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Dissertation
Examining Education-related Twitter Discourse and Networks from Different Points in Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001660
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted educational activities and created a long-lasting impact on educational systems worldwide. Multiple educational stakeholders were challenged by the pandemic, including students and families, teachers and administrators, schools and districts, and the government/policy makers. As an increasingly popular platform for educational purposes (e.g., teaching, teacher learning, professional networking), social media such as Twitter has been used by educational stakeholders to voice concerns and stay connected during the COVID crisis. This exploratory study draws from Twitter data from four separate weeks during the first three years of COVID, each representing a distinct stage of the pandemic. By combining computational techniques (social media scraping, natural language processing, social network analysis) and thematic content analysis, this multimethod work investigates common educational topics and the nature of interactions around these topics on Twitter in COVID. Findings highlight an overall consistent discourse and network patterns among educational stakeholders over time. From a discourse perspective, multiple themes emerged from tweets reflecting on the reality of pandemic learning, teachers' experiences, and governmental responses to COVID. From a network perspective, social network analysis revealed overall sparse educational COVID networks featuring pair-wise interactions, limited influential figures, and few sub-groups. These findings further suggest that Twitter served as an affect-driven affinity space for diverse perspectives, a multi-purpose platform that can potentially unite or divide educational stakeholders, and a social monitor that reflects different experiences at different times. Based on these findings, it is essential to facilitate a trusting social media environment, develop well-formed communities through active curation/participation, and build resilient educational infrastructure that can adapt to drastic changes in an emergency context.
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Details
- Title
- Examining Education-related Twitter Discourse and Networks from Different Points in Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Creators
- Yiyun Fan
- Contributors
- Aroutis Foster (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- x, 176 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991020879214904721