The importance of social media for today's youth often elicits teachers to explore educational use of these media. However, many teachers appear to struggle with the tension between possible pedagogical use and the tempting distraction of this technology. The current literature review aims to present a synthesis of conditions and outcomes relevant for a wellconsidered, evidence-based use of social media, and teacher professional development. A conceptual model consisting of intended curriculum (school level), implemented curriculum (teacher level) and attained curriculum (student level) guided the research questions. The review included 271 articles, which were analysed with framework synthesis. Ambiguous results and poor quality of studies often hindered clear statements about conditions and outcomes regarding social media in the classroom. Nonetheless, reported factors include school culture, attitude towards social media, support, teacher professional development, learning goals and a clear position in the curriculum. Considerations and advice for educational practice were formulated.
During internships, PSTs are often confronted with feelings of stress and anxiety (Murray-Harvey et al. , 2000). For example, classroom management issues are a major stress factor
AbstractThis study investigated to what extent virtual internships in teacher education were able to reduce Preservice Teachers' (PSTs) professional anxiety. Simultaneously, this study investigated how virtual internships in blended learning environments were evaluated by PSTs in terms of technological, social and educational affordances. PSTs followed virtual internships during two different Educational Pedagogy Master's courses (27 and 16 participants) in a teacher education programme. A mixed methods design was employed, consisting of pre-and post-test questionnaires, a focus group interview and individual interviews. A significant decrease was found in PSTs' professional anxiety after having followed Virtual Internship 2. PSTs reported they obtained a more realistic image of teaching and felt better prepared for teaching in practice. Furthermore, regarding technological affordances, system usability was considered between acceptable and good. Concerning social affordances, PSTs appreciated collaboration within the virtual internships. As an educational affordance, it appeared that learning from videos with authentic classroom events is a good preparation for the professional teaching context. According to the PSTs, the scenarios within virtual internships could be improved in terms of authenticity and personalisation by offering more details and background information. The results of this study imply that virtual internships can be useful assets for teacher education.
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