Month: October 2022 (page 1 of 1)

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?

Using social media, we can broaden and diversify our PLNs through all sorts of easily accessible topics of conversation.

But what does a broad and diverse PLN entail? It includes a platform through which individuals of different backgrounds, experiences, and skills can interact and thus share and learn from these conversations. These experiences are exchanged within a social media sharing platform (ex. Twitter,) ultimately growing the network surrounding you through a plethora of engaging and challenging interactions.

• How does social media engage communications?

It is as easy as simply searching up your topic of interest. Then, users are exposed to the multiple public opinions of others and choose from options such as responding, sharing, or liking. Users tend to gravitate toward groups of people whom they share interests with. It is engaging in the way that there is no limit to that engagement; people may engage at any time, any place, and even choose to do so under any alias they choose (i.e., they could post anonymously.) Users also feel more accepted through these engagements, as a wide range of experiences are present. You can learn from beginners up to professionals: this allows people to engage at their own pace and decide to which extent they broaden their learning and networks.

• How does social media challenge communications?

Social media platforms heavily depend on algorithms to cycle media forward. In this case, the algorithm might present different media we do not necessarily have an interest in or, on the other hand, hide media from us that might suit our interest. Hiding the media we would enjoy limits our ability to communicate as the less the algorithm shows it to us, the fewer opportunities we have to interact with that media. Another example of challenging communication on social media is the mass amount of panic caused by it. Many users, including myself sometimes, forget that social media is not a valid and reliable source for news or other information. Users might believe something they read online, then continue this belief across their own PLNs across social media. People with opposing views or (who know the actual fact-checked truth) might come into conflict, and thus have unnecessary interactions that do nothing but actually challenge knowledgable and educational communications.

• Is it inclusive?

Social media allows us to amplify our opinions with a broader network of people. We are able to generate, share, and interact more accessibly, and this, in exchange, broadens our PLN both personally and professionally. I believe that it is inclusive; however, there is also a large margin which is not. With technology constantly improving and new forms of media becoming options to interact on, the diversity of communication is expanding on a grander scale. The more extensive and inclusive our PLNs are, the more people we can learn from and teach. However, it can also not be inclusive in ways such as opposing views being deemed problematic and shamed. Some voices are amplified, and others are shamed regarding the given topic and the particular perspective of those receiving it. Often, social media can be almost more exclusive than real-life PLNs. Users might find it easier to express their opinions and critiques behind an anonymous profile.

How would you create a PLN prior to engaging in a social media campaign on a topic of your choice?

I would create a PLN on the basis of asking-and-listening, leveraging technology, and broad diversity (Woods, 2013). It is crucial to to create a PLN amongst people who not only share similarities with you, but also differences. As much as we like to relate to people and create connections that we know are safe and reliable, I also think it’s just as important to surround your PLN with people who challenge your views. However, Woods exclaims that all PLN’s are different, and thus it is important to try and not force these connections, but rather find what works for you and understand that “your PLN can only be fruitful if it reflects you” (2013, p. 71). Personally, I would try to find comfort in differences, and simply actively listen and ask about that persons experiences, and hope that they ask about mine in return. Listening to the experiences and life events of those around you will strengthen your PLN, as you can further broaden your own perspective.

I would leverage technology in hopes of reaching as large of an audience as I can. Social media is advantageous in the way that you can reach not only people you know, but those that you have never or will never meet as well. I would possibly take advantage of backchannels, like on Twitter, where conversations continue, and interactions are exchanged. Additionally, exchanging material across different forms of social media would also keep the conversation relevant and supported. Being active across these different groups and conversations increases the flow of information you receive and give back. Not only is it important to be the one sharing information, but it is just as important to embrace it. In my learning pod, we talked about how grand of an effect just taking the time to listen and learn about the different array of identities people have. Their cultures, experiences, values, and how these play in conjunction to you, your positionality, and online digital identity with the media you consume. Embracing things you identify and share similarities with is ideal, but so is being challenged by various other perspectives. This is how you broaden diversity amongst your PLN, and create a surrounding community around yourself that is diverse, empathetic, challenging, and respectful.

References

Woods, B. (2013, November). Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network. T+D, 67(11). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=summon&xid=1010abdf

As educators, it is important for us to understand inclusion beyond its misconstrued definition as tolerance, but rather as a celebration of diversity within learning, social, and professional settings (Moore & Schnellert, 2016). With our own individual identifiers, we exist collectively in which we learn and teach others about our differences. Therefore, it is important for educators to implement our diverse identifiers as unifying efforts in embracing one another within institutions; to ultimately redefine diversity as inclusive, rather than segregative or exclusive.

