Technology, Pedagogy and Education

ISSN: 1475-939X (Print) 1747-5139 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rtpe20

Using Facebook groups to support teachers’

professional development

Ibrahim Yildirim

To cite this article: Ibrahim Yildirim (2019): Using Facebook groups to support
teachers’ professional development, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, DOI:
10.1080/1475939X.2019.1686714

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2019.1686714

Published online: 08 Nov 2019.

Submit your article to this journal

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rtpe20
TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION
https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2019.1686714

Using Facebook groups to support teachers’ professional

development
Ibrahim Yildirim
Department of Educational Sciences, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The communities of practice created via Facebook groups (CoPiF) have Received 3 October 2017
significant potential as a new mechanism in the process of the profes- Accepted 8 November 2018
sional development of teachers when the frequency of use of Facebook KEYWORDS
and its simplicity are considered. In this study, the author analyses the Learning communities;
content shared in a Facebook group with over 13,000 members created computer-mediated
by several high school mathematics teachers working at different schools communication; Facebook;
in Turkey in 2009. Semi-structured interviews were employed with the netnography
participating 14 teachers and the author used netnography, which is
a qualitative research paradigm. The paper concluded by offering
a Facebook group model for the professional development of teachers,
and the positive aspects of the mechanism were explicated.

Introduction
All teachers have to study at faculties of education or at equivalent institutions before starting their
careers, and they never have a well-organised training process in their professional lives like they do
during their pre-service training. However, teaching is an occupation that requires continuous
improvement and innovation. Teachers’ pre-service training may not supply them all throughout
their careers; therefore, teachers have to take several initiatives to develop their own teaching skills
and capabilities. In fact, these initiatives ought to be taken by authorised governmental organisa-
tions in a well-organised manner for the sake of the children who are the adults of the near future. In
general, all the initiatives of authorised bodies to foster the professional development of teachers
can be called professional development activities. Providing high-quality professional development
for teachers will directly affect student achievement. Various studies (e.g. Hanushek, 2011; Hattie,
2009) indicate that teachers are among the school variables that influence student achievement
most; thus, the process of high-quality professional development of teachers is of great importance
for not only the future of education but also the wealth of nations. According to Kent (2004), the
teachers who achieve to a high standard during the process of professional development will have
a great impact on student achievement, and meeting the professional requirements of teachers
equals meeting the requirements of students.
The initiatives for the professional development of teachers carried out by authorised govern-
mental organisations tend to be extensive in the first few years of the teaching career. Newly
appointed teachers spend much time on dealing with certain challenges, such as integration into
the school environment, gaining the ability to adjust the teaching process to students’ needs, being
able to put the curriculum into practice effectively and developing a teacher identity, since they are
unfamiliar with these skills in pre-service (Feiman-Nemser, 2003; Staudt, St. Clair, & Martinez, 2013).
This is not a denial of the fact that the senior teachers also need professional development activities;

CONTACT Ibrahim Yildirim iyildirim84@gmail.com

© 2019 Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education
2 I. YILDIRIM

rather, it is a necessity for every teacher to update knowledge and skills constantly in the information
age. Teachers have to be lifelong learners to make their professional development everlasting
through participating in different professional development programmes; however, several research
studies (e.g. Schlager & Fusco, 2003; Sugar, 2005) have emphasised that traditional professional
development programmes are inadequate to meet the professional requirements of teachers. The
authorised governmental organisations should concentrate more on the practical activities involving
fewer formal procedures by relinquishing the standard formats and the misinterpretation of tradi-
tional procedures (Brown & Duguid, 1991).
The community of practice (CoP) is among the most prominent mechanisms which are informal
to a certain degree and have practice-oriented environments in the process of the professional
development of teachers. Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder (2002) describe CoP as the environments
in which people who are interested in similar issues, experience the same problems, have common
concerns and want to exchange information on their expertise with their colleagues come together.
Therefore, in CoPs, the teachers come together for a common purpose towards practice, and so do
online communities. Preece (2000) defined online communities as groups with formal or informal
rules formed via information technologies and created by the individuals who come together to
meet their needs on the basis of certain goals. Herein, the idea of whether CoPs can work online
comes to the fore. In their study, Herrington, Herrington, Kervin, and Ferry (2006) lay emphasis on the
positive outputs of the BEST (Beginning and Establishing Successful Teachers) system devised from
a problem-based approach within the context of online community of practice. In other words,
a practice-oriented online community can be called an online community of practice.
Informal environments, such as social networks, have the potential to produce more favourable
outcomes through enabling the connection between online communities (Schlager & Fusco, 2003).
In social networking environments, instead of being passive followers, teachers become active
participants who construct information according to their own requirements as they are likely to
receive immediate responses to their urgent needs (Granger, Morbey, Lotherington, Owston, &
Wideman, 2002). Hammond and Ball (1999) pointed out that teachers do not have serious profes-
sional communication with their colleagues, and a plausible solution to overcome this barrier might
be promoting teachers’ communication skills and capacities in a common ground. The research
results indicate that the accomplishment of the teachers’ professional development process lies
behind promoting inter-teacher communication (Hiebert, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002) and offering
continuous backups for teachers’ requirements (Lieberman, 2000). Thus, technology-assisted online
communities might be well exploited for the continuity of inter-teacher communication.
The literature indicates that the important elements for forming online communities, ensuring
their continuity and creating strong links between the participants are spontaneous assembling of
the individuals with similar needs (Wenger, 1998), the feeling of trust (Ardichvili, Page, & Wentling,
2002; Kling & Courtright, 2003), constant communication, overcoming problems together, the
behaviour of mutual sharing (Kling & Courtright, 2003), having the potential to overcome challen-
ging problems and eliminating the shortcomings of face-to-face environments (Zhao & Rop, 2001),
the effective use of technology, the potential to motivate, the possibility of using whenever needed
(Hew & Hara, 2007), being a member of the group and having the sense of group member identity
(Ellis, Oldridge, & Vasconcelos, 2004). The rationales for sharing information in online environments
are categorised as collectivism, mutuality, personal interest, self-sacrifice, being in a respectful
environment, quest of a self, and technology (Hew & Hara, 2007). Various studies (Barab,
MaKinster, Moore, & Cunningham, 2001; Carr & Chambers, 2006; Duncan-Howell, 2010) about the
use of online communities in the process of in-service training of teachers are available in the
literature. Although there is a great deal of evidence in favour of online communities, their
exploitation in the process of in-service training of teachers will not happen all of a sudden; there-
fore, the transition phase is a prerequisite.
According to Lock (2006), decision makers and teachers need to be able to transcend their mental
constraints for the exploitation of online communities in the process of the professional
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 3

development of teachers. She highlighted that online environments should be designed thoroughly
by supplying teachers with sincerity, confidence and vigorous relationships promoted by technol-
ogy. It is not just integrating technology into the process to foster the professional development of
teachers through online communities; rather, the new model must be built through offering
practical solutions to the ever-changing needs of teachers. Barab and Kling (2004) suggested that
online communities could either serve as complementary to the traditional programmes or be
completely new models in the professional development of teachers. In the latter, it is fundamental
to specify which domains will be taken into account for the process design. Garet, Porter, Desimone,
Birman, and Yoon (2001) classified the domains that are crucial for teachers’ professional develop-
ment as focusing on content knowledge, providing active learning opportunities and being compa-
tible with other learning activities. Herein, social networking sites become prominent to foster the
professional development of teachers through online communities by focusing on the relevant
domains.

