O USO DAS REDES SOCIAIS DIGITAIS COMO UM INSTRUMENTO DE MOBILIZAÇÃO ENTRE OS PROFESSORES UNIVERSITÁRIOS

INTRODUCTION: In contemporary education, ongoing professional development is essential. This study explored how university professors utilize digital social networks, with the goal of better understanding how to guide content creation and encourage the usage of the Portal Observa platform. A systematic review was conducted, analyzing articles published between 2018 and 2022. The findings revealed the need for digital literacy among faculty through the development of technological skills. There was also a tendency in articles to categorize social networks as “good” or “bad,” an overly simplistic classification that fails to capture the complexity of these platforms. The research contributes to broader discussions on faculty professional development through educational technologies. It also identified a gap concerning the Brazilian context, as only three studies included in the review were conducted in the country. AIMS: Systematic review of scientific papers to investigate how university professors use digital social networks to guide the production of content that encourages teachers to access the Observa Portal (www.observatoriodepraticas.com.br). MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the systematic review, ERIC and SciELO databases were used. From the descriptors “social networks” and “teacher training,” as well as “redes sociais” and “formação de professores,” 394 articles were identified. Studies that addressed any of the various social networks were included. Exclusion criteria were studies that used networks only as a data source, research method, that were not considered articles, or that did not discuss teacher training associated with the platforms. The time frame for the articles was limited to those published in the last five years, given that networks are constantly changing, and the research needed to be up-to-date. A total of 47 articles remained for the systematic review. RESULTS: From the analysis, the biggest downsides of using social media reported by university professors are the rise of anxiety, distraction, and exposure. Superficiality and procrastination were at the top of the list, which is mostly since social media tools were not developed for educational purposes, and already used in a personal life. Regarding abilities that were highlighted as necessary to incorporate social media in teacher education, critical thinking and guided reflection were mentioned as important practices when choosing to use these tools. The most mentioned ability was digital literacy, which mean the knowledge of how social networks operate in a social perspective, and how different social media platforms can provide unique possibilities and be adapted to the classroom by the teacher. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: Social media networks provide several benefits when used intentionally and consciously by professors. Therefore, it should be viewed as a competence to be developed in teaching training to better equip education professionals in the current digital era. There is also a lack of studies in Brazil regarding this subject, and since the country already uses a variety of social networks daily, there is an opportunity for contextualized studies in a Brazilian educational context.

KEYWORDS: Social media; Education; Teacher training; Digital Literacy; Digital technologies.