By taking steps such as defining your purpose, making connections in a manageable way, observing interactions, branching out from useful contacts and resources; and then consuming, producing, and sharing content in your network in a useful and efficient manner. Your virtual network will grow considerably over time and you will be able to continue to use these skills in professional practice .
Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course?
Our PLN can be used to help professional development post-course such as by applying ways to expand our personal learning network professionally, how to think about inclusion while working professionally, along with media literacy. Through continued blog posts, discussion groups, interactive courses and weekly webinars, PLNs can be a great venue for educators seeking to continue their professional learning post-course.
Can your PLN be relied on to open professional opportunities?
It can be relied upon to open professional opportunities as long as credentials are professional and reliable. If that isn’t an issue, then it most definitely can be relied on to open further-on professional opportunities.
Media literacy provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and participate with messages in a variety of forms. It is the ability to apply critical thinking skills to the messages, signs, and symbols that are transmitted through mass media. We live in a world that is filled with media of all kinds, from newspapers to radio to television to the internet. Having a Personal Learning Network that values media literacy enables us to understand and evaluate all of the media messages we encounter on a daily basis, empowering us to make better choices about what we choose to read, watch, and listen to. It also helps us become smarter, more discerning members of society.
I think that Twitter is a really good platform that is beneficial in education through hashtags and retweets. Twitter and course hashtags encourage open forum and debate, thus, creating a personal learning bubble between individuals who same similar knowledge and interest about a topic. Many social media platforms can help you find relevant material on any topic related to your education field. The nature of twitter streams allows it to be used as a passive or active learning tool. Learners can watch, skim, surf, tweet, connect and produce. This allows us learners to plan for a variety of roles by tasks, groups, or as a matter of learning personalization. Another platform that has a higher credibility than platforms like twitter would be google scholar. This allows learners to access peer reviewed articles, citations, and professionally written documents.
 The benefits of a diverse and inclusive PLN includes the ability to educate, inform, and mobilize users. The idea of being inclusive and diverse, along with being able to empathize and understand different groups and communities is a very important aspect in forming your Personal learning network. Diversity and inclusion initiatives support the realization that everyone is different. Social media reinforces this fact, demonstrating that we’re more connected and have more in common with each other as we communicate using different platforms. It’s an opportunity for individuals to connect with people of all different backgrounds, to find commonalities, to share experiences, and to solve problems in new ways. These shared experiences give us a window into what life really is like for people other than ourselves. In our day-to-day lives, we can see life through someone else’s eyes with live feeds of war, protests, government hearings, weddings, graduations, and family gatherings, and we will have developed a different level of empathy, understanding, and communication.
It is important to create a Personal Learning Network that includes new voices to “shake up” your current ideas. A strong PLN is vital to help create better learning. According to the article Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network by Bianca Woods, all PLNs are different since we all have different interests, focuses, and needs, and one’s PLN can only be fruitful if it reflects you. You can take the step to build your PLB by asking the people around you about their experiences and what they’re interested in, and then really listen to what they have to say. To share your ideas with others in order to gain insight from them. To take advantage of technology will also help broaden and strengthen your PLN. To look beyond your field of interest – a strong PLN includes individuals in completely different lines of work. According to Woods, A PLN should never be a one-way street. It should be a way for you to help others as well. The more you contribute to your PLN, the more others will want to help you.
Reflect on how social media can play a role in helping you establish messaging and themes that are inclusive and diverse.Â
We should look at inclusion as a “concept of teaching to the diversity of all” rather than just a “special education. According to the Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion by Shelley Moore, we can extend inclusive education to include every diverse learner and start viewing inclusion as not something we simply do but instead something that just is. Inclusion in a professional setting starts by not avoiding the diversity that exists in our professional setting by attempting to standardize the workplace/classroom and workers/learners. Diversity exists amongst us all and it is something that all of us are surrounded by. Social media can play a role in helping to reclaim the word along with the concept of inclusive education and calibrating its definitions among teachers, support staff, administrators, parents, and students in order to start an inclusive journey. With that being said about inclusion, all diversities need to be considered and celebrated; it is not about just one group of people, it is about all people who exhibit different strengths, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, etc. Therefore, social media can act as a support system by providing support for all students to have access to and contribute to an education rich in content and experience with their peers.Â
What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?
