Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/24371
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dc.contributor.advisorFenwick, Tara-
dc.contributor.advisorDrew, Valerie M-
dc.contributor.authorWilson, Anna Naomi-
dc.date.accessioned2016-10-06T12:43:15Z-
dc.date.available2016-10-06T12:43:15Z-
dc.date.issued2016-08-09-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/24371-
dc.description.abstractThis thesis explores the pedagogical potential of images shared during intra-professional conversations held on the social media platform, Twitter. Twitter chats are loosely synchronous exchanges of tweets sharing a unique, identifying keyword or hashtag. They are increasingly being used among professionals to create professional networks in which practice-knowledge and opinion might be shared and where communal connections may be created. As such, they may serve as sites in which professional learning unfolds, both in relation to workplace practices and in relation to the development of new forms of professional practice around social media use. Because the exchanges and broadcasts on Twitter are, for the most part, public, and the conversations are ongoing, they also provide open, freely-accessible, and constantly renewing resources for use in pre-service learning contexts. The research focused on two example chats, one held among midwives and the other among teachers. Inspired by the increasing use of images in new forms of digital communication, the research used images tweeted during the chats as starting points from which to explore flows of knowledge and affect. Data were generated from observations of the two Twitter chats over extended periods, together with interviews with practising professionals, student professionals and their educators in which images were used as elicitation devices. The research combined an approach to reading and “being with” data inspired by ideas drawn from the work of Deleuze (1994; Williams 2013) and Deleuze and Guattari (1988; Massumi 1992), with approaches to reading images drawn from visual social semiotics (Kress and van Leeuwen 1996). The findings suggest that Twitter chats such as those studied here can provide rich opportunities for professional learning. Practice knowledge can flow from one participant to many others, and flows of affect can be used to remoralize individuals and communities. Both chats seemed to serve as sites in which professionals could experience a positivity and affirmation that was not always available in the workplace. However, the forces and intensities at play in these spaces influence both what is said and what is not said, creating new norms of online interaction that generally seemed to avoid negative comments or open disagreement. Educators saw potential to use images such as those shared in the chats in a variety of ways. For example, images could be used as prompts for examination and critique of practices. The educators I interviewed also suggested that the images could be used to help student professionals develop their sensitivity to the forces and intensities that produce particular practices. Group interviews with student professionals suggested that the former happened spontaneously when students encountered and discussed such images, but that the latter might need deliberate facilitation or prompting. The thesis concludes with some recommendations for: (i) educators considering using such images in pre-service professional learning; (ii) professional developers considering using Twitter chats; and (iii) policy-makers involved in drafting guidelines for professionals’ use of social media.en_GB
dc.language.isoenen_GB
dc.publisherUniversity of Stirlingen_GB
dc.subjectprofessional learningen_GB
dc.subjectsocial mediaen_GB
dc.subjectTwitter chatsen_GB
dc.subjectteacher educationen_GB
dc.subjectmidwifery educationen_GB
dc.subjectinformal learningen_GB
dc.subjectsociomaterialen_GB
dc.subjectDeleuzeen_GB
dc.subjectvisualizationen_GB
dc.subjectvisual social semioticsen_GB
dc.subjectlines of articulationen_GB
dc.subjectlines of flighten_GB
dc.subjectagencement machiniqueen_GB
dc.subjectdesireen_GB
dc.subject.lcshTwitteren_GB
dc.subject.lcshOnline social networks Researchen_GB
dc.subject.lcshSemioticsen_GB
dc.subject.lcshExperiential learningen_GB
dc.titleWhat is, and what might be, learned from images shared during Twitter conversations among professionals?en_GB
dc.typeThesis or Dissertationen_GB
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen_GB
dc.type.qualificationnameDoctor of Philosophyen_GB
dc.contributor.funderHigher Education Academyen_GB
dc.author.emaila.wilson@abertay.ac.uken_GB
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Social Sciences eTheses

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