ERIC Number: ED609908
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Sep
Pages: 191
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Social Media Technology Usage in Project-Based Learning: A Case Study
McMahan-Krepop, Jennifer Michelle
Online Submission, Ed.D. Dissertation, Concordia University--Wisconsin
Project-based learning is a key methodology for the 21st century classroom. The teaching pedagogy is grounded in collaborative learning for students and collaborative teaching practices for educators. When social media and digital technologies are used as aids in the project-based learning approach, it adds a new dimension of learning for students and teachers. It also initiates communications and collaboration in the community. The purpose of the qualitative case study was to explore how teachers and leaders describe social media technology used in order to create a project-based learning environment. Bandura's Social Learning Theory and the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge frame by Mishra and Kohler's was conceptual framework of the study. When both the TPCK and social learning theory are used together, they create a collaborative learning environment. By eliciting responses from 16 participants (leaders and teachers) via questionnaire, interviews, and focus group, the researcher found how social media was used in a PjBL environment. The constant comparative method, through the aid of a computer program, was employed for data analysis. The findings of the research include three predominant themes and nine subordinate themes based on participants' shared experiences and viewpoints. Thematic Code 1 addressed the implementation of project-based learning, into subsidiary themes of change needed in the learning environment, professional development, and barriers of the pedagogy. Thematic Code 2 arranged technology in the school district, to the subordinate themes of a whole school learning management platform, digital technology usage, and the learning process. Thematic Code 3 organized the communications methods of the leader and teacher participants into the associated themes of collaboration and communication efforts, sharing and presenting, and traditional to remote learning. The research and new knowledge established in this study contributes to the literature of social media as a technological approach to sharing and collaborating in the school environment. The research also adds to the literature of organizational change through the implementation of new educational designs.
Descriptors: Social Media, Technological Literacy, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Grounded Theory, Teacher Attitudes, Teaching Methods, Student Projects, Active Learning, Case Studies, Learning Theories, Administrator Attitudes, Cooperative Learning, Computer Software, Faculty Development, Barriers, Organizational Change, Instructional Design, Asynchronous Communication, Computer Mediated Communication, Social Networks, State Standards, High School Teachers, Suburban Schools
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ohio
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Author Affiliations: N/A