Blog Post #4 PLN in Education

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.