educators' perceptions of twitter for educational technology professional development: a uses...

Educators’ Perceptions of Twitter for Educational Technology Professional

Development: A Uses and Gratifications Expectancy Model

Douglas C. StrahlerDissertation Defense

Doctoral Program in Instructional Technology and LeadershipDuquesne University

Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaOctober 23, 2014

“In an era of school reform, many consider the education

and professional development of teachers as the keystone to educational improvement.”

-Chris Dede, taken from Online Professional Development for Teachers

Perception of failing school systems

Lack of quality teachers

Need to meet student achievement goals No Child Left Behind Act

A variety of professional development programs have beencreated to address major changes in education.

INTRODUCTION

Reasons for School Reform

Statement of the Problem

Substantial growth in the number of PD programs, but some lack quality or are not continuous Traditional formats and online

Resistance to change Fullan (1991), Sparks & Hirsh (1997), Guskey (2000) and

other researchers identify a variety of reasons from personal habits to a lack of motivation and benefits

Growing need for “just-in-time” assistance and continuous support (Dede, 2006)

INTRODUCTION

Twitter & Online Professional Development

Social Networking service that is a fusion of IM (Instant messaging) and an SMS-based (short messaging service) communications platform 140-character limit Hashtags (#) = categories @ replies = usernames

OPD programs has allowed the experience to be more customizable, real-time, and provides an outlet for ongoing support (Whitehouse et. al, 2006)

Anderson (1976) asserts “there is continuing need for aids to making decisions about media–what to use, when, and why” (p. 3) – based on the characteristics on a specific media.

INTRODUCTION

The role of communication in the learning process is critical –

which may influence students’ learning experience.

Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT)

An audience based theoretical framework, grounded on the assumption that individuals select media and content to fulfill felt needs or wants. Students/Adult Learners select a medium to satisfy their

learning needs

These needs are expressed as motives for adopting particular medium use, and are connected to the social and psychological makeup of the individual (Papacharissi, 1996).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

UGT Assumptions

Active Audience

Media effects are limited to attitude and behavior

Media compete with other sources

Media users are able to identify their own needs and possess the ability to report their needs/motives


UGT Criticisms & Extensions

One of the primary criticisms of UGT is the lack of a common theoretical base leading to many researchers referring to at as an “approach.”

Extensions Expectancy-value theory (EVT) applies that “the

gratifications you seek from media are determined by your attitudes toward the media–your beliefs about what a particular medium can give you – and your evaluations of this material” (Littlejohn & Foss, 2011, p. 351).

Dependency theory examines “the relationship among social systems, media systems, and audiences, and how each of these interacts and affects one another” (Rosenberry & Vicker, 2009, p. 127).


Uses and Gratifications Expectancy Model

Mondi, Woods, & Rafi (2008) Study investigated communication behaviors on ‘how and

why’ students’ ‘Uses and Gratification Expectancy’ (UGE) for e-learning resources influenced their ‘Perceived e-Learning Experience’

Secondary-school level in Malaysia Developed the “Uses and Gratifications Expectancy

Questionnaire” (UGEQ)


Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas’ (1973) Five Communicative Attributes

Dropping the entertainment needs for my study


The purpose of this study was to examine how educators’ uses and gratifications expectancy of Twitter for professional development influenced their perceived e-learning experience Focus in educational technology professional development


Research Purpose

Research Design

Two-part survey Part One: Demographics & Twitter Usage Part Two: Uses and Gratifications Expectancy

Questionnaire (UGEQ)

Web-based survey using Survey Monkey

Survey will be administered to educators’ who use or follow #edtechchat on Twitter

Survey link will be posted to Twitter once per day for four weeks

METHODOLOGY

Example TweetsMETHODOLOGY

Research Question & Null Hypothesis #1

RQ1: Are educators’ cognitive uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development positively related to their perceived e-learning experience?

H1: Educators cognitive uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development is not positively related to their perceived e-learning experience.

