Month: February 2021

1. Community engagement is public communications – 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?

One of the benefits of having a diverse PLN in social media is that your posts or “voice” can reach a variety of people. This means that when you post an informative post on the prevention of COVID-19 and you have 100,000 followers, that means that you were able to reach at least 100,000 people. Additionally, it can be considered as a bonus if these 100,000 followers understand where you are coming from because they are more likely to support your post and share it others. In other words, aside from the 100,000 followers that you already have, you could also reach the followers of your followers. In connection to this, one of the possible reasons why Markiel Simpson succeeded in promoting the representation of the Blacks in school curriculum is because he was able to reach the right people. By saying “the right people,” these are the people who supported his advocacy and called the attention of departments or other organization who can take action. As a result, Simpson will be able to fulfill his goal to have the Blacks treated with dignity (Global News Morning BC 01:26-01:30). If efforts like these will push through, time will come that there will be one who is marginalized or disenfranchised.

2. How does social media engage in advocacy communications?

Social media engage in advocacy communications through connecting people belonging in the same network. In the case of Markiel Simpson, he used Twitter to promote his advocacy. Even though it took him a long time to get the attention of the proper organization, his calls to action were soon responded by people in positions of power (Miller 15:20). This is actually in line with his commonly used hashtags which are #StrongerTogether and #TogetherWeRise (Miller 15:38). Simpson’s hashtags implies that with just him alone, he would not be able to make a change. That is why he needed the help of others to help him realize his plans. Without the social media, it would be hard for Simpson to look for the right people and engage with them. Just as Clark and Aufderheide explained, “Public media 1.0 was also limited in generating vigorous public conversations by the one- to- many structure of mass media.”(57) In this kind of public media, disemminating information and connecting with the right kind of people will definitely take a long time.

3. How does social media use in public discourse potentially challenge advocacy communications?

Even if the social media can be a good tool that facilitates discussion among different groups of people, social media use in public discourse can potentially challenge advocacy communications because there no clear policy yet with regard to the use of social media (Clark & Aufderheide 62). This means that when people say negative things online, there is no guarantee that these people will be held accountable for what they said. Because of this, it was easy for people to bash or discriminate others. Also, users need to be very careful in engaging in sensitive topics like politics because their employers might not like their political views and discriminate them because of it.

4. Does your PLN amplify the views of others?

I believe that my PLN amplify the views of others because I support others promote their advocacies through sharing their posts and tagging other people or organization that might be interested to it. I remember that on the onset of COVID-19, I made it a habit to retweet and favorite different infographics on the Corona Virus and how to stop it from spreading. Most people who originally created these infographics advocated for everyone’s safety and dissemination of credible and reliable information. Because COVID-19 is relatively new during that time, a single fake news can cause a panic so I made it a point to support those who are dedicated in spreading awareness on COVID-19.

5. How can we better use social media to build PLN?

In my case, I believe that I can better use social media to build PLN through creating good contents. Instead of making videos to entertain people, it would be better if content creators will focus on things that matter like education.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I first heard the world PLN, I thought that I still do not have it. However, after learning in class that PLN could be any groups where people learn from one another. In the previous readings, I was inspired by what Shelley Moore shared in one of her videos. According to her, students are more likely to be successful academically when they discussed the lesson with their peers. I would say that I agree with Moore, because in my case, whenever I did not get some of the concepts discussed by the professors during class discussion, I would seek help from my friends and it is actually a good thing that I learn the lessons through them. Now that everything is online, I could not only seek help from my friends but I could also seek the help of other teachers and professionals that I could connected with online. Just recently, I checked the #EdChat and #EconTwitter and it helped me expand my PLN. Aside from expanding my PLN, I also had an idea on how I could better improve my PLN.

I want my PLN to not just to help me but to help others as well. Just as Bianca Woods mentioned in her article, a PLN should not be a one-way street (73). This means that if I really wanted to get help through my PLN, I should also make it a point to make significant contributions that my PLN members could benefit from. One of the possible contributions that I can share in my PLN are infographics on basic economic terms and/or financial literacy. I have chosen these topics because I believe that people need to understand basic economic terms in order to better understand other topics in economics like financial literacy. Of course, my target audiences are not only Economic Majors like me. I also would like to reach young professionals who are planning their personal finances and those people who are struggling financially. In order to reach a wide variety of audiences, I believe that TikTok would be a great avenue.

While I was casually checking the trending TikTok videos last time, I came across a TikTok video of a kid who teaches people basic elements of music. Her videos are fun and interactive like as if she is talking to her audience. For instance, when she discussed the “Four On the Floor” concept in music, she played different popular music that follow this beat. She even mentioned that most of the songs that follow this beat are easy to dance to. After watching the short TikTok video, I had two realizations: (1) it is possible for people online to learn something new through a short video and (2) learning is really fun when it is entertaining. I am not into the technicalities of music but because I find her videos entertaining and her explanations easy to follow, I was encouraged to swipe up and check more of her videos. When I saw that the TikTok content creator has a lot of followers, I felt happy for her because she was able to reach a lot of people with a kind of content that actually makes sense.

Works 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.

 

 

 

 

1. How diverse is your existing PLN?

Since I just recently created my PLN, I would say that my network is not that “diverse” enough. This is because I just recently followed and added people I personally know. Since I learned this week that learning can be more effective in diverse classrooms, I believe that it would be better to create a PLN with a diverse network (Moore, “A Conversation with Shelley Moore” 6:37). In building a diverse community, I will make it sure to not discriminate people because of their social status, race, personality, gender orientation, and etc.

