Specialist Area

As well as the core areas, candidates are required to demonstrate evidence of independent practice in one or more specialist areas. This reflects the fact that, although there are common areas of work for learning technologists, practice is extremely diverse and everyone specialises in something different. Your specialist topic should reflect an area where you have particular expertise.  This may be unique to you or common across your team, but goes beyond what would be expected of any learning technologist. In describing your specialist area(s) you should refer to the core values . Because these are specialist areas you should be clear what makes your work distinct from common practice; many people teach on online courses, but designing and delivering fully online courses requires specific skills and would be considered specialist. Similarly, many teachers provide blended learning, but developing and sharing guidelines for such practice or working with a distinctive blend of contexts might distinguish your work as specialist. It may be that your specialist area is common amongst the group that you work in as you all work in a similar area; that is perfectly acceptable. Evidence for your specialist activity is likely to be very specific but could include: reports, papers or presentations you have written; this could be backed up by a job description plus written statements supporting your specialist knowledge from colleagues, clients or managers; active membership of professional or other bodies; certificates of completion of specialist training programmes or courses.

CMALT Guidance 2019

Social Support in Online Communities

My specialist area relates to my PhD Research and the importance of social support and connections through online networks. My research focuses on the lived experiences of educators in relation to social support and wellbeing through private social network site (SNS) channels. I am defining a private SNS channel as a space where participants engage with each other using the SNS platform but access is restricted in some way through membership or invitation. Examples of this include Twitter Direct Message Groups, Facebook group, WhatsApp Group, Slack Channel etc

The purpose of my research is to explore the meaning of social support and the impact on wellbeing for educators who interact within private social network site (SNS) channels. It will address gaps identified in the literature in relation to the relationship between social support and SNS and focus on behaviour and practices that can foster various types of online social support.💗CP3

I have personal experience of social support and positive wellbeing through engaging in various private social network site environments. My research answers a specific call to ‘understand the psychological, social and neuroscientific effects of COVID19 (Holmes et al., 2020, p. 547)’ and will add to the body of knowledge and literature on the nature and meaning of social support as well as its impact on well-being. Understanding how educators experience social support within private SNS channels and the impact on well-being may help other educators create successful support networks. There have been many studies that have investigated social support within the public arena (Meng et al., 2017) however much less is
known about social support within SNS when used privately. My research aims to address this gap
and explore what it means for educators to experience social support within private SNS channels. I therefore intend to specialise within this area and apply my findings in relation to social support in online communities generally. (For references see my full proposal below)

My full proposal and ethical approval can be found below 💗CP3📢CP4✅Ethics

I created this video for the ALT Online Winter Conference which provides a useful overview 📢CP4

Further Information about my Study

Practical Application of my Research

I use my experience of undertaking this research throughout many of the online communities that I am part of. I focus on securing a sense of belonging and fostering an ethos of care. This involves having a strong sense of purpose and online social presence.

Related Presentations

#SocmedHE Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference 2021

Beckingham, S, Baff, D, Faulkner, S & Irving-Bell, D 2021, ‘Building a social learning community: Tips and tools for surviving a PhD and professional learning during a pandemic and beyond’, The Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference 2021, Glasgow , United Kingdom,

This is a summary of a fireside chat that I did in collaboration with colleagues Sue Beckingham, Dawne Irving-Bell and Suzanne Faulkner for the Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference. I was able to draw on my preliminary research to feed into the conversation in relation to how PhD students can be supported through social media. We produced this infographic in order to share with the wider community as the conversation was not recorded. 💗CP3📢CP4

#ALTC Summit 2020

#SocmedHE Social Media for Learning Conference 2020

Baff, D, Beckingham, S, O’Brien, R, IRVING-BELL, DAWNE, Faulkner, S & Wright, S 2020, ‘ The importance of online support networks for educators ‘, The Social Media for Learning Conference, Glasgow, 2020, Glasgow, United Kingdom

This relates to a collaborative online presentation that I took part in which I discussed preliminary aspects of my early research. 💗CP3📢CP4

#LTHEchat 226 Educator Social Support and Wellbeing in Social Network Sites

Blog Post outlining Tweet Chat

I was invited to lead one of the #LTHEchat weekly twitter chats focusing on my PhD research area. The blog post outlining the abstract can be found here and the questions that I posed are outlined below. The chat was well attended and a summary can be seen on the Wakelet below. 💗CP3📢CP4

Questions Posed

Q1. As an educator, how would you define ‘social support’ and how important is this to you?

Q2. What education related social network sites do you engage in? How and why do you take part?

Q3. What benefits do you think could be gained from connecting with other educators within a private Social Network Site group?

Q4. If you connect with other educators in a closed or private Social Network Site group e.g. Twitter Direct Message, WhatsApp or Facebook group etc, why do you do this?  If not, why not?

Podcast Guest

I was invited to be a guest contributor for the COOL Podcast at Edinburgh Napier University where we chatted about online learning and I drew on my early thoughts in relation to the importance of connecting online from a social and emotional support point of view. 📢CP4

Link to Podcast

Core Principles & Ethics	Key
A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning	🔎CP1
A commitment to keep up to date with new technologies	💻CP2
An empathy with and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialisms	💗CP3
A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice	📢CP4
Ethical Considerations	✅Ethics