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.
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.
Hello Nick, I really enjoyed reading your second blog post! I liked how you talked about how a digital identity isn’t just one person but can be an organization, program, or device used for authentication. I think this is important because when many people think of digital identity, they think of it as a single person, but it could be multiple people. I also liked how you pointed out that many people have two social media accounts for professional and personal use. I also included this in my blog as well. You did a really good job of bringing up the point that nothing is wrong with having co-workers on your personal account, but if you do you should ensure that you are not making any of your co-workers uncomfortable about what you post.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post, it was very insightful! I really liked how you mentioned that digital identities help bring more security and convenience for people. I think that this connects very well with COVID-19, as many people had to sign documents but because of how it easy it is to use technology people were able to do so. More importantly like you mentioned it was secure for people to do this because there are ways to conduct identification, which is really important for making sure it is the right account and preventing theft.
A digital identity like Eric Stoller (0.25) said is like your footprint on the web. It’s something that is traceable and has good and bad benefits. Some of the good benefits are that it makes it easier to promote ourselves, employers might look you up on social media and get to know more about you than just what they would have found out from an interview. The downside is that employers learn more about you, if you do not ensure that you accurately portray how you want to display yourself on social media you could lose your job or not get hired because of it.
Your digital identity is an accumulation of your presence on the internet it includes both things that you post as well as things that other people have posted of you. Everything that has been accumulated on your digital identity is usually pretty easy to find even if it is on a private account. I googled my name just to see what would pop up and unsurprisingly my Instagram account was the first thing to pop up. However, there were some things that I had forgotten that I have even done that popped up like a podcast I recorded in 2020, a Prezi that I had made in 2019, and photos of me that are linked to my parent’s Twitter accounts. This just goes to show the impact of digital identity, and even if you forgot you even posted something it might be one of the first things that pop up when you google your name.
How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?
I find especially with today’s social media, these two overlap substantially. Just reflecting on writing my Digital Identity exercise, I point out that I am always cautious of what I post because of the saying the internet lives forever. Once something is posted it is near if not impossible to entirely remove something, I have seen ways to access your old Instagram bios (yes, ones that have been written almost 10 years ago) just by accessing your own account history. This could affect your professional social media usage because everyone has access to what you have posted even if it is on a personal account. Additionally, most co-workers follow each other on social media and not just on professional accounts but also on personal accounts. Due to this, your personal posts can easily affect how your co-workers perceive you and may make work situations uncomfortable, especially if you are not thinking before you post online.
How do digital identities converge in networked publics- what are the impacts and benefits?
Digital identities definitely have some big benefits in the networked public, it helps to set the tone of how certain people interact. Obviously, when interacting online with your friends and family you can open up more and express yourself and be more informal. However, in a business setting a digital identity allows you to highlight what you can offer other businesses if they were to hire you and allows you to promote yourself. This only works if you have two separate accounts which is not always practical. Some people might have one account that is personal and is private so only they can dictate who gets to see it. Whereas others might just have a business account that is public, but they are careful about what they post.
I would say with how big of an increasingly social media sites have become in the last 10/20 years that it is something that is relatively new, and something that people need to get educated on. Although digital identities help most people they could be detrimental to others. This is why it is important, especially for post-secondary students to receive training about what they should and shouldn’t share online so that their careers are not harmed.
Can a digital wallet provide trust in networked publics?
I think that the digital wallet especially during Covid-19 has helped a lot of businesses and people. The digital wallet allowed people easier ways to sign forms along with easier banking which helped to limit people’s in-person interactions. There is a fine line however with having a digital wallet and the country intervening and violating privacy rights. This is important however at this point there have been many laws put into place that ensure that the country does not violate these laws. A huge argument was about the effect of vaccine passports, these helped to ensure people were protected from the Covid-19 virus, and in return, they could do certain things that others who were not vaccinated could not do. This allowed the country to see how many people were approximately vaccinated to give them a better idea as to how protected the country is and to also see when the appropriate time would be to lift public health restrictions. This helped the overall safety of the country, and allowed them to find out an accurate percentage of who was vaccinated just by registration numbers and not by accessing personal information. Additionally, in terms of banking many banks have special software systems, as well as duo authorization that ensures that their clients are protected. I do agree that sometimes when using a digital wallet you have to be cautious of the information you provide, but for the most part when they are asking about personal information like where you live, it is used to ensure that this is the right person using the device, or a way to contact someone if something ends up going wrong.
