EDCI 338 Learning Blogs

Now that I have enough knowledge on how Personal and Professional Learning Networks work, the next thing that I need to do is to promote it. If I could extend my network to other individuals who has the same intention as me, which is to grow his/her network while learning something every day, then they could also benefit from my PLN. Also, it would not be considered an effective PLN if I am the only one benefitting from my PLN and I would not let others benefit from it as well. One of my learnings from EDCI 338 is that modern pedagogy is no longer a kind of education where teachers talk and then the students listen. In modern education, students can also share their knowledge with their fellow learners and this means that the source of information in the classroom is no longer “monopolized” by the teachers. In taking the challenge of promoting my PLN, I will practice good leadership and create partnerships.

            Practicing good leadership is essential in promoting my PLN so that I could motivate my PLN members to work toward a common goal. As stated earlier, the goal of my PLN is to help my members grow their network and learn at the same time. In order to become a leader, I must first admit the fact that leadership is not about having legions of followers who will follow my orders (Qualman). Instead, leadership is about creating awareness and engagement as well as providing enough information to avoid confusion. Simply put, leadership is about serving and empowering others. Hence to become an effective leader, I should focus on empowering my PLN members through sharing the right information to them and encouraging them to create their own PLN.

            In addition to good leadership, I should also look for opportunities to create partnerships. Just as the popular saying says, “No man is an island.” This means that people need each other in order to achieve a common goal. According to Qualman, a successful partnership is a kind of partnership among different people with different strengths. In this regard, before creating partnerships, it would be better for leaders to screen their prospective partners. This is to avoid creating a lot of partnerships that would not help improve the PLN. With regard to my personal preference for a partner, I would like to establish partnerships with groups or individuals who can point out what my PLN lacks. Having someone criticizing my PLN would help me think of better ways to make my PLN more engaging and interesting. On a last note, it would also be important to mention that creating partnerships in a highly digitized world is not that difficult anymore compared to when people needed yellow pages in order to get the contact details of different businesses and organizations.

            To conclude, the purpose of PLN would be defeated if it is not shared to other users or interested learners. I believe that if the PLN is composed of the same people for a significantly long time, these members will not be exposed to other people with different perspectives. Thus, I believe that PLN should be organic. This means that it should be growing and changing based on the members’ needs. If it remained stagnant that means that PLN is nothing but comparable to traditional system of education. In my case, even if the focus of my PLN is to discuss topics in economics, I believe that I should not limit my network to people who specializes on economics. I believe that my PLN should cater others who are just interested to learn about economics regardless of their profession or specialization at school.

Work Cited

Qualman, Erik. “Empower Others.” Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence, McGraw Hill Professional, 2012.

One of the reasons that I did not regret taking the EDCI 338 course even if I do not specialize in education is that, this course thought me how I can properly build my network. Accordingly, creating Personal or Professional Learning Network (PLN) is something that I would not learn in my other classes. For instance, one of the important things I learned from this class is how to properly interact with people online in order to create a good digital identity. Before taking this class, I never gave much thought on my online engagements nor did I consider my social media as a platform that I could use to create my network or widen the scope of my influence. Because of this, even if I am already done with this class, I would still be mindful of my PLN interactions in order to establish my professional digital identity. Just as stated in Oliveira and Morgado’s article, citizens are dependent on ICT because it makes people connected in any place at any time (469). In connection to this, I would use my PLN to keep in touch with my classmates after graduation and connect with companies or recruiters at the same time.

In the field of Economics, having a digital identity means being present online in order to research on the current social events that can affect the economic activity. In other words, economists can use their PLN to collect and analyze data to gain insights on a certain country’s economy. Economists are not only online to connect with people, they are online to be able to have an idea on what is going on. In today’s setting, most of the jobs today would demand for e-skills. E-skills does not only pertain to one’s knowledge on different software and applications. It also pertains to how one handles his/her digital identity. E-skills is important because it can help one to find opportunities and keep up with the fast-changing demands of the knowledge-based society (Oliveira & Morgado 470). Hence, in order to be in-demand in companies, professionals must have reliable e-skills.

