Kevin's Blog

Class Final Reflection

My experience in the course has been great. I really enjoyed discussing what features creates and effective personal learning network and how important social media is for creating a good digital identity. I also believe this course has encouraged me to grow my own personal learning network as well as how I treat my own social media presence. Before, I mainly used Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube and TikTok as my main social media platforms without thinking much about why and considering other options. This course has allowed me to really think before I use each platform so that I can use it to the best of its ability. This means I will be looking at social media differently when using it for personal and for professional use. I will continue using Instagram for personal use and LinkedIn for more profession use but will also look into other platforms more. This will include twitter for professional use because I underestimated how popular and effective it can be.

Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course?

My PLN can be used to help professional development post-course because having a PLN is very important no matter what field everyone ends up in. Even today as a computer scientist working in the academia field of Kinesiology I often have to build connects reach out to other professors and communicate ideas. As a programmer, the client is king and often times I have to communicate with researchers to develop what they want and what direction our company should work towards depending on input from different specialists in the field.

Can your PLN be relied on to open professional opportunities?

Adding to my first point, I do believe that my PLN can be relied to open professional opportunities. Professional opportunities come in all shapes and forms but one experience I have already experienced is people from my PLN reaching out to me with advice and suggestions as well as give me feedback on my User Interface for my code. Another part of my PLN and digital identity is my LinkedIn account where people in my network will reach out to me seeing if I am interested in joining hands and working for them. This is a common occurrence as I connect with people with similar interests as well as people in the same field. Thus, being a Lifeguard and Software Developer has caused people to slide into my inbox asking if I’d be interested in the professional positions that they’re offering.

References

wakelet (2022) The benefits of Growing Your Network & PLN! | #thewakeletpodcast, YouTube. YouTube. Minutes 15-20 Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEa8JgAE_qM (Accessed: November 22, 2022).

Open dialogues about media literacy and factual information can create conflict; why does this happen?

Open dialogues about media literacy and factual information can create conflict because people on social media like to cope and not accept facts. Social media users like to see what they want to see and thus the social media platform will give them mostly what they want. However, when contrary facts appear and when people say things they don’t believe in, social media users are quick to turn down the fact and disagree. This is also occurs commonly because social media platforms are for profit meaning they will ensure that they provide you with the information you want to see. They will spoon feed you information that will benefit themselves as a company.

 What is the benefit of having a PLN that values media literacy?

Having a PLN that values media literacy is very important because media literacy allows us to open a window where we can quickly and effectively gain a lot of information. Media literacy also allows us to differentiate between good information and bad information by understanding which sources are more credible. Good media literacy will also better help the PLN reach the target audience as it is easy to have your social media information lost in the ocean of posts.

Interview with Sophie Lui

From watching the interview with professor Jesse Miller and Sophie Lui, Sophie touched on how different it is for her to network efficiently compared to when she just started working. Sophie started working before cell phones were common and before they were smart phones. This mean’t that social media was pretty much non existent and she had to use letters and direct calls as the main way of sharing her life. Sophie also mentioned how depending on the social media platform of choice, her posts and digital identity are much different. Sophie stated that when using twitter, she was more into more professional topics while her Instagram account would share mostly the events happening in her personal life. Sophie reflected that social media is a great way to represent yourself and pursue continuous learning. When Sophie faces a critical public audience, she typically listens to what they have to say but if they become toxic she will simply block them.

Identify the risks and benefits of engaging with a public audience in a media space – what are the risks for a public figure or person in a position of trust (educator, lawyer, government official)?

When getting the public involved, there are many risks and benefits. Some benefits include that you get to talk to other people and learn about what they have to say about the topic. This is an effective way to share information and gain new insights based on how others respond. The risks include that the public can be very toxic and quick to judge. These risks and benefits are just to a larger scale for public figures and people in power as they have a large following and can affect your life. Sophie said that she is also a victim to getting attacked with sexism.

 How to best address negative replies and critiques reflective of your personal values and employer’s social media policy?

The best way to deal with negative replies and critiques on your personal values is to simply block it out. However, this should be a last measure action in my opinion as it would be more effective to hear it out and give a harsh response. If this doesn’t work just continue to mute them so they get no satisfaction from their actions.

References:

Sophie Lui – Edci 338 (2022) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcXgKLzOVM

What are the benefits of a diverse and inclusive PLN in social media sharing that understands where you are coming from with messaging that impacts the community?

A diverse and inclusive PLN in allows us to target a broad audience that will have their own unique and different views. This diverse and inclusive PLN will then be accepted by many other people who can relate and understand the perspective we are sharing as well as report, share and comment their own experiences on the subject.

Communities in general are very diverse with people coming from different ethnicities, backgrounds and occupations and being able to have a diverse personal learning network that everyone can be a part of is crucial for everyone to understand the information that will also impact themselves. Everyone should have a right to know what is happening around themselves in the community so it is best to make sure that the PLN includes all groups and is also easily accessible.

Good uses we see today for this are like news platforms, open social media groups as well as public posts. These methods on different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Youtube are great outlets to use to create topics and subjects that can be reached by all audiences.

How would you create a PLN prior to engaging in a social media campaign on a topic of your choice?

When having a social media campaign my main goals would be to create awareness, create a support group and find people with similar interests. Having a strong PLN prior to starting the campaign is an incredibly smart choice as it allows to drastically increase the success in the campaign. One source I will use to ensure that I create a successful PLN are the Woods (2013) strategies:

• Know that are PLNS are different
  • Make sure that my PLN is specific for myself and that someone else’s successful PLN wouldn’t necessarily be successful for me.
• Ask and listen
  • Ask questions to my community engage their feedback and apply it.
• Leverage technology
  • Take advantage of the different types of technology out there and use them individually to their best of their ability.
• Try out Twitter
  • Twitter is arguably the best platform for building a PLN. I can start conversations, create a relevant feed and follow experts in my area.
• Look outside L&D
  • Don’t tunnel vision yourself, instead look at people with similar and different interests and learn from them.

