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Featured Publications

In Journal of Research on Technology in Education

This study revisits Carpenter and Krutka’s (2014) survey of how and why educators use Twitter, through exploring one of Twitter’s oldest education hashtags: #Edchat. From October 1, 2017 to June 5, 2018, more than 1.2 million unique #Edchat tweets were collected from approximately 200,000 different tweeters. Machine coding was used to answer, “What types of tweets did users contribute to #Edchat?,” and human coding to answer, “What purposes are observable in these tweets?” The results showed that #Edchat has been used effectively for exploring ideas but under-utilized for sharing emotions—with mixed results for capitalizing on the advantages of Twitter’s online environment. Further research is required to explore combating teacher isolation and experiencing a sense of camaraderie. Taking into account these results, practitioners should be clear regarding their goals for Twitter education hashtag use when considering #Edchat, and researchers studying different education hashtags should keep in mind various tweet types, modes, and purposes.
In SITE 2019

Accessing and contributing to online spaces have become regular parts of many educators’ professional activities. However, the popular discussion forum website Reddit has received little attention from educational researchers despite the presence of multiple education-related subreddits that have tens of thousands of subscribers and feature thousands of threaded conversations per year. To address this gap in the literature, we gathered data related to one year of activity on four education-related subreddits. Comparative analysis revealed substantial differences among the four subreddits in terms of levels of engagement, sentiment, and network characteristics. Reddit appears to host multiple online spaces that are diverse in nature and might meet or respond to different educator needs. We discuss these findings in relation to the extant literature and consider implications for future research and teacher education practice.
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In British Journal of Educational Technology

This conceptual exploration revisits a key question from earlier work (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014): What is scholarship reconsidered in the age of social media? Social scholarship is a framework that expanded Boyer’s (1990) conceptualization of scholarship to consider how social media affect discovery and research, teaching and learning, integration, and application. This paper critically reflects on how social scholarship continues to evolve in light of changing understandings in the field of educational technology and the role social media play in the academy. We provide recent examples of social scholarship such as altmetrics, interdisciplinary projects, crowdsourced educational technology syllabi and reconsideration of the needs of research participants. Moreover, we share concrete examples of how scholars might enact social scholarship, with what benefits and challenges, and surface new concerns regarding openness, equity, access, literacy, privacy and ethical considerations. Our paper concludes with recommendations for preparing scholars to enact social scholarship while mitigating the challenges it poses.
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In TechTrends

Although researchers have discovered a great deal about who uses Twitter for educational purposes, what they post about, when they post and why they participate, there has so far been little work to explore where participants in educational Twitter contexts are located. In this paper, we establish a methodological foundation that can support the exploration of geographical issues in educational Twitter research. We surveyed 46 participants in one educational Twitter hashtag, #michED, to determine where they lived; we then compared these responses to results from three digital methods for geolocating Twitter users (human coding, machine coding and GPS coding) to explore these methods’ affordances and constraints. Human coding of Twitter profiles allowed us to analyze more participants with higher levels of accuracy but also has disadvantages compared to other digital—and traditional—methods. We discuss the additional insights obtained through geolocating #michED participants as well as considerations for using geolocation and other digital methods in educational research.
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In Qwerty

Recent articles in the educational research field have called for a stronger research focus on students’ learning with everyday technologies in-and-out-of classrooms and on the changing nature of scholars’ practices in light of tech- nological advancements. We present findings from a mixed methods study of whether and how novice researchers understand and practice social scholar- ship – a concept currently being debated in various disciplines – which seeks to leverage social media affordances to create expanded sites for research collaboration, peer review, dissemination, and evaluation of research im- pact. We found that novice researchers focused almost exclusively on social scholarship of discovery and much less on interdisciplinary, teaching, or ap- plied scholarship. Insights from this study will appeal to those interested in examining the theory and design of graduate student learning and faculty development.
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In SITE 2017

Communication in online settings can occur at the same time (synchronously) or at different times (asynchronously). A new form of online learning in which teachers communicate both at the same time and at different times is through social media platforms such as Twitter. In this descriptive, exploratory study, we set out to explore differences between synchronous and asynchronous interactions through a State Educational Twitter Hashtag (SETH) for educators in Michigan in the United States of America. We collected more than 8,000 tweets and coded for whether the tweet was during either part of a once-per-week synchronous “chat” or all other times of the week. We compared #miched between the two modes and then determined differences in terms of interactions and sentiment. Our analysis is discussed in light of findings from research on synchronous and asynchronous learning.
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In SITE 2017

Every day, thousands of educators use Twitter to interact with each other. Yet, the research that examines these educator interactions on Twitter is nascent, in part because it is unclear how to theoretically conceptualize the nature of interactions occurring in just 140 characters. In this paper, we explore three of the most promising theoretical frameworks for studying interactions on Twitter: affinity spaces, media circuits, and social capital. We examine what each perspective emphasizes and how these important features can be operationalized in Twitter interactions. We exemplify how these theories might be used by applying each to a descriptive analysis of the interactions that occurred in the #Edchat hashtag during a 24-hour period (N = 7,509 tweets). We found that each theory highlighted different characteristics of #Edchat and that each had its own strengths and weaknesses. We discuss the implications of this work for further understanding educator interactions on Twitter.
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Recent Publications

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This study revisits Carpenter and Krutka’s (2014) survey of how and why educators use Twitter, through exploring one of Twitter’s …

Accessing and contributing to online spaces have become regular parts of many educators’ professional activities. However, the popular …
PDF Code Dataset Source Document

Prior research has shown that teacher communities are important for social, cognitive, and affective growth of teachers. Further, …
PDF Code Source Document

Social media have come to play an important role in the professional lives of many educators. Platforms such as Twitter create new …
PDF Source Document

This conceptual exploration revisits a key question from earlier work (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014): What is scholarship reconsidered …
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Teaching

 
 
 
 
 

Instructor, Electronic Assessment for Teaching and Learning

Michigan State University

Sep 2018 – Present Online

CEP 813 (Master’s course)

Foundational theories of assessment. Critical examination of methods (e.g., portfolios, rubrics, surveys, tests, self-evaluations), and digital tools that allow educators to gather information, analyze it, and make informed pedagogical choices. Design of assessments for learning, as learning and of learning, especially in digital contexts.

 
 
 
 
 

Instructor, Learning Technology through Design

Michigan State University

Jan 2018 – Present Online

CEP 817 (Master’s course)

Design of educational curricula, tools, and software. Designing for learners. Human computer interaction. Art and aesthetics of design. Iterative design. Collaboration in design.

 
 
 
 
 

Instructor, Teaching and Learning with Technology

Michigan State University

Sep 2017 – Present Online

CEP 416 (Undergraduate course)

Uses of multimedia technology and social media in teaching and learning. Developing plans for integrating technology in classroom. Designing digital online portfolio as tool for professional development. Teaching school subject matter with technology.

 
 
 
 
 

Instructor, Teaching Students Online

Michigan State University

Sep 2017 – Dec 2017 Online

CEP 820 (Master’s course)

Strategies for constructing and implementing online curricula aimed at students across the lifespan.

Posts

I am currently in the midst of completing my coursework for a PhD in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology through Michigan …
4 min read

In 2015, I completed a Master of Arts degree in Educational Technology through Michigan State University’s College of Education. …
5 min read

A bit of fiction to realize truth.
11 min read

In 2014, I completed a 3-course Graduate Certificate in Serious Game Design and Research through Michigan State University’s …
3 min read

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