Looking at my PLN, I would say that it could help with my professional development post-course. This is because I have followed economists that I consider as my model because I wanted to be like them in the future. In addition to this, I also followed professionals who are currently in the field. I would sometimes start a conversation with them and ask them how they started their career. I would also tell them that I am a graduating student that is why I am interested in their career. So far, some of them are kind enough to give me recommendation if ever there is a vacant position. Aside from helping me with my professional development, I am also confident that my PLN is reliable when it comes to looking for professional opportunities. I have liked pages on tips and tricks on how to establish a career and I also created my LinkedIn Profile. I have already connected with headhunters and recruiters so I would know if there is job vacancy or none.

Works Cited

Oliveira, Nuno R., and Lina Morgado. “Digital Identity of Researchers and Their Personal Learning Network.” Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014, pp. 469-475, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-07485-6_44.

One of the most important topics that people should discuss nowadays is media literacy. This is because most of the information we get today came from the media. In this regard, I cannot agree more with Julie Smith when she said the Media Literacy is something that people should be talking about and that it should be part of the people’s conversation (Miller 6:18-6:20). But what is Media Literacy in the first place? Is literacy only limited to reading books like what majority of the people thinks so?

The Center for Media Literacy defined Media Literacy as “a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms, build an understanding of the role of media in society, as well as [develop] the essential skills of inquiry and self-expression (cited in Fadel and Trilling). This means that Media Literacy pertains to how one creates and shares information through different forms of media to build an understanding of the role of media in society as well build an understanding of one’s self. It is important for people today to be literate in using media so that they would not be confused of the variety of information that they can find online (Miller 3:15-3:18). If people find media confusing, then there is chance that they may not rely on media for real-time information. In connection to this, despite the prominence of media and media literacy, there are still a lot of people today who still dismiss the idea of media literacy. One of the reasons that they dismiss media literacy is that they do not feel the need to have media literacy. In other words, people are not aware of the dangers of media.  

One example of media is PLN or Personal Learning Networks. Its users can demonstrate Media Literacy through aiming for varied views and factual consensus. This means that PLNs should contain various information from different resources and this information, despite its variety, should be factual. Julie Smith explained that social media or the internet in general, can be a best tool for learners to find resources and connect (Miller 10:51). This means that when a learner looks for a certain information in his/her PLN, it is not enough for the learner to consult one source but he/she must use multiple sources to check for consistency. Undoubtedly, PLN can give power to the learners but along this power is the responsibility to handle “massive amounts of information, media, and technology” (Fadel and Trilling). This is one of the reasons that open dialogues on media literacy and factual information shall be discussed. Nevertheless, these kids of discussions can spark misunderstandings simply because not everyone would take Media Literacy seriously.

To make sure that PLNs are reliable, its users must value Media Literacy and observe it whenever they share information or interact with PLN members. A PLN that demonstrates the values of Media Literacy can assure its members that the PLN is going to be reliable and safe from fake news. Educators and learners need reliable PLNs so that they will be able to guarantee life-long learning. After all, education should not end in the classrooms. Another benefit of observing the values of Media Literacy in PLNs is that it can also guarantee healthy discussions. When sensitive topics are being talked about in a heathy way, chances are, people will be able to meet half-way and make necessary adjustments.

Works Cited

Miller, Jesse. “EDCI 338 A01- Smith, Julie.” YouTube, 1 Nov. 2020, youtu.be/Z_T9RghwJlI.