After viewing Visitor & Resident maps from my group, I noticed many similarities through one’s social media platform compared to the other. I can see that everybody in the group are residents on Snapchat and Instagram for their personal networks. As for professional networks, it seems to me like most students are using LinkedIn/Indeed to look for jobs along with brightspace, email, and google docs or a microsoft software for other professional purposes.
What could the student consider in expanding their professional learning network?
I think that many students can consider expanding their professional learning networks by using educational tools/apps by joining an educational online community. One very helpful tool that students can use to expand their professional learning network in UVIC is by participating in group discussions or by starting new threads.Â
Discussion: How does data privacy and security limit and/or promote a PLN?
As online learning is expanding, teachers, students and parents increasingly generate personal data; therefore, its’ protection is becoming more and more important. Some data only can be accessed through school websites or need some form of private access to get into the data which can hinder and limit an individual’s personal learning network if they do not have access to that platform. Â
In your network how can you create a digital identity/ reputation?
I think that for one to gain reputation, on any platform; one must be consistent with the content they are putting out. One must also network and branch out to not only one group of audience but a variety of groups. On top of that, the content put out must also be interesting, educational, valid, and relatable to the audience.
What is a digital identity?Â
Digital Identity is a process by which people identify and sort their place in the society both individually and collectively through internet-based social interactions by utilizing online platforms and communication tools where individuals are able to find a sense of community and belonging through social networks.
How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?
Professional identity relates to a professional self-concept of an individual grounded in attributes, beliefs, motives, values, and experiences. Through the article Digital professional identity: Dear Internet! Who am I? by Jawed, S. et al., a study conducted with medical students concluded that a robust group identity is linked to enhanced social support and improved well-being, but in the other hand, unhealthy group norms may engage the individuals in behaviors and activities that place their well-being at risk. Literature also suggests that students are often unaware of the positive intersection of personal and professional identities during social networking.
Through digital identity, we need to prioritize inclusion and participation for those who lives in lower income countries and their access in identity. We also need to consider protection against discrimination, harm, control, and the individuals right to privacy. How we construct and use digital identities will determine how people are represented online and what opportunities they have access to.
What does it mean to network using social media?
Individuals along with society itself has increasingly become connected through smartphones and wifi and therefore, individuals are able to access worldwide information through this media. Networking through social media means that we are learning together with others to share similar thoughts, personal interest, backgrounds, real-time connections or even job-related activities. Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, our personal learning network through social media has grown substantially as individuals are not able to communicate face-to-face, social media and online learning has became the alternative. Individuals are using social networking as a way to make new friends, meet new colleagues, meet new partners, find new knowledge, etc.
How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?
According to the article “Understanding personal learning networks: The structure, content, and networking skills needed to optimally use them”, the structure of a personal network can change in ways best benefiting the needs of professional learners throughout different stages of their careers. When professionals have developed an attitude of approaching their professional life and learning in a networked way, they build, maintain and activate their contacts intentionally. A professional who intentionally builds, maintains and activates her strong, weak and very weak ties with contacts within her personal network for the purpose of improving her learning, while using technology to support this activity is motivated to create a personal learning network.
What are the risks & rewards of public communications?
Although public communications have rewarded us with faster and more efficient way of communicating, one of the risks associated with public communications is “privacy” because boundaries are not well defined, and consent is hard to apply. Through networking, individuals are connected through one another; that means that our data and social identity is easily accessible. In a networked world, data is more persistent, replicable, searchable, and scalable than ever before so therefore we cannot rely on control to achieve privacy. The article states that “even if teenagers’ efforts to achieve social privacy keep their parents in the dark, they don’t stop algorithmic interpretation and misinterpretation of their interactions”. Individuals are still subject to personalization from what they post based on the interpretations of others which may not reflect accurately upon the individual’s personal identity.Â
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