METHODOLOGY

Cognitive UGE

CUGE1. I use Twitter to help me know many things

CUGE2. I use Twitter to search for new information

CUGE3. I carry out Twitter searches to answer questions

CUGE4. I post questions to Twitter for answers

CUGE5. I use Twitter to explore topics of interest, beyond my normal content area

Perceived e-Learning

PLEUGE1. Using Twitter allows me to learn at my own pace

PLEUGE2. Using Twitter gives me control over what I want to learn and when I want to learn it

PLEUGE3. When I discover new things on Twitter, I think about it critically

PLEUGE4. I discover things on Twitter on my own

PLEUGE5. I am able to access information that I need from Twitter

METHODOLOGY

Research Question 1 Measurement-Items


RQ2: Are educators’ affective uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development positively related to their perceived e-learning experience?

H2: Educators affective uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development is not positively related to their perceived e-learning experience.

METHODOLOGY

Affective UGE

AUGE1. I like to talk to others about Twitter

AUGE2. I like showing others how to use Twitter in different ways

AUGE3. I enjoy working with Twitter







METHODOLOGY



RQ3: Are educators’ personal integrative uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development positively related to their perceived e-learning experience?

H3: Educators personal integrative uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development is not positively related to their perceived e-learning experience.

METHODOLOGY

Personal Integrative UGE

PUGE1. Using Twitter is easy for me

PUGE2. Using Twitter allows me to be virtually anywhere at any time

PUGE3. I can search and navigate through Twitter content easily







METHODOLOGY



RQ4: Are educators’ social integrative uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development positively related to their perceived e-learning experience?

H4: Educators social integrative uses and gratification expectancy of Twitter for professional development is not positively related to their perceived e-learning experience.

METHODOLOGY

Social Integrative UGE

SUGE1. Using Twitter gives me feedback I need from others

SUGE2. I use Twitter to interact with other educators

SUGE3. Using Twitter prepares me to join the extended learning community in the world

SUGE4. Using Twitter improves my ability to communicate with other people

SUGE5. Using Twitter keeps me from feeling lonely







METHODOLOGY


Data Analysis

SPSS Version 22 Descriptive Statistics for Demographic & Twitter

Usage data Pearson Correlation Analysis Stepwise Multiple Regression

RESULTS

Respondent Demographics

Gender: 23.1% Male; 76.9% Female

FINDINGS

Respondent DemographicsFINDINGS

Respondent Twitter UsageFINDINGS

Instrumentation & Reliability Analysis

Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha scores at a level of .05 – exceed .70 min (Hair, et al., 1998)

Appropriate sample size (N=39)

Summated Scales created for each construct

FINDINGS

Constructs Items Alpha

CUGE CUGE1, CUGE2, CUGE3, CUGE4, CUGE5 .862

AUGE AUGE1, AUGE2, AUGE3 .856

PUGE PUGE1, PUGE2, PUGE3 .791

SUGE SUGE1, SUGE2, SUGE3, SUGE4, SUGE5 .773

PLEUGE PLEUGE1, PLEUGE2, PLEUGE, PLEUGE4, PLEUGE5 .901

Pearson Correlation Analysis FINDINGS

Stepwise Multiple Regression

Takes the independent variable that significantly contributes to the variance and adds it to the first model, then the next variable is tested until the best set of predictor variables is determined (Hair, et al., 1998)

Assumptions tested and met Outliers [Mahalanobis Distance & Cook’s Distance] Multicollinearity [Tolerance & VIF] Independence of the Residuals [Durbin-Watson] Normality [Histogram] Linearity [P-P plot] & Homoscedasticity [Scatterplot]

FINDINGS

Stepwise Regression Analysis ResultsFINDINGS

Cognitive UGE significantly predicted perceived e-learning experience

Affective UGE, Personal UGE, & Social UGE did not significantly predict perceived e-learning experience

Interpretation of Regression Model FINDINGS

Participants’ in the #edtechchat primary need is cognitive - related to strengthening information, knowledge, and understanding (Katz, Gurevitch, & Haas, 1973) OPD through Twitter is satisfying the need for knowledge Similar to previous UGT studies

Johnson and Yang (2009) – information motives significant, but not social motives

Liu, Cheung, and Lee (2010) – content & technology gratifications were factors; not social gratifications

Veletsianos (2011) – scholars primary activity on Twitter was sharing information, media, and resources

CONCLUSION

Key Study Findings

Professional Development Provides results for perceived learning experience through

Twitter Provides insight into designing/developing OPD through Twitter Contribution to the field of adult learning by beginning to

understand learners’ perceptions

UGT Continue to extend the research in the field of UGT For UGEM, provided an opportunity to further expand this

model

Twitter Provides results on how Twitter is being used for OPD

CONCLUSION

Contributions to the Field

With OPD, need to further understand uses and gratifications of electronic media for learning

Anderson (1976) asserts “there is continuing need for aids to making decisions about media–what to use, when, and why” (p. 3) – based on the characteristics on a specific media.