Trilling, Bernie, and Charles Fadel. “Digital Literacy Skills.” 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

PLN and Education is by far, one of my favorite topics in this course. I enjoyed listening to Brad Baker’s experience as an educator who advocates for the inclusion of Indigenous people in Canada. If I will be given a chance, I would like to have Brad Baker as my teacher because he has a diverse background. He is not only campaigning for anti racism (Miller 1:30) but he is also fighting for the land claim issues within the Indigenous nation (Miller 1:47). I wanted him to be my teacher because I would like to hear his stories and learn from it. From Brad Baker’s experiences as an educator, an advocate of the inclusion of Indigenous people, and as a social media user, I learned that PLN can help one amplify his/her voice. This is because PLN cannot only help one convince other people to support his/her advocacy, but it could also be a way for one to meet other people who also have the same belief and advocacy. Just as Brad Baker said, “Your professional learning community is really your support system.” (Miller 4:07) If one’s professional learning community becomes his/her support system, then he/she will be able to come up with different ways to make their advocacy more appealing to others.

Today’s form of education can no longer be confined in the four walls of the classroom. Building up on the function of PLN stated in the previous paragraph, modern educators can extend their classrooms in the social media. PLNs can be created through social media which allows teachers to provide a kind of learning experience to their students that will encourage them to collaborate with other learners or seek the help of professionals online. Social media like Flock and Feedly can also be used as browsers that students can utilize to look for content (Veletsianos 125). In other words, social media can make students’ way of learning more diverse. In addition to this, engaging with other learners in social media allows learners to take charge of their own learning. On the side of the teachers, on the other hand, social media can allow them to make their classrooms more dynamic and it gives them an opportunity to experiment on different teaching strategies. Lastly, aside from making the teachers and students’ classroom experience better, PLN can also raise awareness on the opportunities in education. In the case of Brad Baker for example, he used his PLN to share his father’s experience of being a survivor of a residential school (Miller 5:02). This means that contributors on social media like Brad Baker become authentic sources that learners can draw inspiration from.

Despite the fact the PLN can be helpful in the field of education, both teachers and learners should still be cautious of its negative side. In the previous lessons, privacy was tackled in this class so that could be one of the dangers of using PLN in education. Aside from privacy issues, there is also a concern of cyber bullying. In the video, Professor Jesse mentioned that social media can be too polarized sometimes to the point that certain groups of people would cancel other groups of people. For me, this is not a good thing because PLN is suppose to bring people together not tear them apart. In pointing out these negative sides of using PLN and social media in education, I did not intend to scare the learners and educators of the possible challenges they might encounter. These downsides can help them set their expectations when it comes to using PLN and social media in education.

Works Cited

Miller, Jesse. “EDCI 338 Brad Baker.” YouTube, 5 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy63SmEpvCw.

Veletsianos, George. “Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning.” Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, Au P, 2010, pp. 109-128.

In the previous reading materials and videos assigned for this class, Personal Learning Network (PLN) is seen as an online community that different learners create in order to learn from each other. In this week’s reading materials and videos, I learned the different side of PLN. Apparrently, PLN can also be used as tool to promote advocacies. To illustrate, last 2020, Markiel Simpson succeeded in advocating for the better representation of Black history in schools in the province of British Columbia. In his interview with Global News Morning BC, Simpson explained that one of the reasons why he started the campaign is becase he wanted the Black community to gain the consciousness that they are part of history. In addition to this, Simpson also mentioned that the better representation of the Blacks in school curriculum can inspire respect (0:40-:0:50). For this advocacy, Markiel Simpson mentioned that one of the social media he utilized is Twitter. Through Twitter, Simpson was able to communicate with different politicians and get the attention of other educators who also have the same advocacy. Consequently, due to Markiel Simpson’s efforts, all 60 school districts in BC today are actively lobbying the Ministry of Education to include Black history in the curriculum ( Miller 16:00-16:10). Simpson’s achievement can be seen possitively as it only proves that advocacies can be promoted through PLN.

Nevertheless, there are challenges in using social media in public discourse. In the fourth chapter of the book entitled Media and Social Justice, Clark and Aufderheide explained that public media, which includes social media, support the creation of publics based on contested issues (55). In other words, because the public media disseminate information, it shapes or influences the public opinion. In addition to this, Clark and Aufderheide also argued that multiplatform, open, and digital public media is an essential feature of democratic public life (56). One of the reasons why Clark and Aufderheide came up with this conclusion is because multiplatform, open, and digital media like social media allows different people to talk about a certain issue. However, because everyone share their own opinion about a certain topic, the social media tend to be filled with political issues that results to conflict, division, cyberbullying, and sometimes discrimination. Hence, the capability of the people to talk about sensitive issues over social media is challenging because instead of unity, public discourse might inspire hatred.