Research conducted on teachers’ online communities

There are also various studies conducted on online communities in the literature. Barab et al. (2001)
researched a special online environment designed by the National Science Foundation. The Inquiry
Learning Forum was designed as an online environment providing the member teachers and pro-
spective teachers in science and mathematics with the opportunity to discuss pedagogy, exchange
information, observe and reflect on the skills gained. In the online community, teachers focused on
research-based collaboration, sharing and developing skills in a learning-centred structure.
According to the findings of the National Quality Schooling Framework project, the factors that
prevent teachers from participating in online communities for professional development are doubts
about the common purpose of the group, rudimentary sharing culture, critical reflections about the
implementations and not being familiar with information technology (Carr & Chambers, 2006). On
the other hand, Hur (2007) concluded that teachers participate in online teacher communities for six
reasons: sharing feelings, exploring different ideas, seeking help, experiencing the feeling of friend-
ship, coping with teacher isolation and taking advantage of online environments. Hur also found that
four components affect their participation in online environments: community culture, security,
flexibility, and teachers’ common values and period of time.
Hew and Hara (2007) identified nine different activities, namely asking for information, thanking for
sharing, making administrative announcements, apologising for a mistake, giving detailed information
about a subject, complimenting, showing empathy and sharing information as to why teachers got in
contact with people in online communities. The most prevalent activity was reported to be sharing
information. There also emerged seven impulses which motivated teachers to share information, four
of which were concerned with participating in society and the rest of which were respectful environ-
ment, individual’s interest and technology. The impulses concerned with participating in society were
the feeling of sociality, reciprocity, personal gains and self-sacrifice. According to this study, the factors
that prevented teachers from sharing information were categorised as lack of information, lack of time,
technology, not wanting to cause controversy, and the negative attitudes of individuals.
Hur and Hara (2007) identified eight factors to strengthen an online community and drew
attention to four barriers. Each factor was divided into three sub-groups: internal, external and
outcome components. The internal components of the reinforcing factors were having autonomy,
the members’ identification with the group and acceptance of the group norms. Their external
components were providing online and offline communication and an easy way to use technological
systems, whereas the outcome components were helping teachers to be self-confident, assisting
them with overcoming teacher isolation and meeting the teachers’ individual requirements. The
internal components of the hindering factors were teachers’ lack of self-confidence and previous
negative experiences with online environments. Their external component was the lack of techno-
logical support, whereas the outcome components were discouraging teachers from active learning,
4 I. YILDIRIM

using resources without considering their usefulness and without adaptations, and focusing only on
the practical aspect of teaching by ignoring theories.
Hur and Brush (2009) examined three spontaneously emerged online communities
(TeacherFocus, WeTheTeachers, T-LT) in order to determine the reasons that K–12 (kindergarten
to Year 12) teachers participate in online communities. As a result, it was revealed that teachers
participated in online communities for the reasons of sympathising with their colleagues, taking
advantage of the positive aspects of online environments, struggling with teacher isolation, dis-
covering new ideas and experiencing cooperation. The results on sympathising with the colleagues
showed that many teachers were involved in these kinds of communities to share their positive and
negative feelings about teaching. The factor of taking advantage of the positive aspects of online
environments indicated that teachers were anxious about being perceived as incompetent if they
shared their problems with their colleagues in their own schools. In addition, one of the main reasons
for participating in an online environment was that they provided teachers with an opportunity to
develop new perspectives through communicating with a large group of colleagues. Moreover, it
was clarified that several teachers participated in these communities to reach competent colleagues
on the instructional issues owing to isolated school environments. The reason that teachers dis-
covered new ideas about teaching in these communities was explained as seeking original ideas
compatible with unique teaching environments, and their requirement of authenticity was reported
to have been met in these communities. It was also claimed that the main reason for the cooperation
experience of teachers was the spirit of camaraderie because of the constant participation of
members in these kinds of communities.
In their study, Staudt et al. (2013) examined a social networking environment on Facebook that
aimed to provide the newly appointed teachers with continuous support for their professional
development. The focus of the study was performance and challenges of an online community.
Facebook relies on the principles of mutual interaction, trust and confidentiality and is usually
regarded as the users’ personal area rather than their professional one. In contrast, by going far
beyond this characterisation, Facebook has been considered as an environment responding to all of
the teacher requirements about professional development effectively.
Deniz (2016) themed teachers’ posts in a Facebook group named the Platform of Primary School
Teachers under the subheadings of learning process, regulations, likes and thanks, complaints and
miscellanea. The study concluded that teachers shared mostly about the learning process, and they
extensively discussed the activities and teaching materials. In addition, it was observed that the
group members exchanged opinions about the regulations. The most prominent finding of the
research was that the group members communicated personally by going far beyond professional
cooperation.

Social media networking as online community

Social networking sites with millions of users, such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and LinkedIn, have
become parts of people’s daily lives. Social networking sites are defined as environments that
provide the individuals with opportunities to create profiles that can be optimised according to
user preferences, having access to a contact list of friends and obtaining posts shared by their friends
and others in the system. The history of social networking sites dates back to sixdegrees.com in 1997.
It could be considered that 2006 was the golden year of social networking sites, although lots of
media, such as LinkedIn, Myspace and Hi5, became prevalent in 2003. Then, the most popular sites
worldwide, Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live Space, were created (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
Facebook, designed in 2004 and made accessible to the public in 2006, reached one billion active
users in 2015. It is one of the best-known and the most frequently used social media sites worldwide,
and it has also recently been integrated into educational environments. Many studies on the use of
Facebook in the educational processes are available (Asterhan & Rosenberg, 2015; Khan, Wohn, &
Ellison, 2014; Sánchez, Cortijo, & Javed, 2014). In these studies, the focus is more on student–student
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 5

and teacher–student relationships and communication. Although Hew (2011) claimed that Facebook
has mostly been used for the purpose of socialisation, several studies demonstrate that it can also be
used for the purpose of professional development (Çam, 2012; Deniz, 2016). Mazman and Usluel
(2010) showed a schematic representation of Facebook usage (see Figure 1).
In Figure 1, it is clear that the educational uses of Facebook are classified under the headings of
communication, collaboration and resource sharing, in addition to social relations, work related and daily
activities. In other words, Facebook can be used in the professional development processes of teachers,
particularly as resource sharing for educational purposes. Facebook, which has the potential to create
social capital with the help of bringing users together, can be regarded as the best social media site that
fosters communication and cooperation for teachers’ professional development, instilling collective
consciousness into individuals for a common purpose and integrating teachers into the practice com-
munities to meet their own requirements. Facebook offers ‘Pages’ and ‘Groups’ as two different sharing
options. Although the pages are open to everyone, groups might either be open to everyone or be
browsed only by members. While the only means of obtaining information from the pages is following,
groups allow interacting and creating a certain area for that interaction (Staudt et al., 2013). In addition,
Fauville, Dupont, von Thun, and Lundin (2015) emphasised that the use of Facebook pages in teaching
processes is not effective; therefore, Facebook groups offer a better solution for educational purposes.
Communities of practice created via Facebook groups (CoPiF) have significant potential as a new
mechanism in the process of the professional development of teachers when the frequency of use of
Facebook and its simplicity are considered.
It is important for teachers who have a critical place in student achievement (Hanushek, 2011;
Hattie, 2009) to be able to keep up with cutting-edge technologies (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), to
communicate with other teachers about instructional processes and to exchange ideas with their
colleagues which are related to the problems (Hiebert et al., 2002; Kelly & Antonio, 2016; Kling &
Courtright, 2003). Facebook groups have the potential to meet these needs, and it can be said that
these groups need to be examined for the adequacy of their contribution to the teachers’ profes-
sional development. In this context, the purpose of the present study is to examine the cultural
environment of a Facebook group formed by teachers. Within this scope, answers to the following
research questions are sought:

(1) What is shared in a Facebook group that teachers create?

