Tracing changes in teachers' professional learning network on Twitter: Comparison of teachers' social network structure and content of interaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Learning analytics for enhanced professional capital development: a systematic review

Background/Motivation

This article presents a systematic review aimed at examining the utilization of learning analytics (LA) to enhance teachers' professional capital.

Aim

The study focuses on three primary research questions: (1) exploring the characteristics and approaches of LA in professional capital, (2) investigating suggestions from LA for assessing and improving professional capital, and (3) examining variables studied in enhancing the most intricate dimension of professional capital using LA.

Methodology

To address the research objectives, a systematic review was conducted focusing on the key concepts "learning analytics" and "professional capital." Following the procedures outlined encompassed in four stages: identification, screening, inclusion, and adequacy. The PRISMA 2009 protocol guided the systematic review process.

Principal findings

The findings of the study underscore the efficacy of LA as a catalyst for improving professional capital, particularly through collaborative learning and the utilization of tools like forums and online learning platforms. Social capital emerges as a pivotal component in integrating diverse types of professional capital, fostering opportunities for knowledge creation and social networking.

Conclusion/Significance

In conclusion, the study highlights the paramount significance of addressing teachers' professional capital development through collaborative approaches and leveraging technology, particularly in primary education. The article concludes by emphasizing the imperative for more research and knowledge dissemination in this field, aiming to ensure equity in learning and address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

WhatsApp Discourse Throughout COVID-19: Towards Computerized Evaluation of the Development of a STEM Teachers Professional Learning Community

This two-year study followed a professional learning community (PLC) of STEM Teachers Leaders, referred to as L-PLC. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated changes in the focus of many professional development frameworks from face-to-face to online communication. We sought for new ways and tools to follow the professional development and the dynamics in our L-PLC. In particular, we explored professional knowledge development and social interactions, as derived from its WhatsApp group (43-48 participants) discourse, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were extracted from 6599 WhatsApp messages issued during four consecutive semesters (March 2019-March 2021), as well as from participant background questionnaires. The analysis incorporated both structure and content examination of the L-PLC WhatsApp discourse, using social network analysis (SNA), and a distinctive coding scheme followed by statistical analysis, heat map, and bar graph visualizations. These provided insights into whole group (macro), subgroups (meso), and individual (micro) profiles. The results indicated that over time, the participants gradually began to use the WhatsApp platform for professional purposes on top of its initial administrative intention. Moreover, the pandemic seemed to lead to a unique adjustment process, denoted by enhanced professional interactions, regarding content knowledge, professional content knowledge, and technological knowledge, and also accelerated the development of productive community behaviors, such as sharing and social support. The research approach enabled us to detect changes in key PLC characteristics, follow their dynamics under the influence of chaotic changes and navigate the community accordingly. Taken together, WhatsApp exchanges can serve as a rich source of data for a noninvasive continuous evaluation of group processes and progress.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40593-022-00320-3.

What do people write about COVID-19 and teaching, publicly? Insulators and threats to newly habituated and institutionalized practices for instruction

Covid represents major changes in teaching across the world. This study examined some of those changes through tweets that contained threats and insulators to habitualization of newer teaching practices. The investigator harvested tweets to determine sentiment differences between teaching and schools and teaching and online. Topic modeling explored the topics in two separate corpora. Omnibus Yuen’s robust bootstrapped t-tests tested for sentiment differences between the two corpora based on emotions such as fear, anger, disgust, etc. Qualitative responses voiced ideas of insulation and threats to teaching modalities institutionalized during the pandemic. The investigator found that ‘teaching and school’ was associated with higher anger, distrust, and negative emotions than ‘teaching and online’ corpus sets. Qualitative responses indicated support for online instruction, albeit complicated by topic modeling concerns with the modality. Some twitter responses criticized government actions as restrictive. The investigator concluded that insulation and threats towards habitualization and institutionalization of newer teaching modalities during covid are rich and sometimes at odds with each other, showing tension at times.

University Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Work and the Qualities of Excellent Teachers in the Context of Emergency Remote Learning

The massive adoption of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic brought an opportunity to investigate teachers’ conceptions of excellent teaching in the context of emergency remote education. From June to August 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire to (1) analyze teachers’ perceptions of the quality of their teaching in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) identify teachers’ perceptions of the qualities of excellent online teachers, and (3) examine differences based on gender, age, previous online learning training, and work experiences. The sample consisted of 341 university teachers who worked in private and public institutions in Ecuador. Results indicate that most participants perceived online teaching was easy for them, as well as personally satisfying. However, less than half of the participants felt that the quality of their teaching and their relationships with their students had improved since the adoption of online learning. Regarding the qualities of excellent online teachers, participants indicated that being respectful, enthusiastic about their teaching and their topics, striving to become a better teacher, being humble, and being knowledgeable about their subject matter were the top five qualities excellent online teachers should have. Comparison analysis indicated gender differences in some of the items. Women tended to feel more strongly that their relationship with their students had improved since online teaching was adopted; also, they gave higher scores to qualities such as being humble, establishing rapport, being sensitive and persistent, and being understanding compared to men. There were not differences based on age. Regarding online teaching training and work experiences, we found statistical differences in the perceptions on the quality of their teaching and some of the traits of excellent online educators. We found that participants with previous training and work experiences rated more strongly qualities such as being an effective communicator, being prepared and technologically competent. We discuss the implications of these findings considering the challenges that online learning imposes on educators in many parts of the world.