Meng Zhu EDCI338

Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course?

Can your PLN be relied on to open professional opportunities?

This course teaches me a lot about the application of PLN in education and professional fields. By establishing PLN, I can meet people from different majors and different identities, and through them, I can be exposed to more new information and expand my own professional horizon. When it comes to professional development and professional opportunities, as a graduating student, I think PLN can effectively help me to get more information about my future development. For example, through LinkedIn, I can learn about the recent job market needs and which career openings exist, so I can plan and adjust my own career path. Likewise, PLN provides me with an opportunity to present myself to others, and people get to know me and learn about me by viewing the content I post. Employers can also visit my personal platform and profile to get a preliminary understanding of me and make a selection.

Which social media platforms are beneficial in education?

Using social media platforms in teaching process can help students and teachers break the limitations of space and time, and improve teaching efficiency and learning motivation. Different social media have their own strengths and weaknesses, and all can have a positive effect if used wisely. As in the case of this class, EDCI 338, students read or watch assigned material every week and share their opinions by posting blogs, as well as browsing other students’ views online. This type of information exchange reduces the burden of face-to-face communication, and everyone can be bold enough to express their opinions. However, there is also a problem with this way of teaching, which may also have a negative impact when students post articles that reap little attention or readership. This leads to an understanding of what group learning is all about, namely, the communication and interaction between group members, thus enhancing student motivation.

When working with the vulnerable sector, how does social media fit into professionalism and regulations?

Social media is full of information, and as a generation born in the Internet age, we can quickly distinguish what is reasonable, wrong, or false information. However, for some elderly people and children, they are the vulnerable group of social media platforms. For children, social media platforms should impose age restrictions on some content or have their parents monitor it. For the elderly, we sometimes need to guide them properly because they lack the ability to judge some false information. Besides, social media provides a platform for some vulnerable sectors, such as indigenous people, to have a voice and let more people know their stories with a first perspective.

Identify the risks and benefits of engaging with a public audience in a media space – What are the risks for a public figure or person in a position of trust (educator, lawyer, government official)?

For public figures or people in positions of trust, any posting they make on social media is highly influential. Firstly, social media helps public figures to shape and spread their identity by posting information, for example, through photos and videos. Moreover, since most public figures have many followers, many of their statements can easily lead the public and become the focus of public opinion and attention, and even have an impact on politics. As social media has matured, many companies and government agencies have become aware of the need to connect with the public through social media in order to achieve greater publicity.

However, precisely because of the enormous influence of public figures on social media, the content they post can inadvertently have a negative impact on their reputation and may cause bias in public opinion or even lead to cyber violence. To avoid unnecessary risks, public figures should vet the content they post to ensure that the information is not misinterpreted or maliciously interpreted.

How to address negative replies and critiques that reflect your personal values and your employer’s social media policy?

When I encounter negative responses and comments, I may be emotionally affected at first, but I think it is important to quickly calm down and make an analysis of the problems that have arisen. First I will reflect on what I have posted and determine if there are inappropriate statements or opinions. And, by reading and understanding the negative comments will also allow me to see things from a different perspective. If they simply disagree with my point of view, then I think that is perfectly normal and acceptable. Everyone should have their own ideas and we should accept different voices and criticism so that new ideas and connections can be made in the interaction.

In the era of rapid development of new media, social media has brought revolutionary changes to people’s communication. Social media are different from traditional media in terms of communication mode, content and effect. First, the most important feature of social media is that it gives everyone equal rights to produce and disseminate information, and everyone is both a producer and a receiver of information. Social media is inclusive, people are free to express their views and browse and comment on others’ opinion on social media platforms.

The pluralistic and inclusive nature of social platforms creates a harmonious environment for building PLN. Different views on an issue collide on social media platforms, but they do not cause a riot in public opinion. People are exposed to new perspectives while retaining their own, and these new ideas can enhance our critical thinking, analyze and solve problems from more perspectives.

After read this week’s article, I really agree with Bianca Woods opinion about building PLN.   Communication is an important and useful ability to get new ideas and information. I enjoy join some online forum or chat groups. I can always find some interesting speech from different areas. But this article also reminds me that besides listen to others opinion, I should also export my views. 

Back to the question about how would I create a PLN prior to engaging in a social media campaign on a topic of my choice, I think I may look through some relative informations through, for example, blog, magazines, podcasts and so on, to collects some new ideas. Then, leave my own insights and discuss them with others through comments replies, etc. I also hope to make new connections with more like-minded people in this process.

