My PLN is pretty diverse I would say. When I played for a varsity basketball team, our coach made us all set up linkedin accounts. At the time I was annoyed and didn’t want to but now looking back it has been helpful for looking for job opportunities and getting myself out there. My work also uses microsoft teams so I have been familiar with that platform the last two years. I also am on instagram, facebook and tik tok. I am learning from a variety of different voices through the different platforms I use. LinkedIn allows me to connect with employers and professionals for different job opportunities. At work Microsoft teams and Sharepoint allows me to collaborate and communicate with coworkers. Social media apps like instagram, facebook and tiktok also show me lots of different opinions, cultures and current topics that help me expand my own perspective.
The learning outcome of my PLN is to gain both professional and personal knowledge while continuing to build connections. LinkedIn helps me stay informed about different job opportunities whereas Microsoft teams allow me to collaborate with others. I try to ensure my exposure to diversity and inclusion through my PLN by educating myself on current topics/issues and how they are affecting others.
I feel that social media allows people to connect and collaborate quickly. Platforms like I mentioned above make it easier to network professionally and learn from others. In a job context, social media can help people build a professional identity but at the same time can challenge communication because things are very easily taken out of context. For me, I don’t have any of my accounts public except for LinkedIn and I am very careful about what I post. PLN is more often than not a public post, they can affect a person’s reputation whether that’s good or bad. I think my PLN is inclusive because it has a range of different communities. I think that employer social media policies are important, especially because where I work we are interacting with a lot of public people. At my job we are expected to avoid inappropriate posts, especially if they are related to the organization. This is good to know when building a PLN because your personal and professional identities can overlap on different platforms.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo
The benefits of a diverse and inclusive PLN in social media sharing is that it exposes you to many different thoughts and perspectives. When looking at other platforms it is helpful to understand where they are coming from so that you can help in creating a respectful community. In the youtube video (linked above) Shelley talks about how we should try and not look at things as concepts we compare to each other but instead as an evolution of time. I think this is a good base to have when thinking about inclusion and diversity. Having a diverse PLN also encourages open-mindedness as you are exposed to more diversity. I think that the most common platforms students are using are instagram, tik tok, and maybe linkedin to build their PLN. If expanding a professional learning network, they could connect with different people online that may be part of the community they are interested in. They could also attend different online events if applicable. I think an employer would look at whether or not my social media is respectful and professional. A lot of the time, employers will search you up before they hire you and having a positive digital identity can be the first step to learning a good impression.
Link: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=11&c=RVBVQg
Reading the above link allowed me to think back to my time at TWU. While there I was in the elementary education program and one of my minors was in inclusive education. When I started there in 2021, that minor was not called inclusive education, it was referred to as special education. When they made the switch I remember thinking that it was more than just a name switch, it was for a greater purpose. In the link above, it says that we can extend inclusive education to all diverse learners. I agree with this as inclusive education needs to become more than just focusing on people with ‘special needs’. I have also found that switching the title from special needs to people with neuro-diversites has shifted my mindset a bit too.
Here is my VR Map!
Link: https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/7802/6515
Hey Ella!
I really enjoyed reading this blog post and the perspectives you shared. I appreciate how you described your own PLN in detail, and how each platform fits into your life.
You also discussed the importance of being aware of our Personal Learning Networks. After this week’s readings, I was inspired to expand my own PLN, but you reminded me of the implications it could have on both my personal and professional identities. This is not to say that growing our networking systems is bad, but some boundaries and awareness is necessary to form meaningful connections.
Thank you again for your blog post, I am looking forward to reading the next!
-Katie