My Personal Learning Network in relation to Inclusion and Diversity; and How This Reflects Within My Professional Spaces

Growing up an immigrant who moved to Canada fairly young, I initially found it very difficult in existing within many diverse environments alongside understanding my own identity. I soon found comfort in knowing that I wasn’t the only person struggling to belong, and eventually was able to find people that I ‘fit in’ with. Something I appreciate my early educators doing was not excluding me from the classroom, as many of my other classmates were also from other backgrounds and abilities. I have grown up exposed to many people with different backgrounds, languages, experiences, and identities. It is through these inclusive environments in which I was able to understand my position as a learner and thus prioritize it in my personal and professional spaces as an adult. Although this is not a universal experience for everyone, it is important for educators to incorporate inclusive strategies amongst learning spaces to foster networks that advocate for diverse learning experiences.

My personal learning networks now continue to develop within academic spaces and social media platforms I participate in. It is through the strategies my professors use in fostering an inclusive space, the material I am taught, and the conversation I exchange with diverse classmates in which I am able to learn what influences the perspectives of others, and thus what I can learn from them. I can confidently say that University is where I successfully solidified the importance in understanding intersectionality and inclusivity within multiple aspects of my life. In order to establish a welcoming, inclusive learning environment for everyone, it is important for us as students to practise inclusivity by accepting how we interpret learning as well as the many viewpoints and ideas of our professors and classmates. For this to happen, instructors must also foster an inclusive environment that takes into account the variety of learning styles, abilities, strengths/weaknesses, and differences in perspectives. A parallel I found within Moore’s chapter and my own learning in Sociology is that we must consider the existence of intersectionality to achieve inclusivity, “and not try and homogenize them [identities and experiences of others]” (Moore & Schnellert, 2016, p. 9).

How Social Media Plays a Role in Establishing Inclusive and Diverse Themes

Growing up with social media, I found many of my community belongings on the platforms that I interacted on. Interacting and existing in diverse online communities fostered a safe and inclusive space in which I related to and learnt from various perspectives. Like Moore mentioned in her talk, social media, for me, acts as an interactive and communicative space in which I am exposed to a far greater range of diversity to exist and interact within. Through social media, individuals are able to exchange ideas and expand their understandings across a multitude of different matters. An example I thought about when Moore mentioned social media spaces and the pandemic was the use of Zoom. Although the pandemic limited inclusive classroom environments, we collectively redefined our ability to use social media as another outlet of inclusive learning. It is through Zoom in which we were able to continue to connect with not only just our classmates, but people from around the world. In this way, social media further enhanced access to additional educational platforms, in which individuals are more freely exposed to greater diversity and an expansion of their PLN’s.

References

Moore, S. (2016). One without the other : Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion. Portage & Main Press.

Individuals categorized as digital natives are ones that have grown up with digital technology, and have a proficient understanding of how to navigate their way digitally. On the contrary, digital immigrants are those who see technology like a second language; due to their unfamiliarity or late introduction to technology. Within this concept, David White suggests that we consider visitors and residents instead of digital native and immigrants, since users habits and online presence differs enough beyond categories. Visitors use their personal learning networks to simply search for specific information they’re looking for ; whereas residents use their PLN for their personal benefit or professionally – in a way that leaves a digital imprint.

Please consider my visitor and resident map below:

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

As students, I know that popular platforms we often use to develop our professional networks are LinkedIn, our schools website, and email to communicate. Evident in my own map, I put two of these three platforms in the institutional and resident category. This is because I leave a trace of the things I publish, for example; if I post about my professional experience on LinkedIn, or the availability of my student information on Brightspace. I put email in between institutional and personal categories as a visitor, as I only really check my email when I need to, and don’t usually leave any important traceable information about myself or my profession behind.

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

In my networks, I can create a digital identity or reputation through the way I present myself online, and communicate with others. I believe that it is very highly dependent on the way you engage within these networks, and how you essentially set them up initially. To expand, the way you set up your LinkedIn can influence who you become connected with, thus increasing your chances for opportunities. Another example, is the use of Twitter in academia. I know many professors who use Twitter to communicate their formal research in a non-formal way – not only does this permeate their digital identity, but it also impacts their reputation more broadly.

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.

This is something I constantly think about. Growing up a ‘digital native’ or someone who often posts on networks in a personal-resident kind of way, I wasn’t aware of this initially. If I search for my name on the Google search bar, I can still find some of the things I posted over 8 years ago. If an employer were to respond to a job I applied for, my social media presence would not be an obstacle in me getting that job. Thankfully, I didn’t post any embarrassing or potentially problematic things online when I was younger. To make sure I don’t do so now or in the future, I often practice privacy online. All of my social media profiles are private, and I make sure to permanently delete something if I know I no longer want it to be on the web. I’m trying to adopt a more visitor (or untraceable) fashion for my digital identity, so there is no possibility of an employer denying me a job in the future.