(2) What are the group members’ opinions about the group?

Figure 1. Schematic representation of Facebook usage.

(Source: Mazman & Usluel, 2010).
6 I. YILDIRIM

This study is important in terms of providing methodological in-depth analyses, validating data on how
a large-scale online community contributes to the professional development of teachers and making
justified recommendations for the structural update of the in-service training processes of teachers.

Research methodology
The researcher used netnography, a qualitative research paradigm, in this study. Kozinets (2010)
described netnography as a specific type of ethnographic research involving the conduct of cultural
studies on online communities in today’s social structure. Yıldırım and Şimşek (2013) pointed out that
ethnographic studies are usually conducted to examine cultural characteristics, such as the function-
ing and the behaviour patterns of a community, a group of friends or an organisational structure.
Online communities form cultures, the learned beliefs, values and customs that serve to order and
guide the behaviour of a particular group (Kozinets, 2010). If ethnographic research methodology is
conducted to explicate and interpret the cultural structure of an online community, it can be called
‘netnographic research’. Specifically, netnography is a qualitative research method to unobtrusively
study the nature and behaviour of online groups. It can be applied to find out what selected online
communities and their members think about certain topics, how topics are perceived and which
themes are of significant interest to the community (Jawecki & Füller, 2008). In other words, it has
adapted ethnography to the Internet environments. In netnographic research, NCapture (NVivo’s web
browser extension) or NodeXL software can be used for analysing the online data. The methodology
of netnography was firstly and widely used within the scope of marketing research and then became
widespread in social sciences research methodology. The starting point for the methodology of
netnography was the studies conducted to provide data to the marketing sector through determining
the shopping habits of consumers in a social environment (Kozinets, 2002).
The use of the Internet and social media has influenced educational processes to a great extent;
consequently, teachers and students have come together on social media sites and built online
sharing communities. Therefore, any research aiming to perform the cultural analysis of online
communities created by teachers or students may also be included in netnography. Thus, this
study was conducted with the methodology of netnography. In line with the research objectives,
the Facebook group named the Chamber of Ministry of National Education High School Mathematics
Teachers, which is an online sharing community for high school mathematics teachers working in
Turkey, was scrutinised. In this study, the content which people shared in the Facebook group was
analysed, and semi-structured interviews were employed with some of the group members. During
the research procedure, the focus was on the emotional factors holding the group together and
maintaining continuity in the group, reasons for joining the group and maintaining the group
membership, the reasons for teachers’ communication with each other, the types of Facebook
posts and the factors that motivated teachers in the interaction process. The aim was to determine
the effects of these elements on the teachers’ professional development.

Introduction of the Facebook group on which the research was conducted

In this study, the research scrutinised the Facebook group named the Chamber of Ministry of
National Education High School Mathematics Teachers (M.E.B. Lise Matematik Öğretmenleri Odası),
created by high school mathematics teachers working in different geographical areas of Turkey for
the purpose of information exchange and helping each other. The group was initially created by
a newly appointed teacher in 2009. It is a closed group, and membership is required to share or
browse the group’s page. Group membership is possible only after the group admins’ confirmation.
The membership applications are carefully inspected by the group admins, and an individual’s
membership will never be confirmed unless that person is a high school mathematics teacher. The
inspection involves reviewing the applicant’s Facebook profile and asking for a copy of the teacher’s
identity card. The members who misuse the group through political sharing, advertising etc. are
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 7

warned and then removed if they repeat the negative behaviour. The group, which is totally self-
governing, does not receive any material or moral support from any institution or person. It has been
actively used for seven years. At present, it has more than 13,000 members, all of whom are
mathematics teachers working in high schools. It has three full-time admins, and this might increase
up to 28 admins at seasonal times when there is more work. All of the information about the group
was obtained by interviewing the admins and by reviewing the group’s Facebook page.
Hur (2007) emphasised that an online community that is worth examining needs to have certain
characteristics. The group must have been in active use for at least one year, have at least a thousand
members, have the capacity of self-control and be based on willingness, and members must have
a common ground. It is clear that the Facebook group on which this research has been conducted
meets all of these standards. Furthermore, the group’s spontaneous and voluntary nature, contin-
uous growth for seven years, use for educational purposes by mathematics teachers and member-
ship of significantly more than a thousand teachers also indicate the importance of this study.

Data collection and analysis

Two different methods were used to collect and analyse the research data: Facebook posts were
scanned, and interviews were conducted. Both methods are discussed in detail in the following
sections.

The documents consisting of the posts in the Facebook group

The Facebook group was scanned for the posts between the dates of 2–29 May 2016. As the 2015–16
academic year ended on 10 June 2016 in Turkey, the last two weeks of June were allocated to final
exams and activities for the last days of school; therefore, May can be considered the last month with
an active teaching and learning process. Moreover, the frequency of the posts in the first weeks of
March and April were similar to that in the first week of May. Similar studies (Deniz, 2016; Hew & Hara,
2007; Hur & Brush, 2009) were evaluated for the convenience of the study period, and it was
concluded that most of the studies were conducted over a period of between two and eight
weeks. The total number of the posts included in these studies varied between 530 and 810, whereas
the number of posts in this study numbered 2442. The number of comments to the posts were
excluded. The four-week period study was deemed to be acceptable when considering the relatively
fewer number of posts in the referent studies. Overall, the month of May fit the research purpose
both in terms of the period and the length of the research procedure.
In this process, the research data were collected according to the weeks, and weekly distributions
were also submitted. Subsequently, the research data were evaluated as a whole. The document
analysis technique was used to obtain the research data. In the data analysis, a draft chart was
created in Microsoft Excel, and the data were extricated by assigning the chunks to the appropriate
categories. The subheadings that emerged in the draft table were mathematical problems, sharing
activities, sharing information and documents with colleagues and general questions. The draft was
controlled by an expert in mathematics education and found to be suitable. Then, the categorised
data were analysed descriptively through qualitative research methodology by using frequency
analysis. The close examination as to the individuals who share was rejected due to the fact that the
descriptive analysis was conducted to determine and present the general situation via themes and
codes.