I agree that many online networks pose the threat of scams. I think that this is especially important in networking as well, since nothing is more frustrating than when you are waiting for a text or email from someone and you receive a scam email. I think this poses a big threat in risks of public communication because, like you said, even if you have never shared your number or email on social media platforms, there are still numerous ways people can access your information. This is not only scary for us as individuals but also poses a big threat to businesses that might be trying to promote themselves through social media networking and face the risk of privacy issues.
Thank you for opening up and sharing about ASD. Your blog has definitely opened up my mind about how I interpret networking. I never thought about the different scripts involved in networking but it is such a good point, because their is as you mentioned different ways we act on social media towards people we know and people we don’t know. These scripts also play a huge role in how we benefit from networking, for example if you are doing something for work you are way more likely to have more people to collaborate if you follow the scripts of networking in a business setting ( i.e. being respectful, asking for help).
As a current student at UVIC whenever I heard someone talking about networking, I had always assumed that it was a term predominately just for business students. After doing the readings this week, I am happy to say that I understand networking better and can see how networking is extremely important for business students and why it is important for all majors and for all people.
I understand now that personalized learning networks are not just people we encounter regularly, but also people we reach out to for collaboration on ideas, ways to get input on ideas, and many more interactions. Using social media to network allows us to have many different options to reach out to people and for certain interactions. With emerging social media, I have noticed that there are certain platforms for specific kinds of networking. Twitter is more specific for finding out news or any topics that might be trending in the news. Facebook has more family networking but also is better for larger groups of people so you can gather communities and interact with people in your neighborhood or city, or with people who have similar concerns or questions as you. However, in my opinion, the best way to network using social media seems to be LinkedIn, they provide you with contacts you might know based on your education history and people who have similar jobs or majors as you. This allows a quick way to ask for collaboration on ideas, to find out new technology in your career, and to learn new things. The way I understand it to network using social media is to use social media to your advantage and an easy way to improve your networking skills. What do you think it means to network using social media?
I think we are motivated to participate in networked publics because of how frequently the world is changing. With the change of Covid we ourselves were motivated to network I feel like for the sake of human communication. As life progressed back to normal businesses and jobs started to see the benefit and motivated people to participate more in networked publics. However, working at a not-for-profit organization I have seen firsthand how once you start networking it is easier to maintain and motivates people more to network since they have seen firsthand how it benefits themselves. Have you noticed any particular ways you have been motivated to participate in networked publics?
I feel that for the most part, Gen z has had the benefit of growing up with technology in numerous ways one of which is the education we got in being safe while online. This included only talking to people you know, never telling people where you live online, etc. but with online networking, it is a little tougher. We interact with people online every day that we don’t know, for example, in this class I have never met any of you in person just online. However, this might seem unsafe online I know all of you are students at the University of Victoria, and that I am not at any risk, but I actually benefit because this allows me a way to network with new people. I can learn new things from people in this class, I can ask you questions to get a different viewpoint and interact in many other ways. Yes, there are privacy concerns in public communications that pose a risk, and they are really important to consider, however, if we are able to benefit from public communications without any risks or if proper precautions are put in place, then we should use networking to our benefit.
Thank you, Zoe, Kathryn, Alecia, Hannah, and Morgan, for sharing your draft! Â As someone who wants to be a future elementary school teacher, I find this a valuable and an important topic that elementary students need to have all throughout their life. Â Just from opening your notion website I really liked how organized it is, I also liked how your website included a little blurb about each of you and what your contributions to the project were.
I also included a video of your peer review, but below is my peer review of notes and advice
Overview of the resource
I found that the overview of your resource was efficient and explained many of the requirements like your intended audience, how your lessons will be broken up along with the estimated time for each lesson and for the complete unit. I found that these are important pieces of knowledge to know before reading the rest of the resource, and really liked that you included this.
Perhaps you might consider also adding a concise definition of your topic with 2 different academic sources. I know that this was in the description of the topic that we needed for our blueprint, but I do not think that this is on the rubric for the final learning assignment. However, I do think that if you are able to add it as a link it would help others that are not as educated about the topic with a quick insight about your topic.