With regard to my own PLN, I would say that since I just recently created it, my PLN is still on its way to amplify the views of others. In order to guarantee that someday my PLN can amplify the views of others, I will make it sure to use my PLN to support advocacies I personally find worth supporting. More so, I will also consider the idea that my employer would not find the advocacies that I am supporting offensive. However, if it is my employer who is ruthlessly not abiding by the labor laws, I will use my PLN to encourage them to do the right thing. Lastly, in order to better impove my social media to build PLN, I will only follow the people whom I share the same advocacy. If I will try to follow other influencers or commentators who have a very different point of view from me, I would probably call them out for their beliefs. If I called them out, the other members of my PLN would feel uneasy and my debate with other people might ruin the “vibes” I have been working so hard to achieve in my PLN. Thus, in order to avoid problems, I would only follow people whom I could have a healthy argument with.

Works Cited

Clark, Jessica, and Patricia Aufderheide. “A New Vision for Public Media: Open, Dynamic, and Participatory.” Media and Social Justice, PDF file , Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, pp. 55-67.

Global News Morning BC. “New Campaign Calls for Better Representation of Black history in B.C schools.” Global News, 16 Nov. 2020, globalnews.ca/video/7465200/new-campaign-calls-for-better-representation-of-black-history-in-b-c-schools.

Miller, Jesse. “EDCI 338 – 2021 – 02 – 22 Markiel Simpson.” YouTube, 22 Feb. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCSpm1Lx8-A&feature=youtu.be.

My Personal Learning Network (PLN) is one of the most essential sources of information and knowledge that helps me survive college. PLN is actually not very complicated and everyone can make their own PLN depending on their purpose and intention. According to Bianca Woods, “A PLN is simply an informal group of people who you learn things from on a regular basis.” (71) This means that for as long as a learner can create a group that can help her learn new things everyday, then that can be considered as a PLN already. With the rise of social media, creating PLN online became rampant. One of the possible reasons is because connecting with different kinds of people online is very easy and convenient which means that it can happen in a single click. Another reason why online PLN became popular is because the PLN does not follow the teacher-student structure that schools commonly follow (Woods 71). With a more casual structure, the students do not feel shy to ask “stupid” questions and they were also not pressured to follow the class’ timeline. Even if PLN is easy to create and it can be a positive learning environment for learners, learning in PLN shall be done right for it to be more effective. Accordingly, in creating my own PLN, I will make it sure to follow legitimate accounts, report any forms of misinformation, and encourage others to be polite in participating in thread discussions.

Following a legitimate account is integral in creating an effective PLN because you would not be able to learn anything from dummy or sockpuppet accounts. Dummy and sockpuppet accounts are dangerous because there will be no way of tracing the real owners of these accounts. If they have done anything illegal or unusual online, other users will not be able to make them accountable because they are not using their real names nor pictures. In identifying if the account is legitimate or not, Facebook and Twitter use blue verified badge to help users know that an account of public interest is authentic. In private accounts, it would be better to add users who are using their real photos. In creating professional network particularly, it would be safer to add people who has formal headshots than those who are using the default avatar photo or any random photo. Aside from adding legitimate accounts, one will be able to create a reliable PLN is he/she is vigilant in reporting any forms of misinformation. If a PLN is filled with a lot of misinformation, the purpose of PLN will be defeated because one cannot learn from misinformation. After reporting any forms of misinformation, it would also be better if PLN users will notify the other members to report the same information so others will be aware of it as well. Last but not the least, just because people do not meet face-to-face online, it does not mean that they do not have to be particular with their manners. Being polite is still encouraged online, not only because one wanted to show respect but to also create a positive learning environment that can encourage others to be active learners.

