Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Terri Edwards

Abstract

AbstractThis study addressed the problem that teachers used social media inconsistently with their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the research state’s public education department suggested utilizing social media to communicate with students through remote learning. Traditionally, teachers have struggled with using social media with students. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore secondary teachers’ perspectives on using social media with their students in the research state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vygotsky’s theory of sociocultural learning and Jenkin’s convergence culture theory made up the conceptual framework of this study. The research questions addressed secondary teachers’ perspectives on the challenges and successes of using social media with their students during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they were prepared to use social media to communicate with students, and what teachers believed they needed to improve the use of social media to increase communication with students during remote teaching. Using purposive and snowball sampling, eleven teachers who used social media to communicate with their students during the COVID-19 pandemic participated in semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six step guide for thematic analysis. Four themes emerged to answer the research questions: (a) teachers’ challenges in communicating with students using social media, (b) benefits of social media use in education, (c) teacher support systems during remote teaching and future challenges, and (d) COVID-19 pandemic effect on education. Conclusions of this study may provide information to help support teachers in the development of effective communication skills on social media with students and promote positive social change in education.

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