These strategies can be applied to any social media campaign and bring great success. Having a good PLN is the start of a good social media campaign and the strategies written by Bianca Woods is a great guide to creating an effective PLN.

References:

Woods, B. (2013, November). Building Your Own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network. American Society for Training and Development.

Explore the video provided and reflect on the themes of a PLN in a professional capacity.

Dr. Brad Baker is the associate super intendant of indigenous education for the BC ministry of education. He is also a district principal in North Vancouver and is the first educator of indigenous background in his district. He helps lead indigenous education programs and advocates for anti-racism in the school programs.

A PLN allows for individuals to network, share ideas and discuss important topics without having to be in a face to face setting. PLN’s prove to be very effective when also used in a professional setting and provide some unique themes. These themes can be providing a safe space to share ideas, tell stories and even bring communities together by sharing individual personal experiences.

Social Media in Education

Social media platforms are becoming more and more popular when it comes to education. Since Covid, we have been using more and more electronic communication as it has been improved and has been seen as an effective way of learning. Being part of a lab on campus, I have been able to see how effective it is to share ideas using social media in academia. This is shown from our lab sharing our publications, ideas, activities and other educational related resources online. The most effective platforms in this case for us are Twitter as it is widely regarded as a social media platform in a professional setting. A different use case of social media used in education can be with other social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and Youtube where these platforms allow for awareness as well as being able to create educational groups of similar interest, networking and sharing resources.

Social Media Regulation in the Vulnerable Sector

Social media is overall positive in terms of allowing us to participate, collaborate and share our ideas but the security of this can all be quite concerning.

Often times, social media platforms will make you sign an agreement where they will be able to access what you’re saying and what you’re posting online. This is especially bad when it comes down to children because although companies like Apple make it hard for social media companies to access a lot of personal information on minors, there can be other complications such as privacy breaches that cannot be restricted. In healthcare this is also a problem as lots of health issues shouldn’t be shared publicly and should be a more private subject.

The last problem I see with social media in the vulnerable sector is that social media allows people to hide behind a screen and say some mean things. People will harass others as well as be able to post comment and share as an anonymous user because of the concerns of sharing private information.

How diverse is your PLN?

As of now, I believe my personal learning network is pretty diverse. Although most of my friends are from similar backgrounds as myself, they usually are not identical copies of me and have one hobby we share but have their own unique experience. Examples of this are my friends from school aren’t just from my direct major (computer science) but also from different hobbies of mine such as the gym, tennis and badminton. These friends from the gym for the most part are in different fields, have different backgrounds and different experiences they have to share with me.

Are you learning from a variety of diverse voices and are you expanding your understanding of the views of others?

The simple answer is yes, I am learning from a variety of different diverse voices to understand the views of others. Being in Canada is great for this as many people come from different backgrounds and cultures. I love learning about other people’s culture and experiences and it is great to be able to have friends from different places and come share our own unique experiences together. I myself was born in Japan and come from China so I have my own culture to share as well as friends from Asia, North/South America, Europe and Africa that have their own cultures to share with me. This is the same academically where I still keep in touch with a lot of my friends from high school where they have chosen a different post secondary path as me and to hear about their views and experiences of the world.

What is a learning outcome of your PLN and how are you ensuring your exposure to diversity and inclusion?

The largest learning outcome of my personal learning network is being able share information and bounce ideas off of each other in a social setting. I am ensuring my exposure to diversity and inclusion by making sure that I am networking with people from all different backgrounds. I will also actively seek out people to connect with and remember to follow up with old friends and colleagues to keep in touch with people for a longer time.

What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?

Students today have many different options to use to develop their professional network. The most commons ones used to network professionally would be LinkedIn and Twitter. These apps are great because they are in a more professional environment than other apps such as Facebook and Snapchat. As a fellow LinkedIn user, I believe it is excellent tool to share your skills and look for connections with other professionals with similar interests.

What could the student consider in expanding their professional learning network?

When students want to expand their professional learning network they should first consider how their digital identity looks for other professionals. This means they should make themselves a very presentable profile and take advantage of all the features the social media platform has to offer them. They should also be sure to share a smart amount of personal information and make sure that nothing is shared that could harm themselves in the future.

How do data privacy and security limit and/or promote a PLN?

Digital security is a huge factor when choosing which personal learning network to use. Often creating profiles require you to put in personal information and other data such as emails, phone numbers, location and birthdate. This data is very important to us so we have to be wary that the network we are using is credible and that our information isn’t being spread publicly.

In your network how can you create a digital identity/ reputation?

I can create a digital identity or reputation by choosing carefully how I want to portray myself online. This can be done first by choosing what I want people to think of me and how my profile will be built. From there, my posts, comments and shares will show my network who I am and thus create myself a digital identity or reputation based on these actions. The best way to build a good reputation is to be credible and authentic with what you share online without offending others.

How did pivots to work-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic change how we should consider our social media connectivity and professional balance?

I believe that the pivot from working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot about how we communicate and connect with others online in a professional setting. I believe that remote work has significantly increased meaning that people will have an online digital identity through professional apps such as Zoom, Slack and LinkedIn. Social media in a whole has increased a lot due to the inability to be able to communicate with people in a face-to-face setting. A good example of increased online communication is my parents where they were previously both working in person prior to the Covid 19 pandemic but have since transitioned to working at home. Companies have committed to remote work as is cheap and can offer as much productivity as in person work. My mom’s workplace for example sold their downtown office and in return offer to pay for at home costs such as internet which are significantly cheaper than rent.

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