1. Noreen DunnettE-learning Consultant, Civica UK, Education1

2. Research questionCan the social media platform Twitterprovide a space or framework, withinwhich learners might re-negotiateboundaries between different learningcontexts and create one commonlearning zone or personal learningenvironment?2 3. Scope of presentation The changing nature and definitions of newlearning spaces or environments The potential for using Twitter to re-negotiate theboundaries between the different settings inwhich people learn. The nature of the learning space provided forthem by Twitter, in terms of its affordances orcharacteristics The way in which identities and roles were re-negotiated in Twitter by the research group.3 4. Liminal space- a rite of passage, in which aperson moves from one state ofbeing to another (Cuthell et al, 2011)4 5. Affordancethe actionable propertiesbetween the world and an actor (aperson or animal (Gibson 1977, 1979)whether the user perceives someaction is possible (Norman 2004)5 6. Personal Learning Environment an environment wherepeople, tools, communities andresources interact in a loose kind of way(Wilson et al 2009).6 7. 7 8. Moderation by researcher8Moderator 9. spaces and places are emergentand not predetermined or preformed.They come into being in theirenactments. (Al Mahmood 2008:12)9 10. Hash tag tweets10 11. Internal academic/institutional General teacher/educational lexis lexis Conversation 1 content, grammar, inclusive classroom Formal orthography, social ethosnetworks, electronicchildren with EAL andcommunicationsdiverse needsonline networking diversity andpresenceindividualitystage and online life lesson plansback stagedigital accountability Conversation 2 W.C/CIE moduleplacement Informal assessmentmixed EYFS/KS1 classappendixmixed Y4 and Y5 classbrief EALself-study tasksdifferentiate to meetdiversity diary needsWC presentation culturally diverseReferencing QCDA refSEN Portfolio NC and inclusion11 12. Purposes of tweeting Purposesof No of tweets% of tweets communicationFormal Informal Formal InformalConversation Conversation Conversation Conversation Negative feedback0204% Praise/positive346% 8% feedback Self-disclosure7114.5%2% Seeking information326% 4% Sharing/providing11 10 23%21% information Solidarity 446% 6% Seeking reassurance284% 16.6% Providing reassurance6212.5%4% Status 12 625%12.5% report/achievement12 13. Protocols13 14. Subject-division of labor-community-object14 15. Betweenness centrality The number of times an actor connects pairsof other actors who would otherwise not beable to reach each other Number of connections no more valuablethan ONE good connection Actors high in betweenness are able to actas gatekeepers controlling the flow ofresources15 16. Roles in the online community Reassurance and support Practical help Express solidarity Betweenness and share experiences centrality16 17. KBs networkIt [Twitter] has played a huge role in my learning on the PGCE. I havefound many useful people/groups to follow in the world of educationand have accessed many of their resources in order to improve my ownteaching practice.17 18. Conclusions Emergent learning spaces such as Twitter allowlearners to make connections and contacts withinlearning networks. The lack of learned conventions or definingcharacteristics in Twitter enable affordances suchas the hash tag to be used to definecontext, purpose and roles within it. Twitter allows learners to create PLEs through anetwork of contacts, whose diverse perspectivesbecome part of a process of making connections. Twitter does seem to act as a bridge, providingthe space for a PLE and allowing boundariesbetween different learning contexts to berenegotiated.18 19. Future work More detailed analysis of how knowledge from differentcontexts and perspectives creates the contradiction inan activity system or set of activity systems which leadsto learning An exploration of the role which tutors might play in theTwitter learning ecology to ensure critical engagementand allow students to achieve transformative learning An evaluation of the influence of other activity systemsand media on the learning experience of students usingsuch technological platforms of Twitter19 20. Extra slides2020 21. Tutor tasks What does using Twitter and similar toolsmean in terms of my social networking andconduct beyond the classroom? What does term openness in professionalpractice mean to you? What does the term reflexivity add to thedebate about professional accountability Key terms success criteria, key vocabulary,learning objectives21 22. Sharing expertise22