Qualitative data from the interviews

The subsequent data collection process was conducted through semi-structured qualitative inter-
views. The relevant literature (Demirli, Demirkol, & Özdemir, 2010; Hew & Hara, 2007; Hur, 2007; Hur &
Brush, 2009; Hur & Hara, 2007) was reviewed to form a semi-structured interview protocol, and
ultimately, a draft form was created. It was rearranged after the individual interviews with three
academics working on teaching technologies and online learning groups and was finalised by
8 I. YILDIRIM

considering the opinions of a linguist on coherency and grammar. In addition, two pilot interviews
were used to determine its functioning. The questions in the semi-structured interview protocol are
as follows:

(1) How and when did you hear about the Facebook group? How long have you been an active
member of the group?
(2) Have you ever met anybody in the group that you knew in your social sphere? If so, do you
chat with them about the group? If so, what do you talk about?
(3) How often do you browse and follow the group?
(4) Do you share posts in the group? If so, what type of posts do you share?
(i) Why do you share posts in the group? Can you define the emotions underlying your
sharing behaviour?
(5) Do the posts in the group draw your attention? If so, which ones and why?
(6) Do you comment on the posts in the group? If so, what kind of posts do you comment on?
Why?
(7) Are there any posts that you don’t comment on? If so, why?
(i) Are there any benefits of being the group member socially, professionally, personally or
something else? If so, will you explain?
(8) Are there any troublesome sides to being a group member? If so, what?
(i) Do you comment on the posts in the group through replying or offering a solution to
a problem? If so, why?
(9) Do you have generalised positive thoughts about the group? If so, what?
(10) Do you have generalised negative thoughts about the group? If so, what?

The questions in the semi-structured interview protocol elaborate how and when teachers
become the members of the group, the habit and frequency of browsing and following the group,
whether they share or not, the benefits of being a member, the presence of uncomfortable situations
in the group, and the positive and the negative aspects of the membership.
In addition to the willingness of the participants, two criteria – at least one year-long membership
and being the group’s active user – were sought in the process of the semi-structured interview
protocol. The interviews were employed with the participating 14 teachers, eight of whom were
male and six of whom were female. The professional seniority of the respondents ranged from 3 to
15 years, indicating that the oldest participants were in the middle of their teaching careers, and the
rest were relatively younger. The researcher was also informed by the creator of the group that the
group members have up to 15 years of professional seniority. The interviews were employed via
Facebook voice conversation or telephone call, as the respondents were working in different
geographical regions of Turkey. All the interviews were recorded using a digital voice recorder,
and the software package NVivo 11 was used for the data analysis.
The interviews were then analysed using the content analysis method, themes were formed and
coding was done. In the content analysis procedure, the axial coding of Strauss and Corbin (1998)
was used. In the axial coding procedure, the interview protocol of the study was regarded as the axis,
and the codes were determined within the axis. As a result of the data analysis, 8 themes and 31
codes were determined.
The results of content analysis were summarised in an extensive table including themes and codes,
the initials of the respondents’ pseudonyms who expressed opinions on the certain codes, and direct
quotations. The pseudonyms of the female participants were determined as Ayse, Burcu, Ceyda,
Damla, Ece and Filiz, and the males’ pseudonyms were Gokhan, Hakan, Ismail, Kemal, Levent, Murat,
Nevzat and Okan. Moreover, the initials of the participants are in bold.
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 9

Validity and reliability of the study

Validity and reliability are of great importance in qualitative research as well as in quantitative
research (Creswell, 2007). The validity and reliability of a study is related to the instruments and
the evaluation procedures. Whereas validity is the degree of serviceability of the instrument for
the objectives of the study, reliability is the consistent and stable nature of the obtained results
(Bahar, Nartgün, Durmuş, & Bıçak, 2009; Bekiroğlu, 2004). In order to promote the validity of the
research, all the steps in the processes of document analysis and qualitative interviews were
consulted with the field experts; thus, scientific processes were conducted. For the document
analysis, the draft form was controlled by an expert in mathematics education. In order to
control the serviceability of the interview form, the form was controlled by three academics
working on teaching technologies and online learning groups. In addition, the codes deter-
mined from the qualitative interviews and the interpretations in the document analysis process
were validated through direct quotations by the respondents. Regarding scientific ethics, the
real names of the participants were hidden and pseudonyms were used instead. To provide
reliability, the research process and methodology were explicated. Furthermore, the subsequent
coding process was operated 65 days later, and the correspondence between the two was
tested by the reliability formula proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994). As a result, the
reliability coefficient of the research was calculated as .87. The codes with incompatibilities
were corrected by referring to expert opinion. Therefore, the validity and reliability of the
research were provided.

The role of the researcher

In addition to the explanations about the research process, the role of the researcher is quite important
in qualitative research in terms of validity and reliability. The characteristics of a researcher, such as
point of view, prejudices, environment, cultural norms and gender, are reflected in the research
process. Therefore, the researcher should design the research procedure to make objective evaluations
as much as possible (Creswell, 2009). However, in ethnographic studies, if the researcher has compre-
hensive knowledge of the cultural structure under investigation and the data collection but has not
grasped the cultural climate of the community, this may cause divergences in findings and misjudge-
ments (Yazıcı, Reisoğlu, & Altun, 2012). Thus, in this qualitative research study, which aimed to examine
the cultural characteristics of an online community, the primary endeavour was to interpret the data
objectively as much as possible, and the direct quotations were used to provide the validity of
interpretations. In addition, the researcher was extremely familiar with the online community being
studied as he taught mathematics at a high school (2008–13) before his university career. He has also
been a member of the aforementioned online community since 2009. He was an active member of the
group between 2009 and 2013; however, since then, he has been a passive follower. As a result, the
researcher has a solid grasp of the cultural climate of the online community.

Results
Document analysis of the group posts
The posts between the dates of 2–29 May 2016 in the Facebook group were analysed, and the types
of posts in the group and the weekly frequency distribution are presented in Table 1.
As shown in Table 1, there were about 600 posts per week in this Facebook group of more than
13,000 members. When considering that the posts in the group may be commented on several
times, there were over two thousand interactions per week, assuming that each post was replied to
four times on average, as there were ongoing discussions about the posts as the group members
exchanged their ideas.
Most of the posts (average 85.00%) involved maths problems and their solutions as the group was
about high school mathematics teaching. In the group, 475 (91.00%) of 522 maths problems per
10 I. YILDIRIM

week on average were solved, whereas only 47 (9%) of them remained unanswered. The majority of
the maths problems (about 70.00%) were solved quickly by one or several group members. There
were different ideas on the rest (about 30.00%); therefore, a problem may be replied to five times or
more. To illustrate, Figure 2 demonstrates that 12 distinct solutions were offered for a specific
problem and 13 for another.
As shown in Figure 2, while some of the problems were replied to many times, the rest
remained unanswered. The first thing that came to mind was that these problems were too
difficult and could not be solved by anyone. However, the analysis of the posts revealed that
that was not the case. Rather, it was observed that the group members did not reply to the posts
without an expression of request, the posts with the problems that were written by hand, the
posts in which the problems were shared reverse or sidewise, and the posts that included too
many problems at a time.
Figure 3 presents the post shared sidewise in the top left-hand corner, the post with the questions
that were written by hand in the top right-hand corner, the post without an expression of request in
the bottom left-hand corner, and the post that included five problems at a time in the bottom right-
hand corner. These posts remained unanswered.

Table 1. Frequency distribution of group posts on a weekly basis.

Sharing Sharing
Mathematics pro- Mathematics pro- Mathematics photo of information Asking
blems with 5 or blems with fewer problems with- an and for
Period more comments than 5 comments out reply posts activity document* help** Total
1st week (2–8 May) 169 347 46 6 28 31 627
2nd week (9–15 May) 134 378 57 2 47 41 659
3rd week (16–22 May) 104 323 41 2 29 65 564
4th week (23–29 May) 141 304 43 4 28 72 592
Total 548 1352 187 14 132 209 2442
*Table 2 includes the details.
**Table 3 includes the details.

