Educator professional development has the power to affect day-to-day educational practice. Every school district wrestles with planning professional development for improving educators professionally to better student achievement. With the largest portion of the budget being spent on personnel, developing educators and staff professionally should be a school district’s main priority. Taking into consideration the nature of adult learners and changes in educational and technological resources, professional development is ripe for a change. The purpose of this case study was to explore educators’ perceptions of using Twitter to receive and engage in professional development over a five-week period. Interviews of the study participants were conducted before and after the study to determine their perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. Through analysis of interviews, this dissertation investigates educators’ perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. The researcher concluded that when proper training and preparatory measures are taken, the use of Twitter can provide professional learning opportunities for educators as adult learners in an efficient and meaningful way. Study results indicated that future professional development opportunities should include choice for the learner, through the use of Twitter.
","abstract_html":"<p>Educator professional development has the power to affect day-to-day educational practice. Every school district wrestles with planning professional development for improving educators professionally to better student achievement. With the largest portion of the budget being spent on personnel, developing educators and staff professionally should be a school district’s main priority. Taking into consideration the nature of adult learners and changes in educational and technological resources, professional development is ripe for a change. The purpose of this case study was to explore educators’ perceptions of using Twitter to receive and engage in professional development over a five-week period. Interviews of the study participants were conducted before and after the study to determine their perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. Through analysis of interviews, this dissertation investigates educators’ perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. The researcher concluded that when proper training and preparatory measures are taken, the use of Twitter can provide professional learning opportunities for educators as adult learners in an efficient and meaningful way. Study results indicated that future professional development opportunities should include choice for the learner, through the use of Twitter.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lusk, Bradford"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Leadership and Counseling","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["James Berry, Ed.D.","David Anderson, Ed.D.","Toni Stokes Jones, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:40Z","subjects":["professional","development Twitter","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1062","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["James Berry, Ed.D.","David Anderson, Ed.D.","Toni Stokes Jones, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lusk, Bradford"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-06-16T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Leadership and Counseling"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["professional","development Twitter","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1062"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Educator professional development has the power to affect day-to-day educational practice. Every school district wrestles with planning professional development for improving educators professionally to better student achievement. With the largest portion of the budget being spent on personnel, developing educators and staff professionally should be a school district’s main priority. Taking into consideration the nature of adult learners and changes in educational and technological resources, professional development is ripe for a change. The purpose of this case study was to explore educators’ perceptions of using Twitter to receive and engage in professional development over a five-week period. Interviews of the study participants were conducted before and after the study to determine their perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. Through analysis of interviews, this dissertation investigates educators’ perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. The researcher concluded that when proper training and preparatory measures are taken, the use of Twitter can provide professional learning opportunities for educators as adult learners in an efficient and meaningful way. Study results indicated that future professional development opportunities should include choice for the learner, through the use of Twitter.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Educators' perceptions of using Twitter as a professional development tool"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["James Berry, Ed.D.","David Anderson, Ed.D.","Toni Stokes Jones, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Lusk, Bradford"],"dc:date.available":["2021-06-16T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Educator professional development has the power to affect day-to-day educational practice. Every school district wrestles with planning professional development for improving educators professionally to better student achievement. With the largest portion of the budget being spent on personnel, developing educators and staff professionally should be a school district’s main priority. Taking into consideration the nature of adult learners and changes in educational and technological resources, professional development is ripe for a change. The purpose of this case study was to explore educators’ perceptions of using Twitter to receive and engage in professional development over a five-week period. Interviews of the study participants were conducted before and after the study to determine their perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. Through analysis of interviews, this dissertation investigates educators’ perceptions of using Twitter for professional development. The researcher concluded that when proper training and preparatory measures are taken, the use of Twitter can provide professional learning opportunities for educators as adult learners in an efficient and meaningful way. Study results indicated that future professional development opportunities should include choice for the learner, through the use of Twitter.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1062"],"dc:subject":["professional","development Twitter","Education"],"dc:title":["Educators' perceptions of using Twitter as a professional development tool"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Leadership and Counseling"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:40Z"}