The findings: provide insights into why educators continue to use Twitter

as a professional development tool, despite the negative perceptions that typically surround PD; and

begin to provide insights into how and why Twitter provides an environment conducive to learning.

CONCLUSION

Significance of Study

Distribution of survey online

Low response rate/small sample size Summer time

Users only clicked/viewed link primarily on Sunday-Tuesday

Focused on one content area (educational technology)

Respondents self-reported their perceptions

CONCLUSION

Study Limitations

A study could be conducted to develop a deeper understanding of which measurement-items within each uses and gratifications expectancy (UGE) construct relate to educators’ perceived e-learning experience through Partial Least Squares or SEM analysis Could provide valuable insights into which items play a role in the

perceived e-learning experience

A study could be conducted to investigate demographic differences and how they contribute to the perceived e-learning experience through Twitter

Increase the sample size to provide a stronger representation of the larger population

CONCLUSION

Future Research

A study could be conducted to examine different content areas of Twitter chats

A study could be conducted by adopting a qualitative research design to examine the “complexity of the social interactions” (Marshall & Rossman, 2011) and the culture of Twitter as a professional development tool Content Analysis of Twitter chat archives could be conducted, which

would provide “more directly how individual-level cognitive processes and effects relate to message characteristics” (Riffe, Lacy, & Fico, 2014)

A study could be conducted to evaluate Guskey’s (2000) second critical level of PD evaluation – Participants’ learning Did participants’ acquired the intended knowledge or skill? Assist in improving Twitter chat content, format, and organization

CONCLUSION

Future Research

Conclusion

This exploratory study found that while all four uses and gratification expectancy constructs were found to be statistically significant, a deeper analysis using a stepwise regression uncovered that cognitive uses and gratification expectancy to be the only significant predictor towards their perceived e-learning experience. OPD through Twitter is satisfying the need for

strengthening information, knowledge, and understanding

Thank You

Special Thanks to my Committee:

Dr. David Carbonara, Chair

Dr. Rose Mary Mautino

Dr. Valerie Swarts

References

Anderson, R. H. (1976). Selecting and developing media for instruction. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.

Dede, C. (Ed.). (2006). Online professional development for teachers: Emerging models and methods. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Fullan, M. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Guskey, T. R. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Johnson, P. R., & Yang, S. U. (2009). Uses and gratifications of twitter: An examination of user motives and satisfaction of twitter use. Paper presented at the Communication Technology Division of the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Boston, MA.

Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the individual. In J. Blumler & E. Katz (Eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research (pp. 19-32). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (2011). Theories of human communication (10th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

References

Liu, I. L. B., Cheung, C. M. K., & Lee, M. K. O. (2010). Understanding Twitter Usage: What Drive People Continue to Tweet). PACIS Proceedings (p./pp. 92). http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2010/92

Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2011). Designing qualitative research (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Mondi, M., Woods, P., & Rafi, A. (2008). A ‘uses and gratifications expectancy model’ to predict students’ ‘perceived e-learning experience.’ Educational Technology & Society, 11(2), 241-261.

Papacharissi, Z. (1996). Uses and gratifications. In D. Stacks & M. Salwen (eds.), An integrated approach to communication theory and research (pp.137-152). New York, NY: Routledge.

Riffe, D., Lacy, S., & Fico, F. (2014). Analyzing media messages: Using quantitative content analysis in research (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Rosenberry, J., & Vicker, L. A. (2009). Applied mass communication theory: A guide for media practitioners. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Veletsianos, G. (2012). Higher education scholars’ participation and practices on twitter. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(4), 336-349. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00449.x

Whitehouse, P. L., Breit, L. A., McCloskey, E. M., Ketelhut, D. J., & Dede, C. (2006). An overview of current findings from empirical research on online teacher professional development. In C. Dede (Ed.), Online professional development for teachers (pp. 13-29). New York, NY: Routledge.