Table 2. The posts about sharing information or documents with colleagues.

Themes (type of posts) f Quotation
Maths subject tests 27 The fascicule of logarithmic inequalities (document)
Funny and 16 The theory of probability: A video about the possibility of metal balls thrown by 43
brainstorming people at the same time landing in jars 6 metres away
Books 14 Our book, which is compatible with the new academic year’s curriculum, is ready
(document)
Curriculum 12 The mathematics curriculum for the 2016–17 academic year (document)
Teaching materials 11 Do you have any honei towers? We need it for a project and I’ll send it back at the end of
the project by cargo
Technological content 10 Sharing a book involving smart board applications (document)
knowledge
Private course 8 The Association for Women in Mathematics Graduate Summer School
advertisements
Regulations 8 Teachers are not supposed to attend the meetings out of working hours (document)
Sayings 7 ‘Let no man who is not a Mathematician read the elements of my work.’ Da Vinci.
Interesting 6 The study of a group of researchers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (USA) concluding that brain regions activated during mathematical thinking were
different from the other intellectual activities. (Internet link)
History of mathematics 3 Did you know that Pythagoras Theory was named ‘The Theory of Diameter Squares’ in
the geometry book of Ataturk? (document)
University entrance 3 What do you think about the 2017 university entrance exam, will there be open-ended
exam questions? (Internet link)
News 3 Enjoy our new Ministry of National Education.
Social activities 2 The new mathematics village for concerning teachers.
Notice to blood donors 1 Dear friends, can you help us? We need urgent ** blood for a friend of mine.
Death notice 1 *** high school mathematics teacher and an active member of our group *** passed
away. Rest in peace.
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 11

Table 3. The posts about asking for help.

Themes (type of posts)
Regulations
Requests for resources
Techno-pedagogical information
Requests for resource suggestions 15 I would like to offer practice tests for the university entrance exam to a student
Curriculum
Pedagogical knowledge
Personal requests
Help for scientific study
University entrance exam
f Quotation
87 * Is it possible to cancel the written exam if the mean of the class is under 50?
* Dear teachers. Can the marriage leave be used a few weeks later?
* Hi friends. I will ask for my appointment within province and I have completed my
obligation to work for three years at the same school. However, it included my
military service for about 6 months. Can I still ask to be appointed?
46 * Are there any friends who have documents about conics such as lecturing notes,
working paper, etc.?
* Friends, does anybody have all the questions of 2014 and 2015 university entrance
exams? Can you share?
19 Dear friends. Does anyone know a software to be used for drawing geometric
shapes?
studying in vocational high school. Do you have publisher advice?
13 I did not teach ‘Rank of a Matrix’ as it is out of curriculum, but I realised that some
practice books included problems about it. Am I wrong? Did you teach that topic?
9 Good evening, my dear colleagues. How do you plan to teach 11th grade topic of
number strings?
8 Good day everyone. Are there anybody working at *** Anatolian High School or ***
Anatolian High School among us? I would like to ask for information about these
schools.
6 Hi friends, I would like your help for a scientific study, could you fill in the survey by
clicking on the link? Thanks in advance.
6 Friends, my student has a question, are there any coefficient differences between
simple maths problems and derivative integral questions in the university
entrance exam?

In the group posts, teachers also shared 14 photographs of activities that they did with their
students. Figure 4 illustrates a photograph of an activity about the Pythagorean theorem.
The group posts also included sharing information or documents with colleagues. Table 2 shows
the details of 132 posts in 16 themes.
It was clear in the table that maths fascicule tests, resource books, teaching materials and the
posts related to technological content knowledge that are likely to be used by teachers in their own
teaching process constituted nearly half (47.00%) of these posts. On the other hand, there were also
posts about private course advertisement, regulations that teachers have to obey, sayings about
mathematics, interesting and extraordinary information such as the history of mathematics, uni-
versity entrance exams, news and various social activities. The most prominent elements were the
posts that included maths subject tests, funny and brainstorming content, books, curriculum,
teaching materials and technological content knowledge. In addition to a notice to blood donors,
a death notice of an active group member was posted, on which 346 sadness or surprise feelings and
239 condolence messages were shared. The presence of these kinds of posts indicated that the
group had a collective consciousness and strong social relationships.
The teachers also requested help from the group members. It was observed that all of the
requests were responded to, and the group members made several suggestions. Table 3 shows
the details of 209 posts in nine themes.
It is clear from the table that most of the posts were related to the regulations. The group
members sought solutions to their problems about teachers’ obligations, the school’s functioning,
asking about one’s appointment etc. In terms of frequency, the regulations were followed by
requests for resources and for resource suggestions. They consisted of documents related to exam
questions, working papers or lecture notes. Moreover, the posts on how to integrate technological
knowledge into mathematics teaching were shared as techno-pedagogical information, and dis-
agreements about the curriculum and difficulties in the teaching process were discussed in curricu-
lum and pedagogical knowledge. Personal requests, help for scientific study and the details of
university entrance exams were also available.
12 I. YILDIRIM

Figure 2. Posts and replies.

Qualitative interviews
The qualitative interviews were employed with the participating teachers chosen among the group
members, and the obtained data were then analysed. Themes and codes for the group membership
and being a group follower are presented in Table 4.
Table 4 indicates that most of the participants became group members through Facebook notifica-
tions, and they have followed the group regularly. The participants also became members via their
friends. Even if a mathematics teacher did not know any group members in the social sphere, they were
likely to be aware of the group by using Facebook and then participated in it. It was observed that the
members followed the group continuously and meticulously. The themes and codes for the reasons to
share and the extraordinary experiences related to the group are shown in Table 5.
According to the participants, the emotional factors underlying the behaviour of sharing were
helping each other, relaxation, social acceptance and trust. Although the desire to help each other
was the most prominent emotional factor, the others cannot be abnegated either. The group
members’ extraordinary experiences in the process of interaction within groups were related to
both the teaching processes and daily life, such as the recommendation of novels. Ayşe’s extra-
ordinary experience related to the teaching processes implied that the group was an important part
of the members’ lives. Moreover, Ismail emphasised the importance of a relaxing atmosphere
created by the homogeneous nature of the group. It was likely that the only factor to have
a gender effect was the element of trust. As a female respondent, Ayşe drew attention to the effect
of trust in the sharing behaviour of people. The themes and codes related to the posts are presented
in Table 6.
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 13

Figure 3. Posts without replies.

It was observed that the posts in the group were primarily about promoting professional
development and teachers’ personal rights. The group members obviously promoted their content
knowledge, enhanced their teaching procedures and professional knowledge through the provision
of teaching materials and practical knowledge, and found out about the techno-pedagogical
developments to integrate into their own teaching processes. Gokhan’s expression that ‘I reviewed
the posts, but I did not comment’ implied that many group members may follow the group without
commenting. In addition, the group members shared information and documents relevant to issues
about personal rights, and the teachers were informed about appointment procedures. Levent’s post
about sharing what he had learned in the group with his colleagues and his students in the social
sphere revealed that the widespread influence of the group was much more than about 13,000
individuals. In addition, Levent’s expression about the coordination among teachers in the planning
of instructional processes provided significant data regarding the functionality of the group. The
themes and codes related to the positive and negative aspects are shown in Table 7.
The frequency ratio of the codes clearly showed that the negative aspects of the group were
overwhelmed by the positive ones. The prominent positive aspects were the presence of the positive
communication environment, the usefulness and the easiness of the group, the provision of
14 I. YILDIRIM

Figure 4. Photograph of an activity.

