Sources of Professional Support: Patterns of Teachers’ Curation of Instructional Resources in Social Media

Abstract

In twenty-first-century classrooms, teachers are increasingly seeking resources and finding connection within the virtual space. Within a mass of online choice, this work tests theories related to the choices of individuals on social media and examines individuals’ agency as they curate resources. Identifying driving forces across individuals’ choice and school district purview, this work examines the similarity of teachers’ curation of educational resources across particular factors. Examining a sample of 100 teachers, we calculated the resource homogeneity of teacher pairs over 1,029 online sites. Results indicated teachers’ organizational context significantly contributed to their likelihood to share resources from same online sites, including school and district affiliations. Furthermore, of those similar teachers, the degree of similarity was affected by particular traits, including grade level taught, experience level, and disposition toward teaching. This may inform researchers and educators as they attempt to understand teachers’ contexts and motivations for supplemental resource curation.