Taking Stock of TeachersPayTeachers.com: Analyzing Four Million Classroom Resources
Abstract: TeachersPayTeachers.com (TpT) is a popular online educational marketplace where educators exchange classroom and instructional materials. Despite indications of significant use of TpT, the existing empirical research on the platform and its users is limited. To address this gap, this exploratory, in-progress research used data mining methods to begin to describe the nature of educational resources for sale on TpT. In this first-of-its-kind study, we have analyzed data related to the 4,018,713 classroom resources available on TpT. Findings provide insight into the supply of resources in terms of content, grade level, and resource type. We are also investigating the demand for resources, among other data points. We discuss these results in relation to relevant literatures and identify avenues for future research to further understand the roles of online marketplaces in education.
Presider: Sam von Gillern, University of Missouri