Educator Professional Conversations via Twitter Chat: Speech Acts and Intentions in #PDBookClub

Authors

Suzanne L. Porath, Kansas State University

Abstract

#PDBookChat was an affinity space of educators who read a professional book together and reflected on their learning through blogs, Twitter, and Google+. The book study culminated with an hour-long synchronous Twitter chat. Using Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (Herring, 2001) and speech act theory (Searle, 1976) this paper focused on the Twitter chat to examine the discussion among the participants, the specific ways in which they connected their responses to each other and the content of the professional book they read, and provided an analysis of the key themes of the chat. This research provides evidence of how educators use Twitter to seek advice, share practices, and gain emotional support. In understanding how Twitter chats work to support professional learning, schools and educators can better leverage this free, easily accessible medium for professional development.

Keywords

Twitter, social media, educators, professional learning, speech act, CMDA

Recommended Citation

Porath, Suzanne L. (2019) "Educator Professional Conversations via Twitter Chat: Speech Acts and Intentions in #PDBookClub," Current Issues in Emerging eLearning: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/ciee/vol6/iss1/4