“Friend me”: Two simple words for educators to access web-based social networking opportunities by David E. Favre

We have all heard the aphorism, “It’s not what you know but who you know.” While this apparent truism does have a ring of truth to it, in that one’s personal or professional connections can often lead to success beyond one’s individual knowledge or skills, educators know better than this. It’s not just who you know. Success in teaching depends on what you know, who you know, and also what they know. Prior to the rise of social networking websites, teachers and administrators could only conveniently reach out to knowledgeable others within their own immediate professional spheres: schools, districts, professional development seminars and occasional conferences. Now, many knowledgeable others who share your same professional development interests are just a click away. All that is needed to make this important connection is to locate that person or interest group, and say “friend me” to become their new +1 or newest group member.

Success in teaching depends on what you know, who you know, and also what they know. All that is needed to make this important connection is to locate that person or interest group, and say “friend me” to become their new +1 or newest group member.

The importance of establishing relationships and connections with other educators served as the basis for a special issue by the American Journal of Education in November of 2012 addressing social network theory’s contribution to our understanding of teaching, learning, and the implementation of innovations. In this issue, Moolenaar and Daly (2012) defined social network theory as being “concerned with the pattern of social relationships between individuals or units, organizations, and even systems” and suggested that educational researchers use this theoretical framework to examine how individuals may or may not gain access to resources within the social network such as “attitudes, knowledge, expertise and friendship” (p. 2).

While the social network theory lens has been applied to examine how teacher relationship networks affect the professional growth of teachers, student outcomes, and the success or failure of educational reform efforts, this examination has been largely focused on traditional collaborative efforts between and within school and districts (Moolenaar, 2012). Relationship networks that operate between schools and districts are less constrained by traditional roles and boundaries than those that exist within schools and districts (p. 11-12). Web-based social networking sites are even less constrained, and offer teachers and administrators opportunities to connect with other educators in creative ways that are only constrained by their own imaginations. A non-exhaustive list of social networking websites on Wikipedia catalogs 200 prominent and popular sites (“List of social networking websites”, n.d). Social networks vary in their topical focus, effectiveness in user communication and convenience. Educators striving to expand their professional development networks are best served by taking the necessary time to educate themselves on which social network will best suit their needs.

Social networking websites range from those with a generalized focus, such as Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, to highly specialized websites, like English, baby! (for students and teachers of English as a second language) and SmarterCookie (for teacher development and coaching). Enterprise social networks, such as Yammer, allow for private communications within organizations or special interest groups. Only users from the same institution, verified by their email addresses, may join their specific network. Social networking can occur on other types of websites as well.  Educators can make connections on such diverse platforms as blogs, forums, groups, ePortfolios, or real-time chat rooms. They can access documents and multimedia files posted by other teachers, or post their own on platforms that allow file sharing. All it takes is for educators to ask someone to “friend them” or accept a “friend” request. Once a connection is made, teachers may work on documents collaboratively or seek feedback on the quality of their own work. With the abundance and diversity of social networking websites out there coupled with the sheer number of users (Facebook recently reached a milestone of one billion users (Tsukayama, 2012)), it is critical that educators know where to go to seek fruitful connections that will enrich their teaching.

Understanding the factors that lead us to make social connections and how we go about asking others for help may lead educators in the right direction. Frank and Fahrbach (1999) proposed a model of social selection where individuals seek others out based on a perceived similarity in salient demographics and for their ability to provide needed information. Given this conceptual framework, one may expect that teachers will gravitate toward social networking websites where they can find others like themselves seeking similar information and skills. However, how will teachers find websites that may be useful for their purposes? Increasing educators’ awareness of what resources are available is a logical place to begin. At least for higher education faculty, awareness of available online resources seems low. In a recent survey of 1,920 higher education teaching faculty, Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane (2011) report that over 80 percent of respondents have an awareness of the eight most popular social media websites, but less than 50 percent were aware of the lesser-used presentation-sharing site SlideShare. It appears that although higher education faculty members knew of the more popular websites, they may not have been aware of lesser known social networking websites or aware of the adaptive potential of mainstream sites (e.g., starting a special interest group page).  Persistence, or consistent use of a social network site, is also a factor in supporting educators’ connections with each other; the above study found that “78% of all faculty acknowledge using at least one social media site in support of their professional career activities” (p. 9), but that frequency of using these sites for this purpose was not consistent across respondents. Effective use of social networking requires teachers to have the persistence to consistently access the site so that they may be aware of new information that was posted, new members who have joined, and new site functionality which may benefit their teaching. Beyond simple awareness of and persistence with social networking sites, educators must also learn how to navigate within the site networks so that they may increase opportunities to make a connection with someone who can extend needed resources. This may require learning the functional components of the site, so that they may know how and where to search, and how to establish their web presence within the network so that they may be found by others.