Table 4. Themes and codes for the group membership and being a group follower.
THEMES
HOW TO BE A MEMBER
BEING A GROUP FOLLOWER
CODES f PARTICIPANTS QUOTATION
Facebook notifications 10 A,B,D,E,F,G,K,L,M,N Filiz: I saw it from my
friend’s Facebook posts
and became a group
member.
Friends 2 C,O Okan: I was informed in
everyday
conversations with my
friends and became
a member.
Group creator 2 H,I Ismail: We created this
group together with
several teachers, but
I am no longer an
admin. I have been
a member since 2009.
Continuous follow-up 14 All the participants Burcu: I browse it at least
4–5 times a day.

immediate responses, new perspectives and a social environment, relying on the common ground of
the members, meeting the requirements of the users, the quality of the posts and offering solutions
to the problems. The examination of quotations related to the negative aspects indicated that they
were observed ‘rarely, sometimes . . . ’. In other words, the negative aspects present, such as abuse of
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 15

Table 5. Themes and codes for the reasons to share and extraordinary experiences related to the group.
THEMES CODES f PARTICIPANTS QUOTATION
REASONS TO Helping each 12 A,B,C,D,E,F,G,I, Filiz: I appreciate the posts in the group in terms of helping
SHARE other N,O each other.
Relaxation 4 B,E,I Ismail: As it is a homogeneous group composed of high
school mathematics teachers, I think the motives behind
the behaviour of sharing are relaxation, emotional release
and wondering about whether there are others who
experience similar problems.
Social 3 B,E,G Burcu: I feel sometimes that the posts and replies are mainly
acceptance directed by social acceptance in the group.
Trust 3 A Ayşe: The people share for the feeling of trust. I think that
the principal idea is helping others in return for their
assistance.
EXTRAORDINARY Related to 8 A,B,C,K,N Kemal: For example, a friend in the group shared a list of
EXPERIENCES daily life books (novels) that mathematics teachers should read.
I found it very useful and bought them all.
Related to 4 A,D,L Ayşe: While sitting together in the teacher’s room,
teaching a colleague in my school shared a maths question in the
processes group, and I replied. It was so interesting that my
colleague preferred posting the question in the group to
asking me in person.

Table 6. Themes and codes related to posts.

THEMES CODES f PARTICIPANTS QUOTATION
PROMOTING PROFESSIONAL Promoting content 29 All the participants Levent: I learnt many theories and
DEVELOPMENT knowledge different solutions to maths
problems by communicating with
a large group of teachers. I also
share them with my colleagues
and my students and they respond
well.
Sharing teaching 16 A,B,C,E, Gokhan: What grabs my attention in
materials G,H,K,M,O the group are the posts about
books, teaching resources,
materials and presentations.
I review all the posts, but I do not
comment on.
Supporting teaching 12 B,F, Levent: For example, in November
processes H,I,K,L,M,N a teacher in the group posts to be
teaching x topic for the 10th grade
and then the others comment on.
Therefore, it coordinates the group
members teaching plans.
Techno-pedagogical 8 A,B, Burcu: To illustrate the technological
posts G,I,K,L,M benefits, I have learned from the
group the software to be used for
writing maths problems.
TEACHERS’ PERSONAL RIGHTS Encountered problems 12 B,C,D,E,F, Nevzat: Iam concerned particularly
H,I,L,N with the posts about the questions
on regulations or administrative
problems the members
experienced.
Appointment 6 B,C,F, Ceyda: I follow and make use of the
H,K,L posts about appointment
procedures.

discussions and infollution, are not serious matters, and they may be rejected when considering the
fact that the group is a platform with more than 13,000 members.
 16

Table 7. Themes and codes related to positive and negative aspects.

I. YILDIRIM

THEMES CODES f PARTICIPANTS QUOTATION

POSITIVE Positive communication 20 A,B,C,D,E,F,I,K,L,M, Ayşe: There are good relationships. I think the individuals show empathy and trust towards each other as the group
ASPECTS environment N,O members have similar experiences in their professional lives.
Usefulness 18 A,B,D,H,I,K,M,N Kemal: I exploit the group to a great extent and recommend it to all mathematics teachers I know. It is a good way of
the Internet use.
Easiness 14 All the participants Murat: There are no troublesome sides to becoming a group member.
Offering new 14 A,B,D,E,F,G,H,I,K,M, Ece: The group offers us the opportunities of exploring different solutions, gaining new perspectives, learning from the
perspectives N mistakes of others and experiencing different types of maths problems.
Socialisation 13 A,B,C,D,H,I,K,L,N,O Hakan: Unfortunately, even the public school teachers working in the same district do not know each other. I think the
group provides opportunity to be acquainted with the colleagues nearby.
Communicating with 10 C,E,F,H,I,L,N Ismail: The group provides you with the opportunity for consulting 13,000 colleagues on a matter on which you are
a great many people professionally challenged.
Getting immediate 7 A,D,F,H,I,L Damla: It is very nice that an immediate solution can be found whenever somebody asks a question.
responses
Having a common 7 A,C,K,L,N Nevzat: As the group members do have a common ground, most of the posts are on the issues that teachers are
ground interested in and I find them very useful.
Quality of the posts 6 A,C,D,E,L Ece: I am confident that the maths problems are the good quality ones as they are posted by my colleagues.
Meeting the 4 A,C,K,M Ceyda: The things people share always meet the requirements of teachers. Nothing unnecessary is shared in the
requirements group.
Offering solutions to the 4 A,L,N Nevzat: If we cannot find solutions to the maths problems that we encounter, we fall behind professionally. I think we
problems should take advantage of each other’s knowledge to get rid of this handicap. This group is a very convenient
platform for this purpose.
NEGATIVE Abuse of discussions 11 B,C,D,G,H,L,N,O Levent: Some of the group members rarely react negatively to very simple problems in the group. It is not polite. I do
ASPECTS not remember no other negative aspects.
Non-teacher members 4 C,D,G,O Ceyda: The group does not have any negative aspects, but sometimes we realise student members are in the group.
Then, the admins do what is required immediately.
Infollution 4 D,H,O Damla: The questions about regulations were rarely answered irrelevantly and erroneously. That may also cause
infollution.
Deleting the posts 1 H Hakan: Some of the group members delete the question whenever it is solved. That is a negative side to some extent
as it inhibits the other members’ gaining new perspectives.
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 17

