Co-Integrate Series Talk: Dr. Kaitlin Torphy

“Educational Professionalism within the Fifth Estate: Networks of Influence Within Social Media and Education”

Dr. Kaitlin Torphy will speak about an emerging phenomenon: social media in education. She will present the notion of a Fifth Estate within the digital age, redefining influence (Dutton, 2009). Dr. Torphy will review research regarding teachers’ engagement within Pinterest, a prevalent social media platform amongst teachers nationwide. In related work, she will explore how teachers are turning to social media (Pinterest) to connect with instructional resources and one another as they work to support the academic needs of their students and respond to education reforms. Dr. Torphy will provide a first look at characterizing the quality and standards alignment of over 5,000 mathematics tasks within Pinterest. Visit TeachersInSocialMedia.org for more information.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Kaitlin T. Torphy (Michigan State University), Ph.D., is a research scientist and the developer and director of the Teachers in Social Media project. This project considers the intersection of cloud to class, nature of resources within virtual resource pools and implications for equity as educational spaces grow increasingly connected. Dr. Torphy conceptualizes the emergence of a teacherprenurial guild in which teachers turn to one another for published work on charter school impacts, curricular reform, teachers’ social networks and presented work regarding teachers’ engagement within social media at the national and international level. Dr. Torphy’s other work examines diffusion of sustainable practices across social networks within The Nature Conservancy. She holds a Ph.D. in education policy, a specialization in the economics of education and is a Teach for America alumni and former Chicago Public Schools teacher.

CO-INTEGRATE TALKS SPONSORSHIP

College of Natural Science: Program in Mathematics Education

CREATE for STEM Institute

Michigan State University