PLN is not something that people just decide to do one day and then that is it. Maintaining PLNs also requires commitment especially when one wanted to be a life-long learner. In my case, I wanted my PLN to last until the time I graduate so that I will be encouraged to pursue my graduate school as well.

Work Cited

Woods, Bianca. “Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network.” T+D, vol. 67, no. 11, Nov. 2013, p. 70+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=1010abdf.

Considering my PLN, I would definitely say that it is diverse because it is composed of different people with different backgrounds, experiences, nationalities, languages, and expertise. In this learning community that I have created online, I would say that whenever there is a discussion, no one gets to have the loudest voice in the room as we all equally participate in the discussion. In other words, everyone was given the opportunity to share their ideas or opinions and no one is considered be one who has the right to give the final word or verdict. In other words, my PLN does not follow the structure in traditional classrooms where teachers discuss and then the class were only expected to listen. Because everyone is given an opportunity to share their thoughts, I was encouraged to participate in a variety of information sharing even if I cannot be considered as an “expert in the topic being discussed.” In my PLN, I also do not feel the pressure to know everything and sound like an expert, after all, I created my PLN to learn something new.

With my diverse PLN, I will be able to broaden my views of inclusion through getting to know and observing different types and kinds of learners. Instead of encouraging my PLN members to act and think the same, I will encourage them to follow Shelly Moore’s tips: be your authentic self, trust yourself, take risks, find opportunities, and reflect on where your community will lead you (Moore, “A Conversation” 4:58-4:60b). I believe that when different learners are given the freedom to be themselves, they will be more motivated to learn and they will also be encouraged to interact and work with other learners. After all, there is no sense in trying to make people to be the same. In fact, Moore explained that escaping or avoiding diversity is futile because the battle on homogeneity is a kind that has never been won and never will be (Moore, One Without the Other 10). Even in my personal setting of choice, I would still say that inclusion is actively embraced. This is because my professional setting also does not encourage its members to be green. As much as possible, the members on my Professional Learning Network have the freedom to set their own learning goals, ask questions, and share what they want to share. This is opposed to the traditional view of education where learners are expected to always do the same thing, work alone, work in rows, and respond to bells (Five Moore Minutes, “It’s Not Easy” 1:25-1:31).

After reviewing the videos and readings, I realized that inclusion is not all about physically putting together different learners with different needs. One also need to make sure that all the different needs of learners are being addressed. Just as Shelly Moore explained, “inclusive education must enable purposeful and meaningful education (Moore, “The Evolution of Inclusion” 3:36). In other words, learners must feel the need to go to school or create their PLN not because they were pressured by the peers or parents but because they found meaning in learning.

Works Cited

Five Moore Minutes a. “The Evolution of Inclusion: The past and future of education.” YouTube, 2 Oct. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo&feature=youtu.be.

—. “Don’t Should on Me: It’s Not Easy being NOT Green.” YouTube, 6 Nov. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeRNhz0nGts&feature=youtu.be.

Moore, Shelley. One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion. Portage & Main P, 2016.

—. “EDCI 338 A01 Week 5 A Conversation with Shelley Moore.” YouTube, 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGx0ejnMLVc&feature=youtu.be.

Digital Visitors and Residents Mapping

(create your own DV & R here)

The internet did not only connect people but it also offered a different way for learners to learn and for professionals to establish their professional identity. For instance, different digital platforms like MeetUp, LinkedIn, Slack, Quora, and etc. are used by the students and professionals to develop their professional network. Among the digital platforms mentioned, it is LinkedIN that I am very much familiar with. One of the reasons that I created LinkedIn is because I wanted to have an idea on how I can manage my “professional brand” in the future. One good thing about LinkedIn is that it can help me connect with different companies regardless of where they are in the world. More so, because I could also be connected to different companies abroad, I feel like my chances and opportunities to get hired in a good company is boundless. Lastly, using LinkedIn can also be very convenient given the pandemic. Of course if companies would need employees to fill-in certain positions, they would opt to do the application process online and use digital platforms like LinkedIn.

