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.
Hi Kevin, I found your blog post very insightful and I found many life similarities. I am studying computer science, and I was also born in Japan but my parents are Korean. I moved to Canada at a very young age and it took me a long time to figure out my culture and identity, as these two components were heavily intermixed between Japan, Korea, and Canada. Since you are open to learning from diverse voices, what do you believe is the most important lesson you have been taught through these connections?