Right now, we are in a world that heavily relies on the internet and everything is to be put online. This means we need to learn many tools that are related to this area. This requires media literacy. Just like we learn new skills in real life, we also need to learn new abilities in the virtual world. As teachers, there could be students from all over the world, therefore it is important to value our context and make sure that it is well-designed and not biased in any way. Although it’s important to have good media literacy, sometimes we tend to overkill on this topic, resulting in conflict. Similar to political correctness, the starting point is good such as helping minority groups of people and gaining rights for them, but when we take it too far, it becomes ridiculous and starts to cause problems for other people. The same goes for media literacy, surely we want to make our content inclusive and unbias, but sometimes there need to be different points of view and they could be extreme. We need to learn to accept those “reasonable extreme ideas” and take a balance between media literacy.
Group Participants and Contributions
Kate Ueda: Introduction, PLN and Social Media, Conclusion, and Images
Becky Zeng: Key Characteristics of PLN
Abdullahi Bashir: Connection to Digital Identity and Reputation
Adam Li: Privacy and Data Security
Bruce Song: Comparing Course Themes
Introduction
According to Whitby (2013), a personal learning network (PLN) “is a tool that uses social media and technology to collect, communicate, collaborate and create” with people all around the world. In our EDCI338 course, we learned that with the help of public communication on social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more, individuals are able to build knowledge on various topics and strengthen personal or professional relationships by participating in shared discussions. Public communication and networking on social media platforms are instantaneous and infinite and provide a sense of feeling connected with others. We will discuss our learnings of PLN platforms, practices, concerns, and education from our EDCI338 course below.
PLN and Social Media
By creating a strong personal learning network (PLN) through social media, it equips individuals with the right tools to make meaningful connections through shared online discussions. According to Shirley Tang (2018), personal learning networks (PLN) and social media platforms “are the collaboration process of a shared interest” as social media platforms promote personal and professional connections through discussions surrounding shared resources. Social media offers a unique experience which allows individuals to connect with others on a global scale, without distance or time, and “enables individuals to actively reflect on the resources” viewed (Tang 2018). Some widely used social media platforms include Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Twitter, with over 100 million users, “increased student’s engagement” to the viewed content through shared discussions, emphasizing the idea of active reflection (Evans, 2014).
According to Przybylski & Weinstein (2012), social media platforms are valuable to a PLN as it efficiently promotes personal and professional relationships and quickly increases exposure to new concepts or ideas that would not normally be covered in a traditional classroom. For background context, Twitter and Instagram are social media platforms that allow users to post images or videos with text, and these posts can be commented on, shared, or liked by others. Individuals such as Sophie Lui separates her personal and professional PLN by using Instagram to document her personal life and Twitter to engage in discussions with her professional connections (Miller, 2022). While Twitter and Instagram can be used for personal and professional connections or both, LinkedIn is more geared towards professional uses. LinkedIn offers individuals the platform to build professional relationships, find jobs and required skill sets. Despite the wide range of values these social media platforms add to PLN, there are some disadvantages such as privacy risks and fake news. However, individuals can carefully curate their digital identity and PLN to prevent risks related to privacy and fake news.
By Kate Ueda
Key Characteristics of PLN
Personal Learning Networks is the sum of all “formal and informal networks of individuals with similar goals and interests who interact using digital tools to share information, learn from each other, problem solve and collaborate” (Ferguson, 2010; Nelson, 2012; Perez, 2012; Trust, 2012) while continuously building a stronger network that share similarities in interests, short term goals, and long term learning of similar topics. As opposed to learning by yourself and searching through libraries or search engines to gain better knowledge at a certain topic of interest, PLNs bring everyone that share similar interests in certain topics together by algorithms used like in Instagram feeds, Facebook feeds, Twitter feeds, and forum hashtags like Reddit. This exponentially increases the amount of useful information shared by filtering out the best posts automatically by the amount of traffic brought onto the post. Of course it is easy to be distracted by useless content that the platforms also have to offer if a PLN is not managed or used properly. For example, Facebook and instagram have many posts and shared content that are useless and try to draw traffic to them to users even if it only poses as a slight similarity to the topic users are interested in.