Conclusion and discussion

In this qualitative study, a seven-year active online community with over 13,000 members created by
several high school mathematics teachers was examined with the methodology of netnography. In
line with the research objectives, all the posts in May 2016 were analysed, and semi-structured
interviews were employed with the participating 14 teachers who were group members. The results
of the study have been limited to relevant group discussions and qualitative interviews with these 14
participants.
As a result of the study, it was determined that the group had an organic and self-managing
structure. An average of two thousand interactions per week was observed in the group, and the
Facebook group was deemed to be actively used by a great many group members. The qualitative
interviews revealed that the respondents followed the group posts regularly but did not comment
on them unless doing so was necessary. Therefore, it is concluded that the weekly interactions were
much more than two thousand in the group. As the group was for high school mathematics
teaching, most of the posts (85.00%) involved maths problems. In the Facebook group, over five
hundred maths problems were posted per week, and more than 90.00% were solved. All of the
problems might be accepted as high-quality activities that could be used for instructional purposes
as the participants suggested that the quality of the posts was quite high in the qualitative inter-
views. The group members exchanged their ideas on most of the problems, which offered the
members experiences with new perspectives.
The examination of information and document sharing within the group demonstrated that half of
the posts were for instructional purposes, while the rest were about other issues concerning the
members. As a matter of fact, the participants stated that none of the group posts were unnecessary
and that they enjoyed a great deal of knowledge and experience through the posts in the group. The
group members pointed out that the posts promoted their content knowledge, enhanced their
teaching procedures and professional knowledge through the provision of teaching materials and
practical knowledge, and informed them about the techno-pedagogical developments to integrate
into their own teaching processes through instructional posts. In addition, the group members voiced
their opinions and sought solutions on how to use technological knowledge in mathematics teaching,
disagreements about the implementation of curriculum and challenges in the teaching process. This
information suggests that the group supports teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge
(TPCK). TPCK is defined by Mishra and Koehler (2006) as a form of knowledge that emerges beyond the
pedagogy, technology and content knowledge and also is formed by the intersection of these three. In
other words, TPCK is considered a form of information influencing how teachers can use technological
developments in their content teaching process. Researchers (Dalgarno & Colgan, 2007; Koehler &
Mishra, 2005) stated that teachers’ TPCK and PCK can also be improved by online communities. It is
possible to say that the related Facebook group is an important contributor in this context.
The regulations were also frequently discussed by the group members. Specifically, the group
members consulted their colleagues on issues related to teachers’ obligations, the functioning of the
school, appointment procedures and related issues. According to the data obtained from the inter-
views, teachers who asked for help and advice were given immediate useful feedback, and the group
members rarely reported erroneous or irrelevant feedback.
In sum, it was concluded that most of the respondents became group members via Facebook
notifications and followed the group regularly. The emotional factors underlying the behaviours of
following and sharing in the group were determined as helping each other, relaxation, social
acceptance and trust. In other words, although the desire to help each other is the most prominent
emotional factor, the members also characterised the platform as having a relaxing, socially accep-
table and confidential atmosphere. Moreover, the group members experienced several extraordinary
circumstances in the Facebook group and were interested in the posts concerning a notice to blood
donors and the death notice, due to strong social relationships.
18 I. YILDIRIM

The examination of the group in terms of benefit–loss analysis indicated that the benefits were
quite numerous. Among positive aspects, it was very important for the group to support the users’
socialisation and to provide them with a positive communication environment. The group mem-
bers sometimes experienced a positive and constructive communication environment that did not
exist even in their schools, which provided them with the opportunity to improve their teaching
capacities. The members’ positive attitudes towards the group and their continuous follow-up
mostly stemmed from the provision of immediate responses, the usefulness of the group and the
easiness of the group, meeting the users’ requirements through communicating with a large
number of colleagues from different high schools. The quality of the posts and offering the
members new perspectives also contributed to the quality of the group and the loyalty of the
members.
In sum, it is clear that the studies in the relevant literature (Barab et al., 2001; Carr & Chambers,
2006; Deniz, 2016; Hew & Hara, 2007; Hur, 2007; Hur & Brush, 2009; Hur & Hara, 2007; Kelly & Antonio,
2016; Staudt et al., 2013) yield similar results to this study in that the negative aspects of online
communities are overwhelmed by the positive. Moreover, the characteristics of the Facebook group
overlap with the objectives and the principles determined by the Turkish Ministry of National
Education (MoNE, 1995) for the in-service training of teachers. The objectives overlapping with the
functions of the group are assisting the orientation of newly appointed teachers in the in-service
training process, eliminating the shortcomings of pre-service training, informing teachers about
innovations in education, developing professional competence and consciousness, and making the
national education system better. The Ministry indicates that in-service training ought to have the
qualities of continuity, meeting the requirements, prioritising education and providing equality of
opportunity. It is therefore concluded that the Facebook group in this study meets and surpasses all
these standards thanks to the opportunities provided by the Internet, and it can be exploited
according to the requirements of the individuals whenever they want.

Concluding remarks and recommendations

The research results obtained from the examination of the online interactions and group members’
opinions indicate that the Facebook group named the Chamber of Ministry of National Education
High School Mathematics Teachers promotes teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge
and techno-pedagogical knowledge; provides support in instructional processes; undertakes the role
of coordination of educational processes; provides teachers with the opportunity to share educa-
tional resources; informs teachers about their personal rights; and strengthens teachers’ intellectual
development. In addition, the members constantly follow the group posts with the emotional
reasons of helping each other and relaxation by participating in the group voluntarily. The group
provides the members with immediate responses and constructive recommendations for their
professional and personal problems in a positive environment, and the teachers become aware of
different perspectives. It has been pointed out that the Facebook group meets and surpasses
teachers’ in-service training requirements through voluntary participation. Therefore, it is obvious
that it is a rational option to promote teachers’ in-service development with such platforms.
In the literature, various studies examined the use of online communities created by national or
international authorised bodies in teachers’ in-service training processes. To illustrate, Barab et al.
(2001) researched the Inquiry Learning Forum designed by the National Science Foundation in the
USA, Carr and Chambers (2006) studied the online communities within the scope of the National
Quality Schooling Framework project in Australia, and Duncan-Howell (2010) researched three differ-
ent online communities created by national and international authorised bodies in Australia. However,
it can be claimed that online environments should be more easily accessible and be formed sponta-
neously, as Hur (2007) pointed out that spontaneous and self-sustaining online environments are more
successful. Therefore, it is likely that the Facebook groups may serve well for educational purposes
when the frequencies of use of Facebook, its simplicity and user groups are considered. As a result, it is
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 19

highly advisable to use communities of practice in Facebook (CoPiF) in teachers’ in-service training
processes. CoPiF can be described as the environments created via Facebook by the individuals on
common grounds in which they can exchange information on their expertise with their colleagues.
These online networks can contribute greatly to the professional development of teachers by
ensuring continuity; however, they should be self-sustaining in nature, as pointed out by Hur (2007).
Instead of creating a new group for the in-service training process, authorised bodies have to take
over a group that has been active for at least a year and has at least one thousand members. In this
process, they have to work with people who are familiar with the group, competent educational
experts and social media experts. Otherwise, members can leave the group whenever they think that
the informal pattern of the group, which is composed of mutual assistance, relaxation, social
acceptance and trust, has degenerated. Furthermore, financial opportunities may be offered to the
admins of the group in return for their efforts.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor
Ibrahim Yildirim works at Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey. He obtained his PhD in 2016 from the same
university. His research interests focus on curriculum development, assessment and evaluation in education, and
educational technologies. He teaches courses about research methods and educational technologies at both under-
graduate and graduate levels.

