Month: February 2023

Hi Jacky Li,

I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I agree with the order of how you would create a PLN, I think that all of them are required and each of them needs to occur in about that order. I am curious on how you are going to find your target audience prior to social media? I think you could put posters up or try to spread the idea through word of mouth

Hi Junyang,

I really enjoyed reading your post! I am interested in how you would approach people to join your PLN? If I were looking for a study group I would ask people in my class and post a poster, and ask the teacher to announce that I was looking for a study group, do you think this would work in a similar way for other PLNs?

How would you create a PLN prior to engaging in a social media campaign on a topic of your choice? Consider how you would introduce yourself to others consider how you would engage in initial conversation to generate interest in your campaign professionally.

               I think prior to social media creating a PLN would be much more difficult to establish since there is a barrier in communication. I think that if I were to create a PLN prior to social media, I would try to find a group of people with similar interests or goals. If I was to start a business and wanted to create a PLN I would try to talk to other owners of local establishments and see if they would provide insight or if they would want to meet up every once in and while to chat about how to run a proper business. Another way I would try to engage in a PLN is by joining a chamber of commerce in my local community. This is a good way to get involved with other local businesses and to learn about new ways to advocate for your business, and how to network for your business. Another way I would try to create a PLN is just by creating overall awareness in the community you are in, this includes newspaper ads, attending community events, and giving to community non-for-profits (NFP). Becoming involved with NFP organizations I think is very beneficial for creating a PLN. From prior experience working for a community-based NFP, local companies that donate or give money to NFP organizations are able to show people that you care about your community and that you are involved. This additionally helps to promote your business as many NFP organizations will advertise your business’s support.

 If I was to start a new business from the ground up and was looking to create a PLN, I would ask a successful local business if I could shadow them or ask for any tips about how to create a successful business. I would also mention to the owner that once I have started my business, I am open to collaboration. This collaboration would allow me to help promote their local business and hopefully would help them promote my business. I would also approach the businesses and the different ways that I can be an asset to their PLN.  Another way to create a PLN would be to go to community-based activities once my business is set up to help create awareness, this is also another good way to interact with other community-based organizations.  

Hello Felix,

After reading your blog, I agree with your point that due to the popularity of social media apps, teachers are much more likely to gain interest with students by using social media. I really like your idea about using Instagram as a way to share information. I know personally while in middle school or high school, I would quite often miss announcements because I did not check my email nearly as much as I should have. So this way students can find out information through a platform that they use multiple times a day.  

Hello Asia,

I enjoyed reading your blog post! I agree with your point about social media requiring consent. I know even myself personally when someone is taking a picture and I know that I will be in the background I try to move out of it just because I do not want to be in someone else’s photo. I think that point amplifies to children as well because dependent on the age even if they say take a photo of me coloring, the child will probably not even know what could happen with that photo and doesn’t even know what consent is yet. So I think that especially in the vulnerable sector, there should be strict rules like the ones at your workplace to help protect the children, even if they have unknowingly consented.

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

There are many different “themes” that we follow when using a PLN in a professional capacity. First off there are the themes are rules that are typically common sense, these rules elaborate on how to act in a professional setting when using PLN in a professional capacity. However, there are some themes that are not as noticeable that we follow, such as being mindful about what we post on personal accounts because they could affect our professional work as well. Another theme in PLNs is the type of network we use for different materials, for example, emailing serves as a way to connect with people in a very professional manner, and is also a way to find out information from different companies. However other networking sites such as Linkedin allow you to have a more specific interaction with someone regarding either a new job or a collaboration.  So, therefore, the themes of a PLN in a professional capacity are very different depending on the circumstances.

Which social media platforms are beneficial in education?

There are many different ways social media platforms are beneficial in education, it allows students to interact in a specific way depending on the platform, but it also allows teachers to connect with their students.  For example, because this class is asynchronous many of you could be from all around the world, which means that there are time changes that could make it harder to connect with people. However, with social media platforms, it makes it much easier to check up on people and interact with them without phoning them or texting them without accidentally waking them up.  Another way social media can be beneficial is it allows you to not only connect with students in your class but students in different classes which provides more insight. I think that the best social media platform for people our age in education would be Linkedin because it allows you to interact with people who are in the same field as you and learn from people who have worked in that field for many years. However, this is highly dependent on the field that you are in, if you are in photography or arts, you might consider connecting with others on Instagram or Facebook.  Additionally, there are so many technologies and social media platforms it is hard to just pick a couple that is beneficial in education because each one has a specific purpose for use and can be applied to education in different ways.

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

I do think that there should be strong regulations around social media when working within the vulnerable sector.  Some of these regulations should include never posting while at work, since some security information may be in the background of your photo. I also think that depending on much confidentiality is needed in your job, some jobs might request that you don’t have where you work on your social media, or at least what your position is at the job. I do think that people who work here should still be allowed to be active on social media but they should be strictly personal accounts and not share any professional information. I think another key point is to keep your devices separate, and you should not use your personal device to deal with any confidential or privacy issues from your job, but also while at work you should not use social media on your work devices. This is just another additive measure that can be used to protect any hacking or any information from being leaked. I know that there are some jobs that use social media actively, but I do not see the same outcome for people who work within the vulnerable sector.