A PLN should be created with the intent of doing what it is supposed to do. If it was for recreation or social media it is okay to just create one at random and to use it for one’s own joy. However, if a user wanted to create a PLN to learn about how stock trading worked they would create a completely new account on all platforms of interest and filter only content related to stock trading. Why the need to create new accounts? This is in order to connect with others who are also interested in the topic because a “successful PLN is also characterized by participants who are highly self-motivated and curious” (Green, 2020). Having to successfully build a PLN around stock trading a user would first:
- Create accounts on all platforms of interest like Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, Finviz, Weibull, and Reddit
- Follow those who share stock trading content
- Reshare and comment on only the content related to stock trading
- View and watch videos, posts, and stories that are related to stock trading or content that helps grow knowledge in the field
- Create a network with other people by following, adding, communicating and commenting on topics that both of you are interested in
- Slowly increase the number of users you know that all share the same curiosity and motivation in learning the content.
- ONLY use the accounts for content related to stock trading, IF you need to use them for other videos and content use your leisure account to not affect the algorithm of the sites that selects what is shown on your feed.
It is important to “[engage] in different communities with different areas of focus will provide a rich environment for learning” (Green, 2020) by incorporating informal learning, formal learning, and social networking all together to achieve a better understanding of your set goal. This means
By Becky Zeng
Digital Identity and Reputation
The amount of human activities that depend on digital technology has increased at an alarming rate. Computer downsizing, falling technological prices, and the ease of human-computer interface have made digital devices accessible to everybody. Furthermore, mobile Internet connectivity has become commonplace in many nations throughout the world (Literacy 6: Digital Identity, Safety and well-being: Digital Skills: Project “digital literacies”, n.d). This enabled us to communicate and connect with one another since social media and technology, in particular, have erased physical boundaries that formerly existed.
A person’s digital identity is described as their online presence; it includes anything they publish and share on social media or the web, such as tweets, blogs, images, conversations, videos, and more. The way a person acts and how others perceive them in both personal and professional contexts shapes their online identity (What is digital identity?, 2021).
Individuals embrace technology in a variety of ways to improve/develop their digital identity/reputation. Technology enables us to communicate with and exchange resources with others who are engaged in distance learning and establishing a diverse PLN. Technology also allows us to readily access, generate, publish, and share information, as well as find any information we need by using social media or google. Finally, technology is critical in order to develop a diverse and inclusive PLN that allows individuals to learn and progress while also receiving trustworthy information and resources. For example, I have a digital persona in various Reddit groups that I use to engage with people and learn from them. My objective is to work in the data science field, hence “Data Science” is one of the groups I joined and utilize in Reddit. I made friends from different countries that shared their journey to becoming data scientists. When I have a question or need guidance with something, I just submit a question and receive immediate replies or suggestions. I would not have been able to interact with them and learn from their experiences if it had not been for technology.
As we develop and improve our PLN, some of the social factors that we should consider in our PLN include our network’s heterogeneity and openness as this helps us to obtain an awareness of the many thoughts and perspectives of different people. In addition, because our online reputation is based on the people and sites we follow, the content we post, like, or share, and the comments we make, it is critical to be cautious and respectful in all of these areas. Furthermore, It is critical to consider providing one’s own information and expertise since a PLN would rapidly stagnate if no one contributed, and hence no one wants to hang around on a Facebook page where the last post was months ago (Green, 2020).
One of the traits that distinguishes a person as a leader or notable person in a PLN is the use of the PLN to develop significant value and potential, as well as to provide comprehensive and high-quality information since this attracts a huge number of individuals who want to learn more. He creates educational videos on YouTube on evidence-based methods and tools that may help individuals be more productive and create the life they want. He also provides classes on the skillshare website, teaching people about different things such as productivity maximization, video editing, how to be happier and more. Because people liked his educational videos on YouTube, he became extremely successful, with over 3.5 million subscribers (Abdaal, n.d). Furthermore, he creates free Weekly Productivity Insights where he shares actionable productivity tips, practical life advice, and high-quality insights. Some of the insights include how to read 200 books a year, break the Procrastination Cycle and more (Abdaal, n.d). I am so grateful to have been following him for a while now as I have learnt a lot from him.
Individuals employ a variety of strategies to develop a positive reputation/presence on a social media platform. First is choosing a suitable platform to build the PLN and to communicate and interact with others. Second, being staying active and consistent contributors in their PLN as this is very essential in maintaining a healthy digital reputation. Third is to provide comprehensive and high-quality information as this attracts a huge number of individuals who want to learn more and expand their PLN (Baldwin, 2022).
By Abdullahi Bashir
Privacy & Data Security
Digital identity grants us safety on the internet by making everyone transparent online. It also makes public services much easier. Nowadays, we can do a lot of things such as pay bills, order on Amazon, and study online. These are all possible because of digital identity. The downside to this is that everything is so transparent that identity theft starts to become a problem. This is why people are now working on identity protection so we can protect our information. However, do keep in mind that transparency and privacy are two opposite ends. This means that if we want to maximize online efficiency by making all our information accessible, we will also drastically decrease our data privacy.