ORCID
Ibrahim Yildirim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4137-2025

References
Ardichvili, A., Page, V., & Wentling, T. (2002). Virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice at caterpillar: Success
factors and barriers. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 15(3), 94–113.
Asterhan, C. S., & Rosenberg, H. (2015). The promise, reality and dilemmas of secondary school teacher–student
interactions in Facebook: The teacher perspective. Computers & Education, 85, 134–148.
Bahar, M., Nartgün, Z., Durmuş, S., & Bıçak, B. (2009). Geleneksel tamamlayıcı ölçme ve değerlendireme teknikleri (3rd ed.).
Ankara: Pegem Publications.
Barab, S., & Kling, R. (2004). Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Barab, S. A., MaKinster, J. G., Moore, J. A., & Cunningham, D. J. (2001). Designing and building an on-line community: The
struggle to support sociability in the inquiry learning forum. Educational Technology Research and Development, 49
(4), 71–96.
Bekiroğlu, F. O. (2004). Ne kadar başarılı/Klasik ve alternatif ölçme değerlendirme yöntemleri ve fizikte uygulamalar. Ankara:
Nobel Publications.
boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-
Mediated Communication, 13, 210–230.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (1991). Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of
working, learning, and innovation. Organization Science, 2, 40–57.
Çam, E. (2012). Educational and general use of Facebook and Facebook addiction of teacher candidates (SAU college of
education sample) (Unpublished master’s thesis). Sakarya University, Department of Educational Sciences, Sakarya,
Turkey.
Carr, N., & Chambers, D. P. (2006). Teacher professional learning in an online community: The experiences of the national
quality schooling framework pilot project. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 15, 143–157.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions (2nd ed.). London: Sage
Publications.
20 I. YILDIRIM

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles,
CA: Sage Publications.
Dalgarno, N., & Colgan, L. (2007). Supporting novice elementary mathematics teachers’ induction in professional
communities and providing innovative forms of pedagogical content knowledge development through information
and communication technology. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1051–1065.
Demirli, C., Demirkol, M., & Özdemir, T. Y. (2010, July). The teachers’ opinion about the effects of online learning
communities on professional development, IV. Uluslararası Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Sempozyumu (pp.
24–26). Selçuk Üniversitesi, Turkey.
Deniz, İ. D. (2016). An examination of a Facebook group as a teacher professional development tool (Unpublished master’s
thesis). Gaziantep University, Department of Educational Sciences, Gaziantep.
Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers making connections: Online communities as a source of professional learning. British
Journal of Educational Technology, 41, 324–340.
Ellis, D., Oldridge, R., & Vasconcelos, A. (2004). Community and virtual community. Annual Review of Information Science
and Technology, 38, 145–186.
Fauville, G., Dupont, S., von Thun, S., & Lundin, J. (2015). Can Facebook be used to increase scientific literacy? A case
study of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Facebook page and ocean literacy. Computers & Education,
82, 60–73.
Feiman-Nemser, S. (2003). What new teachers need to learn. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 25–29.
Garet, M., Porter, A., Desimone, L., Birman, B., & Yoon, K. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results
from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 915–945. Retrieved from http://www.
jstor.org/stable/3202507
Granger, C. A., Morbey, M. L., Lotherington, H., Owston, R. D., & Wideman, H. H. (2002). Factors contributing to teachers’
successful implementation of IT. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18, 480–488.
Hammond, L. D., & Ball, D. L. (1999). Teaching for high standard, what policymakers need to know and be able to do. CPRE
Research Reports. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_researchreports/92
Hanushek, E. A. (2011). The economic value of higher teacher quality. Economics of Education Review, 30, 466–479.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge.
Herrington, A., Herrington, J., Kervin, L., & Ferry, B. (2006). The design of an online community of practice for beginning
teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 6, 120–132.
Hew, K. F. (2011). Students’ and teachers’ use of Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 662–676.
Hew, K. F., & Hara, N. (2007). Empirical study of motivators and barriers of teacher online knowledge sharing. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 55, 573–595.
Hiebert, J., Gallimore, R., & Stigler, J. W. (2002). A knowledge base for the teaching profession: What would it look like
and how can we get one? Educational Researcher, 31(5), 3–15.
Hur, J. W. (2007). Understanding teacher participation in online communities: Why do teachers want to participate in online
communities of teachers? (Doctoral dissertation). Indiana University. ProQuest.
Hur, J. W., & Brush, T. A. (2009). Teacher participation in online communities. Journal of Research on Technology in
Education, 41, 279–303.
Hur, J. W., & Hara, N. (2007). Factors cultivating sustainable online communities for K–12 teacher professional develop-
ment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 36, 245–268.
Jawecki, G., & Füller, J. (2008). How to use the innovative potential of online communities? Netnography – An
unobtrusive research method to absorb the knowledge and creativity of online communities. International Journal
of Business Process Integration and Management, 3, 248–255.
Kelly, N., & Antonio, A. (2016). Teacher peer support in social network sites. Teaching and Teacher Education, 56, 138–149.
Kent, A. M. (2004). Improving teacher quality through professional development. Education, 124(3), 427.
Khan, M. L., Wohn, D. Y., & Ellison, N. B. (2014). Actual friends matter: An internet skills perspective on teens’ informal
academic collaboration on Facebook. Computers & Education, 79, 138–147.
Kling, R., & Courtright, C. (2003). Group behavior and learning in electronic forums: A sociotechnical approach. The
Information Society, 19, 221–235.
Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2005). What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of
technological pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 32, 131–152.
Kozinets, R. V. (2002). The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities.
Journal of Marketing Research, 39, 61–72.
Kozinets, R. V. (2010). Netnography: Doing ethnographic research online. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
Lieberman, A. (2000). Networks as learning communities shaping the future of teacher development. Journal of Teacher
Education, 51, 221–227.
Lock, J. V. (2006). A new image: Online communities to facilitate teacher professional development. Journal of
Technology and Teacher Education, 14, 663–678.
Mazman, S. G., & Usluel, Y. K. (2010). Modeling educational usage of Facebook. Computers & Education, 55, 444–453.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE Publications.
 TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION 21

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge.
Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.
MoNE. (1995). Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı Hizmetiçi Eğitim Yönetmeliği. Retrieved from http://mevzuat.meb.gov.tr/html/51.html
Preece, J. (2000). Online communities: Designing usability, supporting sociability. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Sánchez, R. A., Cortijo, V., & Javed, U. (2014). Students’ perceptions of Facebook for academic purposes. Computers &
Education, 70, 138–149.
Schlager, M. S., & Fusco, J. (2003). Teacher professional development, technology, and communities of practice: Are we
putting the cart before the horse? The Information Society, 19, 203–220.
Staudt, D., St. Clair, N., & Martinez, E. E. (2013). Using Facebook to support novice teachers. The New Educator, 9, 152–163.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Procedures and techniques for developing grounded theory
(2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
Sugar, W. (2005). Instructional technologist as a coach: Impact of a situated professional development program on
teachers’ technology use. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 13, 547–571.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems Thinker, 9(5), 2–3.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Yazıcı, H., Reisoğlu, S., & Altun, F. (2012). The relationship between ethnographer’s values and research method and
results. Batman University Journal of Life Sciences, 1, 649–657.
Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2013). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (9th ed.). Ankara: Seçkin Publications.
Zhao, Y., & Rop, S. (2001). A critical review of the literature on electronic networks as reflective discourse communities
for inservice teachers. Education and Information Technologies, 6, 81–94.