Teacher collaboration efforts within social networks have the potential to affect three important measures of educational effectiveness: the quality of teachers’ instructional practice, student learning outcomes, and support for educational reform efforts (Moolenaar, 2012). First, social networks may affect teachers’ instructional practices through increasing learning opportunities, providing a social influence, and creating a safe and supportive environment for learning (p. 24). Social learning theories offer additional insights into how these factors may influence teachers within web-based social networks. Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977 & 1986) posits that individuals can learn by observing behavior modeled by others in their environment. Social network websites allow for teachers to dramatically increase the amount of models that they are exposed to and thereby also increase opportunities for learning instructional practices which may be effective in their own practice. Social constructivist theory (Vygotsky, 1978) asserts that individuals jointly construct knowledge in their social environment. Through processes of collaboration, teachers are able to construct new knowledge that synergistically expands their knowledge base. Web-based social networks also allow for increased prospects for teachers finding models similar to themselves simply by reaching out and “friending” them. Frank and Fahrbach’s (1999) model of social selection states that the effect of homophily explains individuals’ preferences for interacting with others like themselves. Social cognitive theory suggests that “model similarity” has effects on teacher self-efficacy for engaging in similar instructional practices. Models who are perceived to be similar exert more social influence than those who appear to be dissimilar. Expert models may also be sought for their proficiency and their ability to provide critical information. These processes are most effective in environments that are perceived to be safe and supportive. Notwithstanding recent news reports of teacher and administrators running into trouble on social medial websites by posting inappropriate content or crossing professional boundaries with their students, “the vast majority of educators use social networking discreetly and professionally to make connections that can enhance careers, not jeopardize them” (Long, 2009).

The second important benefit of social networking is that teachers’ access to resources from their network connections has been linked with student performance and was found to “moderate the impact of teacher ability on student performance” (Moolenaar, 2012, p. 23). Further, student performance outcomes appear to have a strong reciprocal relationship with teachers’ beliefs about their own self-efficacy (Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993). Increased opportunities to vicariously observe models on social network websites, through the use of multimedia, may also afford teachers new opportunities to inform their teaching self-efficacy beliefs. By observing other teachers conducting their classes in videos posted to social networking sites, or reviewing teacher reflections on their instructional experiences, teachers may gain insights into pedagogy that may be absent from the limited opportunities offered by traditional social networking at their schools. Teachers often carry out the tasks of their profession in isolation with restricted opportunities to observe other teachers practicing their craft. Opportunities to reflect with colleagues are also limited within traditional social networking. Time constraints during working hours and professional rivalry often don’t permit teachers to fully share their reflections on their practice. Web-based social networking provides teachers with increased access to network connections and a more secure environment that may facilitate the development of their teaching self-efficacy beliefs and skills sets, subsequently benefiting their students’ academic performance.

Finally, the “depth and spread of reform implementation” are influenced by “cross-subgroup relationships that allow teachers to come in contact with diverse information and opinions about the reform” (Moolenaar, 2012, p. 26). This conclusion speaks well for the ability of web-based social networks to influence educational innovation efforts, but only to the extent that teachers expose themselves to this diversity of information and opinions, and persist in these efforts. An openness to listen to both sides of any reform issue, by actively engaging in constructive debate, cannot help but to better inform educators of potential advantages and disadvantages. Web-based social networks enhance the likelihood for lively and ongoing debate where “friends” can discuss topics over short or long periods of time with opportunities to surf the net for information to further inform their discussions.

All it takes is know where to look and the willingness to say, “friend me.”  By doing so, you will be plugged in to a social network that is as connected as your 4G wireless.

The potential for educators to develop their professional knowledge, attitudes, expertise and friendships is clearly enhanced by making connections with knowledgeable others on web-based social networks. All it takes is know where to look and the willingness to say, “friend me.”  By doing so, you will be plugged in to a social network that is as connected as your 4G wireless.

References

Bandura, Albert. 1977. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, Albert. 1986.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Frank, Kenneth A., and Kyle Fahrbach. 1999. “Organization culture as a complex system: balance and information in models of influence and selection.” Organization Science 10, no. 3: 253–277.

Hoy, Wayne K., and Anita E. Woolfolk. 1993. “Teachers’ sense of efficacy and the organizational health of schools.” The Elementary School Journal: 355-372.

“List of Social Networking Websites.” Wikipedia. Accessed February 1, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites.

Long, Cindy. 2009. “Online social networking for educators.”  (January). http://www.nea.org/home/20746.htm

Moolenaar, Nienke M. 2012. “A Social Network Perspective on Teacher Collaboration in Schools: Theory, Methodology, and Applications.” American Journal of Education 119, no. 1: 7-39.

Moolenaar, Nienke M., and Alan J. Daly. 2012. “Social Networks in Education: Exploring the Social Side of the Reform Equation.” American Journal of Education 119, no. 1: 1-6.

Moran, Mike, Jeff Seaman, and Hester Tinti-Kane. 2011. “Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today’s Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media.” (April). http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/educators/pearson-social-media-survey-2011-bw.pdf.

Tsukayama, Hayley. 2012. “Facebook Hits Milestone of 1 Billion Users.” The Washington Post (October 4). http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-04/business/35498784_1_user-mark-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-users.

Vygotsky, Lev. 1978. Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.