Besides the balance between convenience and privacy, there are also other ways to protect our data such as using strong protection softwares to decrease the risk of identity theft. This method is greatly limited by our technology, better softwares are developed as time passes by. However, we have to remember that technology is always a double-edged sword, meaning that bad people such as hackers can also utilize advanced softwares to steal our data. By looking at the current trend of technology, there is no clear evidence that our internet security is much better than before, hackers are motivated and they will always come up with new tools to access other people’s privacy. This is precisely why many people still keep valuable information on paper instead of uploading them electronically.
Lastly, in the current Big Data Era where everything is online, there are only a certain amount of things we can do as individuals. Keep in mind that big companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft, are always watching you to a certain extent. Therefore it is impossible to achieve 100% privacy as long as you appear online. If the government wants to find you, they can do that in a split second. However, the good news is that they will not target us personally as long as we live by their laws. Extreme methods are only taken in action if we break the rules.
By Adam Li
Connections to Course Themes
Comparing and contrasting connections to course themes:
Leveraging social media to build PLN is a great way for us to expand on and keep building our PLN, in the article provided by first Monday: “Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them.” It teaches you how to build a good PLN, it has been provided that we should build PLN thru people we feel comfortable with building for better communications and learning processes, this concept is known as benevolence. “Another factor that plays a crucial role is benevolence or the general “good contact” between an individual and a new contact (Rusman, et al., 2010). People connect with others whom they like or trust, or with whom they feel a particular connection. (Rajagopal, et al., 2012) To find benevolence, social media is a really good platform for it since you already have your circles within it and you know who you bond well and are comfortable with within your network of people, therefore it would provide a head start into helping you select who to bond with to opt for benevolence while building your PLN.
How will you know that your PLN is a success?
PLN needs to be influential in a good way which is that people follow you and take in the things you shared as valuable, and also at the same time, PLN needs to be inclusive, make sure you use that influence of your PLN to spread out the inclusivity that you are building. In the video shared by Brad Baker, he has stressed about the importance of promoting learning through an inclusive PLN, in which he had mentioned that in building a healthy community, to bring understanding to how to contribute positively to the community to bring harmony to the community within people of different backgrounds.
Have an interactive PLN follower, Shelly Moore has also shared her thoughts in the interview video when she realized her followers were not only followers, but effective learning partners she could share her life and learning thoughts with and build effective long-term learning relationships thru sessions with.
What features & characteristics of existing media technologies make them effective for personal learning?
The connectivity it brings, in the video “The Benefits of Growing your Network & PLN!”, Amy storer and Dyann Wilson Have talked about how they met so many people thru platforms and build their communities of learning where they have deeply emerged with the people that they met on the social media, and they also felt familiar with people they met online at conferences and bonded very well with them. Amy Storer discussed how her first learning meetup is thru Twitter, where she connected to someone she’s never met before thru a common learning topic on social media, a lot of these topics remain open on social media for anyone who wants to join and connect around the topic. Therefore, I would say existing social media technologies have connectivity and openness for people to reach out and form learning communities.
By Bruce Song
Conclusion
In conclusion, this EDCI338 course has taught our group that we can effectively leverage social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, to create a successful PLN that promotes knowledgeable discussion and insights. Our group has also learned that using social media platforms for our PLN can come with disadvantages such as data and privacy concerns. However, by carefully curating our digital identity, such as by separating our personal and professional social media platforms, we can further control what information we can share with our PLN. This EDCI338 course has taught us that the more diverse personal and professional connections we make, the more we can learn from the world. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic shutting down the physical world, the digital world thrived, strengthening the advantages of PLNs and social media platforms to connect globally.
References
Whitby, T. (2013, November 18). How do I get a PLN? Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-do-i-get-a-pln-tom-whitby
Evans, C. (2014). Twitter for teaching: Can social media be used to enhance the process of learning? British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(5), 902-915.
Thang, S. (2018, July 9). Using Twitter as a Personal Learning Network. Technology and the Curriculum Summer 2018. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.pub/techandcurriculum/chapter/personal-learning-networks/
Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2012). Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(3), 237-246.
MILLER. (2022 June 6). Sophie Lui – EDCI 338 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcXgKLzOVM
Rajagopal, K., & Sloep, P. B. (2012). View of understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them: First Monday. View of Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them | First Monday. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3559/3131
YouTube. (2021). Brad Baker Edci 338. YouTube. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z8iHxW2n4.