2. In your PLN, are you learning from a variety of voices or are you the loudest in the room?

In my PLN, since I just recently created it, I still haven’t engaged in any of the discussion threads yet. This is because I am still getting acquainted to the people in my community and I would like to observe first. Based on my observation, no one in my PLN has the loudest voice in the room because everyone seems to know what they are talking about. It’s like as if we are all teachers teaching each other (Moore, “A Conversation with Shelley Moore” 6:30-6:35). In the long run, I believe that I will get used to my PLN and hopefully, I will be able to actively join in the next discussion threads in my PLN.

3. Do you participate in a silo of information sharing (similar themes or wide-range of interests)?

I am a type of person who wants to talk about different topics so when it comes to information sharing, I have a wide-range of interests. Also, I believe that participating in silo of information sharing or only dealing with information with similar themes would be equal to short-changing myself to a variety of information that are freely available online.

4. How can you use a diverse PLN to broaden your views of inclusion?

In her book titled One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion, Shelley Moore discussed that educational reforms are happening on a global scale so many countries today are revising their curricula in order to move away from classrooms of wavy students (9). This means that inclusivity is one of the trend of education today and as a student, I should be well aware of that. To learn more about inclusivity, I will use my diverse PLN to establish contact with different online learners particularly those who have disability and special needs.

5. In your professional setting of choice, do you think inclusion is actively embraced?

Inclusion is actively embraced in my professional setting of choice because we do not “should each other.” Shelly Moore explained that a certain standard mark shall not be used to measure the students’ abilities. (Five More Minutes, It’s Not Easy Being Green, 2:50-2:55). Instead they should be given the freedom to answer the following questions: Where are you now? What is our next step?

6. What is the learning outcome of your PLN and how are you ensuring your exposure to diversity and inclusion?

My learning outcome for my PLN is to be able to engage myself in academic discourse with literally everyone. This means that if I could join in academic discussions and make significant posts or comments, that means that I learned something. In order to ensure my exposure to diversity and inclusion, I would ask my PLN members to create an advocacy with me. Just as Moore explained, it is not enough that students are together, they also need to have roles and responsibilities (The Evolution of Inclusion, 3:38).

7. How has your thinking about inclusion and PLN evolved after reviewing the videos and readings?

After reviewing the videos and readings, I learned that inclusion means acknowledging the unique skills and abilities of different learners and not forcing them a single formula of learning. In doing so, the learners are given the freedm to study what they want at their own pace. Also, I realized that students do not always have to listen to their teachers because they could also listen to their fellow students.

 

 

Works Cited

Five Moore Minutes. “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.

—. “The Evolution of Inclusion: The past and future of education.” YouTube, 2 Oct. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo&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.

My V and R Mapping

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

According to David White, many people use Facebook privately in order to establish their professional network. I was not surprised when I read this because I also personally use Facebook to create my professional network. For example, I like the pages of the companies that I would like to be part of in the near future to check how the company is doing and to get to know the company as well. This is also a good preparation for the job interview because applicants must have a good background of the company that they are applying in. Another reason why some users use Facebook in creating their professional network is because it is also hassle-free and convenient to use. Facebook has a Messenger App that allows users to create chat rooms, conduct video conferences, and share videos and their screen. This means that if the user is already working and his/her co-worker is on their friend’s list, they can easy connect to one another and do job related task without using a different application.

2. What can you (as a student) consider to expand your professional learning network?

As a digital learner myself, I believe that Facebook is not the only digital platform that I can use to expand my professional learning network. I highly recommend that my fellow digital learners should also use blogging websites like WordPress, Wix, and LinkedIn. Creating and maintaining websites is not that hard as WordPress, Wix, and LinkedIn already provide templates that users can use so they do not have to do a lot of coding. In expanding my professional network, I post blogs that are relevant to my career. When it comes to my digital resume, it is not readily available there but there is a link in my website that web visitors can click if they want to request for my digital resume. I learned utilizing websites to create a professional identity online from my photographer friends. In creating their portfolios, they post their works so that their clients can already have an idea about their art style and aesthetics. This made me realize that I can also use website to create my digital portfolio and impress my future employers.

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

As a professional in the future, I wanted to create a digital identity or reputation that matches my career. I believe that nobody will trust an economists who posts dank memes online. Accordingly, I created two social media accounts: one for personal use where I can post anything I want and the other one is for professional use which is clean and meant to impress my future employers. I did not use my real name in my personal account or else my future employers will still be able to find it and judge me because of that. In creating my digital identity in professional network, I make it a point to follow and add professionals as well. This way I will have an idea on how I could better manage my network. Also, as I have mentioned earlier, I also follow the companies to get to know them better. Of course, I am not only after the salary and other perks, I also would like to know if the advocacy of the company is aligned with my advocacies in life.

4. Consider what a local employer would do if you applied for a job with them – can they search the content, is it of benefit to the career path, does it hinder the opportunity of employment?

I believe that if a local employer would search my name online, which I always do to verify if my personal accounts are really hard to find, I will be able to establish a professional digital identity. This is because employers can be easily lead to my website where they can see my blogs and request for my digital resume. The employers will also have enough ideas about me as my website also showcases my skills and hobbies.

Works Cited

White, David. “V&R Mapping at Educause.” David White, 19 Nov. 2012, daveowhite.com/vr-mapping-at-educause/.