Social Media and Personalized Learning

• How does your PLN help to engage business, career opportunities, and relationships?

With the help of social media, your PLN doesn’t have to be limited to just your area of living anymore it can be worldwide. This helps in opening up job opportunities and also contributes greatly when it comes to business ideas as you’re engaging with people all around the world with different cultures and backgrounds. If you’re trying to sell a product for example this might help you make your product attractive to a larger market.

• How can you take your PLN from the local community to the global community?

No matter how small your PLN is at the start you are able to use the smallest and weakest connections you have and engage with the connection’s connections and are able to broaden your PLN as time goes by. Especially with social media as I have mentioned before.

• How can you network with a world view but focus on local impact at the same time?

For example, if you’re a Canadian trying to sell a product locally and your PLN only consists of other Canadians you would most probably only be successful in making this product appealing to other Canadians. But this country is filled with people from different backgrounds and races and having a PLN that connects you with people all over the world helps you get ideas on how to make this particular product attractive to a much larger market.

• Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course and could it be relied on to open professional opportunities?

This course consists of people who are in multiple different faculties. If there is a student here for example in their first year who is still trying to figure out what subject he/she does or does not like and they have this opportunity to connect with other people in this course who are not only in different faculties but also could be in different years of their degree they are able to make connections with them and get advice on courses that he/she is planning to do.

It also depends on how much effort you’re going to put to maintaining these connections post-course.

A person is allowed to have weak and strong ties depending on what they’re interested in at that point in time. If a person is planning to switch degree programs/careers in the future having a broad PLN with people in different fields of study/ work would make the transition easier as you have someone to get advice from.

• How does a PLN help and hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in education discourse?

Discourse means either a spoken or written form of communication between 2 or more people. Discourse in education is the act of a person discussing and conveying their thoughts about topics with their peers. Discourse is the main reason behind education as without communicating and sharing of ideas there will be little to no learning.

A PLN helps greatly for this as it is a network of like-minded people who are ready to help and provide resources of their own to help you gain knowledge about the topics you talk about.

However, one drawback is that sometimes you cannot trust everyone on your PLN and be comfortable enough to share all your thoughts which would hinder the development of your thoughts and ideas.

• How do educators create discourse?

The educator would be able to help students reach out to other educators who may be of particular interest to them and who could share their experiences and knowledge with them. Over time this would help students broaden their PLNs as well.

If it’s a very large class and the educator is unable to give personalised feedback to every single student in the class they can encourage other students in the course to interact or maybe even get people outside this course to interact for example by sharing a student’s blog with their PLN.

• What is the role of social media in education?

It gives you a social reputation. Developing a PLN through the use of social media helps you make long-term connections with your peers. It also helps us greatly with assignments as it provides us with an endless amount of resources.

• What are some problems with social media communications in educational settings?

Some people often complain that they don’t get the feedback that they need until they crate a well enough PLN and build their own platform which takes time.

It is sometimes very intimidating to share your thoughts on a public platform and may discourage you from expressing what you actually feel about some topic.

• Which social media platforms are beneficial in education?

The essential social media tools in our experience are
blogging platforms (WordPress), social bookmarking (Delicious,
Diigo), photo sharing (Flickr, Instagram), video sharing (YouTube), microblogging (Twitter), and other social networking platforms (Google+).

• When working with the vulnerable sector, how does social media fit into professionalism and regulations?

Social media can be a very scary and dark place for the vulnerable sector. Sexualization of minors and harmful or dangerous acts are some things you might see on these platforms which may be pretty disturbing and might even influence kids to follow the same path.

In order to avoid this, people have taken steps to increase the amount of existing child-friendly content on the Internet and make it a place where the vulnerable sector would feel safe and protected.

• What is media literacy?

Throughout history, the media has been used in such a way that it’s no longer trustworthy. Media literacy is the ability of a person to research and figure out the accuracy of stories presented by media.

• How do notable individuals use social media?

Sometimes with the help of their agents. Most celebrities hire professionals to handle their social media accounts because they have the skills and knowledge to make a person popular and post things on social media in a way that would make their account look attractive.

• What are the benefits of being in the public eye and having a PLN?

Lots of opportunities to meet new people as people try to reach out to them. They don’t have to go looking to make connections. Collaborations between different artists are an example.

They have enough money to host their own events to get to know people who are like-minded.

• Building community with online tools provided by the employer can be limiting, what are the perceived restrictions and benefits?

One restriction I feel is the fact that the online tools provided cater to the employer’s needs and are not fully customized to yours. However, since one’s employer has more experience in the field the tools that he/she provides may prove to be very beneficial in building connections.

• Delivering information in a connected society requires verifiable resources, how do we build a PLN to rely on?

It is very hard to build trustworthy connections at present as some people try to come off as genuine when they’re actually trying to take advantage of you. The best way to avoid this I feel is to gain trust and build connections one by one and reach out to people that these connections may provide as they’re reliable. For example, reaching out to people recommended by your employer.

• How do those, who are veteran storytellers, minimize the risk of sharing misinformation?

Veterans usually have been through a lot of trauma and often suffer from PTSD. The things that happened to them while they were battling in war are usually just flashes of memory. So if and when they share their stories with others they will not always be 100% accurate as they won’t be able to recall everything that happened. To minimize this they could share their story with a veteran friend/ friends who were also there with them during this incident so they could correct each other.

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

It’s sometimes risky for public figures or people in a position of trust as they may accidentally share sensitive information that is confidential and could potentially ruin their career

As a lot of public figures hire their own PR team to handle their public audience it can be used to create good publicity for themselves and they can help reduce the risk I mentioned above.