YouTube. (2021). Edci 338 – 20 Minutes Moore. YouTube. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeSV0rUl1bA.· YouTube. (2022). The Benefits of Growing your Network & Pln!YouTube. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEa8JgAE_qM.
Literacy 6: Digital Identity, Safety and well-being: Digital Skills: Project “digital literacies” (n.d) Literacy 6: Digital identity, safety and well-being | Digital Skills | Project “Digital Literacies”. Available at: https://digitalskills.unibas.ch/en/literacy-framework/literacy-6-digital-identity-safety-and-well-being/.
UoGLibrary (2021) What is digital identity?, YouTube. UoGLibrary. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGV5OBa938I&ab_channel=UofGLibrary .
L. Green, C. (2020) Personal learning networks: Defining and building a PLN, Learning in the Digital Age. Oklahoma State University Libraries. Available at: https://open.library.okstate.edu/learninginthedigitalage/chapter/personal-learning-networks_defining-and-building-a-pln/.
Abdaal. A (n.d), YouTube. aliabdaal. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/@aliabdaal/videos
Abdaal, A. (n.d) Ali Abdaal. Available at: https://aliabdaal.com/.
Baldwin, C. (2022) Improve your digital reputation with social media and content, WSI. WSI World. Available at: https://www.wsiworld.com/blog/improve-your-digital-reputation-with-social-media-and-content.
Jessica Orchard Research Fellow, & Ben Freedman Director External Affairs and Group Leader Heart Rhythm & Stroke Group. (2022, November 14). Should you really use your smartwatch or fitness wearable to monitor your heart? The Conversation. Retrieve from https://theconversation.com/should-you-really-use-your-smartwatch-or-fitness-wearable-to-monitor-your-heart-194060
Hale, R., Bywater, J. A. and A., D’Avanzo, M., Krems, K., Corporate Compliance Insights, Silverman, M., Balser, D., Simmons, R., Reports, S. and W., Costa, J., Millar, B., Hann, T., & Stirland, J. (2022, October 12). Instead of crying over spilled data, shore up your governance practices. Corporate Compliance Insights. Retrieved from https://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/category/data-privacy/
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Perez, L. (2012). Innovative professional development. Knowledge Quest, 40(3), 20–22. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.georgetowncollege.edu:2048/login?URL=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=82563981
When we post our thoughts online, we sometimes tend to speak freely and not see the consequences behind our words. This is fine if we are just posting casually with our friends and family, however, if we are in a professional field where it requires us to be technical and unbiased, then we will have to think about our words before we speak.
As a person who has a multicultural background, I can confidently say that a lot of people can’t understand other people’s thoughts in different cultures. Therefore to avoid conflict on the internet, we need to be cautious as to the words we use, especially when we are public figures. One of the best things to do as a public figure is to not comment on things you don’t know. For example, if I was a physics teacher, I wouldn’t go and comment on politics since I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Secondly, make sure to be inclusive with your words and don’t discriminate against any groups of people, the last thing a public figure wants to do is to offend other people on the internet. Make sure to leave a positive image to other people and be a good role model to them.
I agree with you that PLN can greatly help people connect with each other. And we definitely have to be careful of the risks such as identity theft. To take the perfect balance between sharing too much and being too shy is very important.
I think it is absolutely fantastic that you mentioned both advantages and risks of PLN. Surely it is a great way of learning and students can quickly gain a lot of information through this method. But we definitely need to look out for the risks such as saying the wrong things due to cultural differences, or use the wrong words that might make other people upset
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 means that it can affect a lot more people. There are too many different cultures in this world that sometimes it is really hard for people in one culture to understand other cultures. Therefore, by making the PLN diverse and inclusive, people from different cultures can easily feel empathetic and bring themselves into the thoughts that the creator of the PLN had. On the other hand, the PLN is the opposite of inclusive, meaning it contains a lot of extreme personal thoughts, then it will anger many different groups of people. As content creators, this is the last thing we want. Another advantage of being inclusive is to set correct values for teenagers and underaged viewers. These learners absorb many different types of knowledge from all sources. Therefore it is very important to have a wholesome internet environment for our future generation and being inclusive is definitely one of them.