Thread discussion: group aspects outside of the traditional classroom, include dialogue about how education in the workplace in any capacity can consist of social media & what boundaries should be considered before encouraging discourse in a professional environment

I know personally, I have learned many things from social media from cooking to learning more about academic topics. I think many workplaces have started to implement more learning from social media sites. I think a great example of this is in the marketing world. At my previous summer job, I had a small role in doing some of the marketing, and it was encouraged for us to go on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and many other social media websites to see what is trending, and to boost our presence online by interacting with other people on social media. This highlights the very need for social media in the workplace. This is not just in the marketing sector however, many teachers will go online to find new ways to teach students and to see what websites are best, and Engineers will use social media to interact with one another and to learn more things.  I do think that boundaries should be put in place if this is the case though, if you are using a personal account to interact in a professional way you should make sure that you are keeping that in mind when posting about your personal life.

Hi Ella,

I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I like how you brought up using Instagram and facebook as ways that students can expand their professional networking. I think that these are great ways for students to expand their networking in a variety of different professional connections. This also got me thinking about how most companies have their own Instagram page and Facebook page which allows for better professional networking.  In terms of looking for a job even just following the company on social media shows a lot about how dedicated you are to try to expand your professional learning network.

Hello,

I really enjoyed reading your discussion post! I think that expanding your professional network by joining online communities would work well! This is something that I hadn’t thought about, and have not partaken in, however, it is a great idea. I know that there are some websites, like discord or Reddit to set up that are targeted toward being an online community for people to discuss their interests and disciplines. I think it is also interesting because not only have I seen this type of communication on those specific websites, but also on tik tok lives and Instagram lives, where people are showing others how to do math or teaching them about science.

What Digital Platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?

               After making my own Visitor and Resident Map I can imagine that many students’ maps look pretty similar to mine. I would imagine most students would have bright space on their map since I know myself personally, I use it multiple times each day and just in a professional way. This is similar to Microsoft teams as well; I use it a lot but only in a professional setting. I think that many students have a view website that they use almost every day and simply just for school/ work. Additionally, I have a couple more websites that I engage with, but not as regularly. These websites are harder to distinguish because I use them in both a professional and personal way. An example of this is my Gmail account, I have a personal one, and a UVic one. This one is in the middle because I will sometimes use this as a way to communicate with my relatives or with friends, but not as frequently as any social media website. I also use both my personal and professional accounts, however, I check my personal more frequently than my professional account. Because of this, I will quite often give my personal account as the best way to contact me by email. I would imagine a lot of students would have their email account in the middle too because of the reason I gave. Another factor as to why students would have this email here is because once you are finished university and graduated you will no longer have access to your UVic email account, so it makes it easier if you have your personal account for your main contact as well.

               Additionally, I would imagine that many students would have a shifted map. I think there would be a lot of websites in the visitor, professional quadrant, and a lot of websites in the personal residence quadrant. I think that this would be the case because many individuals who use personal accounts tend to use them enough daily that they would consider themselves a resident because they are more likely to use websites that are more personalized to them.  Additionally, I would imagine that many professional websites you would use because you have to and you wouldn’t voluntarily use them as frequently to communicate so therefore you would consider yourself a visitor.

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

               I know at least for myself, I only post things frequently on my personal accounts, so my professional learning network is quite small. I have a couple of accounts for example Twitter and LinkedIn that I have just made an account, but I have not posted anything or really ever used it. I simply have an account because I know that one day, I will probably need it.  This is something I could definitely work on because in order to expand my professional learning network I should try to shift myself from being a visitor on these websites to a resident. Another thing that I have reflected on is that I don’t actually use as much social media/ websites as I probably should if I want to strengthen my learning network. This got brought to my attention when I looked at my comments from a previous blog post.  I know myself personally when I think of professional learning networks I usually think of more professional social media and websites. However, this is not the case. Cyci had brought it to my attention that many people will use discord, YouTube, or Instagram to expand their professional learning network. This is something that I should work on, considering that I have never used discord, and rarely use YouTube. Because of my lack of presence on these websites, I am missing out on something that could help improve my professional learning network.

I have Embedded Cyci’s comment on this post if you want to learn more bout alternative networking sites!

Thread discussion:  How do data privacy and security limit and promote a PLN? In your network, how can you create a digital identity/ reputation?

Personally, I have always been super aware of my data privacy and security which has maybe worsened my PLN. Because I rarely post anything on social media, and I don’t use a lot of different websites or social media sites, I think that I have a worsened PLN than most people. I don’t have as many connections to professional networking, which in turn could affect my job outlook in the future since I don’t have a high presence on professional websites. If I were to look for a job and they were curious about my social media presence via my digital identity, they wouldn’t find much about what I can do or how my PLN could benefit the company.   The benefit of this is that I don’t have anything on the internet that could affect my chances of getting a job since I am always mindful of what I post. I think to create a better digital identity I should start posting and being more active on some of my accounts, I would still be mindful of what I post but I would also highlight some of my strengths so that future employers know what I can and cannot do.