“Like, comment, and share”—professional development through social media in higher education: A systematic review

Abstract

In recent years, professional learning networks (PLNs) and online learning communities of practices (CoPs) enabled by social media have emerged as a conduit and communal space for faculty members to engage in professional learning. This systematic review provides a current synthesis of research surrounding social media and professional development in higher education. Articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2009 and 2019 were reviewed and 23 articles that met our selection criteria were included for further analysis and synthesis in this review. Findings suggest that research and practice on social media-supported professional learning is still in its infancy stage. Despite that social media-supported PLNs and CoPs show potential for contributing to faculty professional learning, challenges exist in sustaining faculty participation and engagement, as well as effectively navigating the social media space, especially for novice social media users. Practical implications and future research recommendations are discussed.