• Include in your blog, how to best address negative replies and reviews which reflect your personal values?

I feel like the best way to handle it is to not respond at all because sometimes if that negative response really affected you and you let it affect your response you’d only be adding more negativity into the mix.

However, depending on the situation not responding may come off as if you’re ignoring what you did wrong. If the negativity really needs to be addressed it should be done when you are your calmest self and you should be neutral as possible with your response.

• Consider how open dialogues about media literacy and information can create conflict in your writing. why does this happen?

An individual’s point of view on a story given to them differs from person to person. People create their own opinions with whatever information they know and share it online. This would potentially create conflict in your mind as a reader as you won’t know who and what to believe.

• Please include your thoughts on the benefits of having a PLN that values media literacy.

This means that our PLN constantly has access to valuable resources and information that could help improve our own media literacy. Having access to reliable experts who can quickly answer specific questions that we have.

Inclusion is not making people act in a certain way that will fit specific standards instead it is letting people be themselves and embrace their culture. It is about seeing everyone as human beings rather than viewing them as disabled, people of colour, etc.

In my workplace, my managers go the extra mile by holding morning and evening meetings and letting us partake in small games which help us get to know other associates better in a fun way. We are also recognized for our hard work; exceptional workers get badges and get a picture of them posted on our store Instagram so all other associates can admire their hard work and even get motivated to do better at work.

In the context of employment, having a PLN that is public and engaging, requires risk assessment and policy understanding

• How does social media engage in and challenge communications? Is it inclusive? Does your PLN amplify the views of others?

With social media, a person can connect with professionals from anywhere across the globe. It doesn’t limit a person to just the city they live in. This includes an individual’s PLN being very diverse and consisting of multiple cultures which could lead to very interesting conversations and broadening of their viewpoints.

However, it’s very difficult to trust people online and rely on them and it is very hard to assess the value of that connection without being able to meet them in person.

• The policies of employer social media communication expectations.

When answering questions online while representing our company we should be able to keep that “worldview” in mind. That is when answering a question even if it looks accurate to us it may even be something illegal to do in another part of the world.

If we are posting something that is work-related and we have doubts about it we should refrain from posting. Because it might lead to a negative effect on the company.

It is also important to not interact with negative posts about the company brand and leave it up to a qualified professional.

What are Digital Vistors and Residents?

Visitors – 

A digital visitor is a person who has already decided what they’re trying to achieve then select a tool and uses that tool to perform a task then goes back offline.

In short, we are considered digital visitors when we leave behind no traces of ourselves online.

Examples of this are when we use online banking or book a hotel room online.

Residents – 

This is the opposite of a digital visitor where we leave behind a social trace of ourselves for example by creating an account online, commenting on other people’sposts and regularly contributing to things like Instagram. Digital residents are considered to live out a portion of their lives online.

That said each of us cannot be categorized strictly into one of these two. It depends on how we use each platform that we’re on. This is where we use a V + R diagram to better describe our digital presence online.

V + R Diagram 

Given here is my V + R diagram and I’ve written below why/how I chose each location.  The size of the shape depicts how much I use each of them.

Gmail – I get very few emails related to UVic and most of my emails consist of promotions from different shops I’ve purchased goods at.

Search – I use this for institutional purposes like going on Wikipedia to get information for an assignment I’m doing or for personal purposes like looking up cooking recipes.

Whatsapp – Socialise with my friends and family who are back in Sri Lanka

Instagram – Put posts from time to time and post stories online to let my followers know what I’m up to.

Snapchat – Send snaps daily

Netflix – I watch Netflix to relax

Online Banking – To manage my credit card bills and check my bank balance online.

Shein – I do online shopping about once a month

Facebook – I created this for the purpose of joining UVic FB groups.

TikTok – Even though it is one of my most frequently used apps I don’t post on here I just look through my feed and watch videos that other people have shared.

Brightspace – I access almost all of my course information on here as well as upload completed work.

LinkedIn – I have an account created to find jobs but I haven’t used it or updated it in a while

Blog – Used for the course EDCI 338 to share my thoughts on readings that were provided 

Mattermost – To discuss readings in EDCI 338 with my group

GoogleDocs – For school (Used instead of Microsoft word) and work resumes

Questions for this session

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

Linkedin – To connect with other professionals online

Instagram, Whatsapp, Tiktok – Creators that have their own brand create a separate account to advertise their products as well as follow other creators that are in the same industry.

University career portals – To join workshops conducted by business professionals and meet career advisors to get help with resumes and cover letters.

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

The legitimacy of the organization and/or professional that they’re building the connection with. 

Does this connection aid in improving their knowledge in that particular industry they’re in?

Is this person reliable and would they be willing to give advice and be of help if needed? 

3)    How does data privacy and security limit and/or promote a PLN?

It might limit the growth of a PLN in the beginning because of the time it will take to trust a person. But once a connection is made and is proved as trustworthy and reliable a person can use that connections network to grow their own PLN. Because you know that the people they recommend would also most likely be trustworthy.

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

Carefully selecting what we post online through any social media platform and making sure to not post anything that may harm your professional life in the future.

5)    Consider how an employer would respond if you applied for a job with them and they assessed your social media presence via your digital identity.

The social media platform that I use the most is Instagram and I have never to my knowledge put inappropriate content that may harm my professional life. I usually post about travel or funny posts but never anything that would offend someone. So I feel if an employer assessed my social media presence online they would be very pleased with the outcome.