ELT Tech Tools Blog: Using Social Networks Professionally

Social networks to support ELT

Source: Rehabilitation Research & Training Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Vocational Rehabilitation (RRTC-EBP VR)

In my previous blogs, I talked about technologies that can be used in teaching by students' involvement. Today, however, my focus is on the teacher as an important resource of the process of language learning. We are now surrounded by social media and it is easy to follow social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The role of teacher's autonomy is an essential one to this process. "The teacher is at the epicentre of the learning process ... learning therefore depends first and foremost on the quality of the teacher" (Schwille et al 2007:15).

To begin with, I assume everybody who reads this post is able to login on Facebook. If not, please click here to register and follow the instructions. I would like to highlight two possibilities we can use social media for in order to promote teacher's awareness of the profession. Firstly, teacher's development or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in its Craft Model and Reflective Model (Wallace 1991) suggests that teachers learn from more experienced teachers by looking at what they do and then try to implement it in their own contexts as well as assessing their own practice. Social media provides a wide range of experienced professionals sharing their practice, thoughts and experiments. Observing these practices doesn't only enhance those who have already started their careers, but also novice teachers and teaching students who can learn a lot of things that might not exist in their materials.

Secondly, teachers can use these networks to form E-communities of Practice. English teachers can form groups online and get together sharing ideas, resources and events to enhance their teaching. Face to face associations, communities of practice and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) such as IATEFL, TESOL, ASTEL (Association of the Sudanese Teachers of English Language) etc proved high efficiency and are becoming more and more popular, which pushed some scholars such as Stoll and Louis (2007) to draw attention to them. Online communities are now a necessity even for the established face to face communities as a backup and an engagement mechanism.

A clear application of this practice, for example, can be found on Facebook. There are lots of pages of associations and groups that you can Like or Join.

Source: ASTEL page as shown on www.facebook.com

The picture above shows ASTEL page on Facebook. There are other useful pages (click on them if you want to explore) such as English Language Teachers group in Sudan, Sudanese Researchers Initiative, IATEFL, TESOL International Association, Teaching English - British Council and ESL library. There are similar pages and groups on other social media websites like Twitter, it doesn't matter where but what really matters not missing the chance of getting connected online with other ELT professionals.

Why does it matter?

I recommend that teachers form E-communities for their own peers, e.g. a group of English primary school teachers based in Khartoum or other similar city/state/province/locality can launch a platform in which they share their practices, experiences, concerns etc.  There is also the benefit of getting in touch with regional and international communities where different contexts and practices are discussed. Other benefits include: reflection, collaboration, contextual appropriateness and encouraging teacher development as an ongoing process.

On the other hand, E-communities of practice cannot replace the face to face communities. For instance, if there is a debatable topic such as explicitly of feedback, forums and comment won't be a solution to reach an agreement, participants would likely want to engage in a meeting where they can explain, provide details and ask/answer questions to justify their point of view. Another constrain might be conducting and participating in workshops which require getting together in a room and come up with some products or conclusions.

Professional networks are as effective as language policies and having them online while teachers are checking their social media stories or communicating with friends facilitates the mission of learning to teach which reflects its shadow more or less in our real classrooms.