Rationale
I really appreciated how you have all your rationales sectioned together it made it easy to follow and I liked how you listed which rationales are in this section so that the reader knows.
Description of learning context
I liked how you included which aspects of the curriculum you meet for your learning context, I think that this helps the reader know that you put a lot of thought into this project and it helps guide the readers to also realize why you choose the learning outcomes.
It seems to me that you might want to include a little bit more of a description of your learning context, just because someone who has skimmed the resource might be unsure of what age group this is intended for or why it is important for this age group. It might also be beneficial to include why your group chooses this age group.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment
I thought your layout of the learning outcomes was well done it was clear along with your assessment. I find that your learning outcomes are key and are very well chosen and fit well with the curriculum outline that you provided. I like how you have multiple different ways that you plan on using as assessments for your learning resource so that it ensures that all students understand the topics.
Perhaps you might consider including a final rubric for this learning resource with the weighting and also including which grading scale you are using for your assessments.
Plan for Inclusion
I like how many multiple resources you have available to accommodate for your students. I really enjoyed how you listed collaborative practices that will allow students who need accommodations to not just ask their teachers but also to have them ask for help from their peers.
It appears to me that you have included accommodations for multiple different groups of accommodations. You might just want to include at the top of your plan for Inclusion which contexts from the Interactive Learning Resource you chose so that it is clear to your reader.
Conclusion
Overall, I found your Interactive Learning Resource was done really well, and looks like it is definitely close to being done! I found your learning resource has a really good design I loved how you had it on a different platform that is interactive and user-friendly for kids which is your learning group. I can definitely tell that your group has put a lot of time into doing this project and I am sure that you will be wonderful teachers one day!
I love that you have different activities that correspond well with a video. I personally find it hard to interact with just the video so having the Edpuzzle I think it is a great way for students to interact especially younger students. I also liked that you have different ways so that students with barriers are also able to interact the same with the video! I wonder if you have thought about making the kids share how water affects them and what it means to them.
I really enjoyed reading your blog! I had the same issue with finding a video that is interactive by itself, the video I found like yours encourages thinking and lists resources students can do to understand better but does not engage the same as a one-on-one conversation. I really like the different assessments you would have to go along with the video and think that it makes the video more interactive by having an activity that corresponds well! Thanks for your post!
The video I choose demonstrates multiple different ways to successfully study for exams, which coincides with our group’s Interactive Learning Design,Study Habits, and Strategies for Academic Tests. Thomas Frank (2017) demonstrates a user-generated interaction, by using different visual cues like sketches and drawings to help learners respond in a different way than they would if someone were talking in a monotone voice with no intent for cognitive responses. He outlines key points and gives examples that learners can use to deepen their understanding.
Learners are most likely going to respond to the video “Studying for Exams: Crash Course Study Skills#7” by taking notes on the key points that he mentions in the video. However, they can use these notes and apply them to their prior studying skills to see firsthand how their understanding of the topic that they are studying has strengthened. Not only will students notice that they understand the material better, but they will also see a difference in test scores after improving their studying strategies.
After learners have watched the video, I would suggest that the learners have a student interaction by having a conversation with other students listing 2-3 different key points that they agreed on within the video, and 1 thing that they think is either wrong or is up for debate. After this, the learners would then plan for how to incorporate the points they agreed with into their study plan. This would help solidify the key outcomes that they found in the video as well as push students to use the suggested study styles. Additionally, by talking to other students they can understand how different people interpreted the video and what points they thought were important. This uses inherent interactivity since students are pushed to respond and are put in an active learning situation, ideally, this would be in a classroom setting where teachers can see which groups are participating or not but could be done through discussion forms or in breakout groups where the teachers join different groups to see how they are doing.
This activity would be worthwhile for me because in a classroom setting you can visually see which students are comfortable contributing to groups and which are not. It would be an activity that wouldn’t take very long to realize which students have a good understanding and which ones don’t. Additionally, you would see after the tests which students embraced the studying styles as well, but the conversation provides an indicator before the formative assessment. This could be done with a large group of students as well because again you can see which groups are talking, as well as which group members are talking, versus those that are not. The groups with little participation would indicate to you that those are the students that need help with understanding.