Reference

Woods, B. (2013, November). Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network. T+D, 67(11), 70+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=summon&xid=1010abdf

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

Through our discussions, students mainly use email and Google Doc to develop their professional network. Students use email and other platforms, such as Mattermost, Teams, or Zoom, to communicate with their teachers and classmates. Online tools such as Google Doc help students share their ideas when working in groups.

• What could the student consider in expanding their professional learning network?

When expanding professional learning network, students should expand their knowledge in multiple dimensions. You can start by choosing your area of interest, then subscribe to relevant professional blogs in Google Reader or Word Press, and build your PLN by reading these blogs. In addition, when choosing some social networking platforms, you can choose one or two most interesting and high quality sites to explore in depth.

• How does data privacy and security limit and/or promote a PLN?

The privacy and security of data may limit the building of PLN, but it will also standardize people’s online habits. In order to protect personal information, more and more people are setting permissions for their websites or blogs. For example, you need to add friends or by sending a request to access the website in question. This prevents someone from stealing maliciously and protects personal copyright information.

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

If I wanted to make my digital identity look professional, I would first make my personal page (my avatar, profile, etc.) formal. Also, I would avoid posting private content and set permissions for it.

• 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.

When looking for a job, employers may get to know you initially through your social media platforms. At this time, some of the comments you have made in the past may affect people’s first impression.

What is a digital identity?

Digital identity is a new concept of identity based on the Internet, where the sum of all the information available online about a person is the key to form that individual. Everything people put on the Internet, article, picture, blog, etc. that they post is part of their digital identity. This also leads to the fact that digital identities are diverse, so that people can also create a digital identity that is completely different in the real life by deliberately fabricating information.

On the other hand, digital identities also include digital sovereign identities, such as digital IDs, which are issued and administered by the government. Residents can upload their IDs to official platforms and present them in case they forget or lose their physical IDs.

How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?

People enter social media, whether in a personal or professional digital identity, they search of a sense of community and belonging. People look for communities of their interest or related professions on social platforms and find like-minded friends or professionals and exchange their ideas.

When people enter social media with personal digital identity, they are entering a casual space. In this casual space, they are free to express his opinion, although this freedom of communication sometimes leads negative consequences, such as cyberbullying. However, when people enter social media with digital professional identity, they are more focused on academic research. People communicate professional ways and means on social media and provide valuable information to others in a professional capacity.

How do digital identities converge in networked publics – what are the impacts and/or benefits?

Compared with traditional identity, digital identity has greatly improved the efficiency of government work, enhanced effective communication between government and citizens, and also solved the problem of missing identity for some citizens.

During COVID-19, electronic passes were implemented in many countries and applied in many industries such as transportation and catering. Users can obtain basic personal information, vaccination records, and nucleic acid testing records by simply scanning a QR code. Despite complicating daily life (you need to keep showing your QR code), it has effectively safeguarded people’s health during the pandemic. However, the popularity of digital identity has also brought information security issues. In the event of a data breach on the platform where the data is stored, a serious information security incident can occur.

What does it mean to network using social media?

The development of internet communication technology connects people all over the world, and whenever Wi-Fi or 5G is available, people can enjoy surfing the internet. Through the Internet, people create a new “online identity” and use it to share our opinions, experiences and views with others on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Weibo, etc., and to interact with others through likes and comments. When these online individuals come together through social media, they form a huge interactive network of information from which all people can get the knowledge and information they need.

How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?

The rapid development of society exposes people to a variety of unknowns, and in order to deal with these unknowns, which can happen at any time, we need to learn and improve ourselves. As mentioned in the article Understanding Personal Learning networks: Their Structure, Content and the Networking Skills Needed to Optimally Use Them, the ability to “find and connect with relevant others” should be a lifelong skill. The Internet exists to provide a platform for people to meet and connect with like-minded people, to access the knowledge and information they need, and to expand their personal learning networks. For example, in our daily learning, we need to consult various materials and literature to improve our knowledge system, and these materials come from strong or weak knowledge connections with others.

What are the risks & rewards of public communications?

Public communication helps people quickly learn about the latest hot topics and events, but the speed and breadth of information also makes it possible to keep everything on the Web uninhibited. In the online world, any information is more persistent, reproducible and scalable, and people have no privacy in the face of big data.