5 Conclusion

Social media create new opportunities and new tensions that are not yet fully understood by educational researchers. As the “edu-verse” continues to expand beyond the traditionally conceived two worlds of teacher preparation programs and PK-12 schools to include online modalities like social media, new teachers’ understanding of emerging learning ecologies and their own agency must expand as well.

The purpose of this study is to explore what supports for professional learning new teachers seek during induction and how they use social media with the intention of seeking these supports. This study fills a gap in the literature by considering both the scope of potential interpersonal connections made through social media and the particular needs of new teachers. In addition, findings add new categories to scholarly understanding of new teachers’ PLN development, especially in terms of why and how new teachers seek supports.