Before setting up a social campaign, it is important to make up your mind about what is your core idea and what you want other people to learn from your platform. After setting up your theme, you then want your campaign to be as inclusive as possible. Surely you can tweak the details and set up sub-themes for different cultures, but you do want to keep it friendly for every viewer. Besides coming up with a well thought and inclusive idea, you also want to do as much research as needed to support your idea and make it convincing enough for the viewers. Finally, make sure the social campaign is accessible to as many different platforms as possible. This way, people around the world who are using different software can all see your idea and share their thoughts with you.
- Which social media platforms are beneficial in education?Â
There exist a huge amount of platforms on the internet that serves different purposes. However, there are a lot of platforms that are multifunctional, meaning they are built for many different goals and are used in different ways. Take Youtube for example, a lot of people use it for leisure purposes such as watching game streams and funny videos, but there are also many uploaders on Youtube who are posting educational videos. I personally have been watching an uploader named patrickJMT. He posts an enormous amount of videos about math such as Calculus and Linear Algebra. His video really helped me with my third-year math courses. So to me, Youtube is definitely a great platform for education. There are also platforms that are only dedicated to education such as Stackoverflow, Chegg, Quizlet, etc… These platforms are all beneficial in education and learners can easily use them to gain knowledge.
2. When working with the vulnerable sector, how does social media fit into professionalism and regulations?
Our society is built upon rules and laws, without these restrictions, countless crimes will occur and people will be tormented. The Internet is exactly the same, even though it is a virtual world and is far away from reality, rules and regulations must also apply, otherwise the internet would fall into chaos. Since we can’t see who’s behind the screen on the other end, people tend to relax and release their pressure online. This results in many hate speeches and harassment. Therefore regulations are needed for a safe and wholesome online environment.
As a multicultural background learner, I can pretty confidently say that I’m quite diverse when it comes to multimedia learning platforms. I use various platforms including but not limited to: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Wechat, Bilibili, and Instagram. I love to see different opinions online and debating is one of my favorite thing to do. By experiencing different cultures, I deeply felt that a lot of people in different countries can’t really understand each other. Surely there will be wise ones in every country who can objectively look at others, but the majority still blindly follow whatever is on the internet. Therefore, while absorbing all different opinions, keep in mind to keep your own value and not to be persuaded easily. Debate is good only when both sides are logical and calm. This is why it’s very hard to be diverse while maintaining your own ideology. One thing that I learned on the internet, is that never assume things until real proof came out. Many people tend to attack others just because of a picture or a video that they don’t know if it’s edited. Try to stay calm and get to know the truth behind the graphics and the hate speech. Then you will truly be diverse and inclusive.
Users of online platforms increased drastically ever since Covid-19 started. As of right now, the most used platforms for students include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc… Although these platforms can be used in a professional way, the majority of people still use them for leisure purposes, such as talking to friends and watching videos. On the other hand, platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, Stack Overflow, GitHub, Quizlet, and Coursera are much more professional in their own fields. LinkedIn and Indeed primarily focus on job searching, they both provide large amounts of jobs and easy connections with employers. Stack Overflow and GitHub are used for computer science, especially coding. Students can find a tremendous amount of examples of various coding languages and even post questions by themselves. Quizlet and Coursera are more general, they have many different courses from Math to English, aiming for the best self-study experience.
I personally think that students should try different professional platforms to get the best result. For example, if I want to find a job, I wouldn’t just use LinkedIn, I would also use other platforms such as Indeed and WorkBC (since I live in BC). By doing this, I can receive a lot of information relating to jobs than if I just used one platform. This way I can compare different platforms and pick the job that suits me the best.
Online security and data privacy are topics that have a high correlation with each other. By heavily shielding data privacy, online security also increases. However, doing this will drastically decrease the convenience of digital platforms. For example, if we don’t share our address, how would we get online delivery? On the other hand, if we expose too much information online, the chance of getting scammed will be greater. This is why we need other methods like firewalls and anti-virus software to protect our information.
To create your own digital identity, sharing your personal information is always the first step. After the basic information such as name and age are filled out, then you should consider optional information such as your hobby and field of interest. Basically, you need to carefully consider how would you like other people to see you as. By carefully writing your information online, your odds of getting opportunities will be much higher.
Ever since Covid-19 started, online platforms have received massive amounts of new customers. Take zoom for example, in 2019 just before covid appeared, the average number of meeting users on zoom was only 10 million. But just 1 year after, the average number of users is around 300 million, 30 times more than before. Since Covid-19 seems to be a long-lasting problem, we should probably focus more on work-from-home and online services. As for the connectivity between social media and professional balance, I recommend using different accounts for leisure use and professional use. This way we can connect with our family and friends while keeping professional courtesy.
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