of Twitter is one of its attractive features, making the platform suitable for use in a variety of contexts: business, marketing, social communication, politics, and education.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Twittersphere: The name of the online Twitter environment where users post and interact.
K-12 Education: all grades in the elementary and secondary school system in Canada; Kindergarten and grades 1 through 12.
Reciprocal Determinism: A psychological theory that suggests a person’s cognition, behaviour, and environment are reciprocally related and, through social learning, affect others.
At-Risk Student: A student whose successful completion of schooling is identified as being affected by their academic achievement, behaviour, and/or socioeconomic status.
Critical Digital Pedagogy: A pedagogical approach focused on open community and collaboration where honest dialogue and problematizing occurs. The approach is one of social justice and education. High-Impact Practice: A teaching and learning activity that have been identified as having a significantly positive impact on the success of postsecondary students. These activities are usually developed at the program- or institutional-level, though they can often arise out of grassroots-level projects at the individual- or course-level.
Teacher Candidate: A students studying in a teacher education program working towards certification with a provincial licensing body (e.g., the Ontario College of Teachers).
Twitter: A social media platform based on a micro-blogging style where users communicate in short multimodal messages of 280 characters or less.
Student Success: Initiatives designed to support at-risk students successfully complete K-12 education programs. These might include specialized work connections, remedial courses, and mentorship or guidance counselling supports.