ERIC Number: EJ1315520
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Dec
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2474-7432
EISSN: N/A
Collaboration between Scientists and Teachers Using Twitter
Norville, Kayla
Journal of Interdisciplinary Teacher Leadership, v2 n1 p91-95 Dec 2018
To address the lack of communication among scientists and teachers, the social media platform, Twitter, could be a useful tool. Over the years, Twitter has become an informal learning space for teachers (Rehm & Notten, 2016). Teachers use hashtags such as #scichat to collaborate with each other, share resources, stay informed about current educational practices, and hold conversations with people and organizations from around the world. Personal learning networks have emerged from these conversations. Twitter could be an excellent platform for science teachers to connect with scientists in order to assist them with their research via citizen science, but are they using it? In this investigation, the author explored the extent to which those involved in science teacher social networks are also involved in citizen science social networks. An overarching research question is "In what ways are K-12 science teachers involved in citizen science on Twitter?" The question was investigated with two sub-questions as follows: (1) What kind of overlaps exists between participants using science educator hashtags and citizen science hashtags?; and (2) What kind of overlaps exists between top influencers using science educator hashtags and citizen science hashtags? Findings from this study could assist researchers in determining the next steps for Twitter usage among science teachers who are interested in collaborating with scientists and pursuing citizen science in their classrooms.
Descriptors: Cooperation, Scientists, Science Teachers, Social Media, Authentic Learning, Faculty Development, Science Education, Participatory Research
Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership at NC State University. 1070 Partners Way, Hunt Library Suite 500, NCSU Centennial Campus, Raleigh, NC 27606. Tel: 919-515-5118; Fax: 919-515-5831; e-mail: kenanfellows@ncsu.edu; Web site: https://kenanfellows.org/journals/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

Peer reviewed
