Month: October 2022

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.

Visitor and Resident Map