Research, development, and validation of a school leader's resource guide for the facilitation of social media use by school staff

Abstract

Many school leaders do not understand their rights and responsibilities to facilitate social media use by their staff in P-12 education. This dissertation was designed to research, develop, and validate a resource guide school leaders can use to facilitate social media use by school staff. Research, Development, and Validation of a School Leader’s Resource Guide for the Facilitation of Social Media Use by School Staff was developed using the research and development (R & D) methodology by Gall, Borg, and Gall (2003) and Dick and Carey (2009). The seven steps in the R & D cycle included: (1) research analysis, needs assessment, and proof of concept; (2) product planning and design; (3) preliminary product development; (4) preliminary field testing; (5) product revision; (6) main field testing; and (7) the final product revision (Gall, Borg & Gall, 2003). An analysis of the literature, needs assessment questionnaire, and proof of concept results provided information used to develop the resource guide design. This initial design was then evaluated by preliminary field testers (social media experts) using a Likert scale and open-ended questions to provide feedback. Revisions were prepared based on their responses. A main field test was then conducted with additional social media experts. Final revisions were made based on this feedback. Major conclusions of this study included the following: (1) school leaders need more resources to understand their rights and responsibilities concerning social media use by staff; (2) this resource guide for school leaders should include legal information, case studies, and vocabulary used in the social media world; (3) and the R & D process produced a resource guide school leaders can use to understand their rights and responsibilities concerning social media use by staff. The resource guide’s information includes (1) background on social media, (2) legal aspects of social media use by staff, (3) social media promising practices, (4) digital citizenship, (5) emergence of issues and challenges in social media, and (5) how employers can avoid adverse employment actions. The focus of the resource guide is school leaders must understand their rights and responsibilities in guiding social media use by staff members.