Twitter in the initial teacher education arts classroom: Embracing risk taking to explore making learning visible

Abstract

As learning experiences in higher education become more blended, new ways of working in digital spaces are explored. One approach can be the integration of social media. This article unpacks how social media integration confronts the public performance of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in the higher education context, and their understanding of arts making and art education. In integrating Twitter into the learning experience, explorations into pedagogies that support risk taking are brought to the forefront. Identification of five different types of adopters is presented. Each of these classifications is connected to behaviours that embody risk taking in relation to both social media use and exploration of teaching art, which demonstrates a participatory culture within the space of Twitter. Revealed is the complexity of risktaking behaviours that embrace the varying approaches to use, confidence, familiarity and transferability supported by pedagogical design underpinned by teacher presence.