As a student, I believe that expanding one’s professional network is not only limited to using MeetUp, LinkedIn, Slack, and such. This is because social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can also be used by students to connect with professional individuals and different companies. In addition to this, Facebook and Twitter can also enable its users to increase the discoverability of their professional profile online. Nevertheless, when students use Facebook or Twitter for professional reasons, they need to be careful in following or adding people or group. There are a lot of dummy accounts in Twitter and Facebook and this dummy account can be used by someone pretending to be a head hunter or a recruiter. To reduce or avoid the possibility of getting scammed, students need to be vigilant.

Currently, I am also using Twitter to establish my professional identity online. In creating my digital identity, I make it sure that I do not follow Twitter users who are not using their real names, my favorites and retweets have decent contents, and I use formal language when posting something. It is important to do all these steps because if ever I will apply in a local company, I want my Twitter account to convince my local employer that I am a decent person and I am also qualified to do the job. If I posted rants or inappropriate memes, there is a huge possibility that the local employer will not call me for interview. Just as mentioned in the previous lessons, there are some employers who use the applicant’s digital footprints to identify if they should call the applicant or not. In this case, my digital footprints should therefore tell my future employers that I am the best person for the job.

Digital identity, according to Eric Stoller, a Social Media expert, is everything that internet users do online. This means that people’s digital identity is created by whatever they post, share, how they interact or engage online, and how they use digital tools for their own benefit as well as the people they work with (0:07-0:20). Digital Identity compare to our identity in the “real world” can be manipulated. For instance, if one wanted to create an identity that can be approved by his/her employer or future employer, he/she has a choice to create a social media intended to make him/her look “professional.” This kind of digital identity is called the professional digital identity. On the other hand, if one wanted to create a digital identity that is just carefree, she/he also has the option to create a social media where he/she can post anything he/she wants. This kind of digital identity is called personal digital identity.

Professional and personal approaches to digital identity can affect one’s use of social media. For this reason, if users are to make their professional identity online, they better make it sure to look for an online community that can help them establish their digital professional identity. Just as Karl Spracklen explained in his article titled Identity-Making and Social Media, social networks help internet users have a sense of community and belonging (94). This just means that if internet users become involved in a group of people who are also establishing their professional identity online, they will be encouraged to maintain their professional identity because they need to be part of that online community. Internet users just have to be careful of convergence of digital identities in networked publics because when users failed to make their personal digital identity private or separate from their professional digital identity, problems might occur. For example, a teacher posts a funny meme on his personal social media. Consequently, because the network is public, one of the parents of his student saw his post and commented that as a teacher he should not be sharing that kind of meme. To avoid situations like these, internet users need to be extra careful in managing their personal and digital identities.

Even if the convergence of digital identity can be inevitable in a networked public, the convergence of digital identity has nothing to do with the safety and reliability of using digital tools like digital wallet. In the coming years, more and more businesses and people will be transacting online. This just means that more and more people and businesses will have to rely on digital wallet for their transactions. In the World Economic Forum 2019, Jüri Ratas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, explained that their country is already prepared in the digitization of business transactions. This is because the country has a digital ID that helped the government secure the privacy of their citizens’ online transactions. More so, this also enabled the Estonian government to encourage small businesses to do online transactions (6:00-6:10). As a result, small businesses and common people were exposed to online transactions and it made online transactions more present and available to everyone.

Works Cited

Eric Stoller. “What is Digital Identity?” YouTube, University of Derby, 25 Nov. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0RryRbJza0&feature=youtu.be.

Spracklen, Karl. “Identity-Making and Social Media.” Digital Leisure, the Internet and Popular Culture, 2015, pp. 94-112.

World Economic Forum. “Davos 2019 – Press Conference The Value of Digital Identity for the Global Economy and Society.” YouTube, 6 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-V7lyxrOmw&feature=youtu.be.