Month: March 2021

Consider How You Can Use the PLN Interactions of This Course to Further Your Digital Identity Post-term?

I have been interacting with my PLN on Mattermost from being enrolled in this course. I’ve put effort into interacting with my peers and group members for my group project. We have shared ideas and knowledge back and forth. It’s helped me create a digital identity on a platform I wouldn’t normally use. I’ve learned that communicating and engaging with your peers can only benefit your PLN and what I will do from now on to further my digital identity is keep participating and being active online. 

What Does It Mean to Have A Digital Identity in Your Industry of Choice and Can Your Current PLN Be Used to Help Professional Development Post-Course? 

A digital identity in your industry of choice can take you a long way and show you are established. It can open doors and benefit your future and goals. My PLN right now is related to this class and is not what I would put out there looking to further my professional career. But I will take skills I learned in this class and keep connections with students. I have to make sure I can use it for that purpose. I have learned that I can shape my PLN to jobs I am interested in and I can use it to make a push for my career.

Additionally, As You Progress Through the Steps of Your Career, Can Your PLN Be Relied on To Open Professional Opportunities?

I honestly believe that a PLN can open professional opportunities. PLN’s require engagement and collaboration. You meet people who are like minded and you can make connections to open doors for professional opportunities. You can build a digital identity as well and be active and it can open professional opportunities. In the future, I will be looking to use my PLN to open professional opportunities.

Consider the following in your response to the questions below:

– What is media literacy?

Media literacy is the ability to identify different types and forms of media. Understanding the message that is being brought to you analyzing and evaluating media content.

– Why is it important?

It is important because of the era that we live in today which is so reliant on social media for information. We have to evaluate the information from different outlets that we see. 

– Why is it dismissed?

It is dismissed usually because of ignorance, most people choose what they want to believe but don’t check other sources or do the research for themselves. People will believe anything they see on the internet but don’t realise they are being duped.

Why should you aim for varied views but the factual consensus in your PLN?

It’s best to get varied views so we can see the whole story in full. Media outlets and news networks tend to show what they please. We can then use the factual consensus because the PLN will benefit, bringing in trustworthy facts will show that the participants are reliable.

Open dialogues about media literacy and factual information can create conflict, why does this happen?

This happens because of the challenges media literacy brings which causes conflict. Julie Smith stated those challenges to be investment, reaching adults and exacerbating inequalities (Smith, 2020). Even with media literacy, with all the information floating around we don’t want to believe the facts. This causes issues for factual information and the reliability is tampered.

What is the benefit of having a PLN that values media literacy?

The benefit of having a PLN that values media literacy is that the PLN will have reliable sources with actual real information that isn’t tampered with. When the participants are open and think critically we receive reliable information which in turn brings more engagement and knowledge sharing. 

Reference:

Smith, J. (2020, November 02). EDCI 338 A01- SMITH, JULIE. Retrieved from youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_T9RghwJlI

• Explore the video provided and reflect on the themes of a PLN in a professional capacity – how does a PLN give power to messaging for an individual or community?

We look at Brad Baker, an Aboriginal man who is an educational leader in his community. He is very well educated and advocates for the indigenous culture. He is fond of Social media and shared his stories about PLN highlighting how he likes it because there will be no discrimination of race and how it provides a fair platform. He likes twitter since it has allowed Indigenous leaders to “get their story and truth out there, while mainstream media only tell what they want to tell”. It gives him a voice and provides him an opportunity to get his story told. 

• Community communications go beyond blogs and social media shares, how does a PLN help and hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in education discourse?

It is beneficial but can also cause some difficulties in education. A perfect example is with Covid-19 schools around the world have switched to online. It has caused many hardships for students as it takes away the face to face learning. Some students don’t have laptops or computers. It could also be very hard for some students to learn online. Cheating has become a big factor as kids are all at home and are good with computers, when they get back to in person learning they won’t have the skills they were supposed to have. It’s hard for teachers as they don’t have that real life interaction, it’s hard to administer tests and help every student and offer a good education.

• What are some problems with social media communications in education settings?

Social media can bring problems and miscommunications that wouldn’t happen face to face. It is common when reading something online it is easy to be misinterpreted because it’s hard to know what context it is in. Especially in some areas of social media we shorten words and use acronyms there is no punctuation to help us at all. 

Reference: 

Miller, J. (2021). “EDCI 338 – BRAD BAKER.” YouTube, 06 Mar. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy63SmEpvCw.

Social media is by far the most dominant outlet of media currently, just as Hirst stated in the video that TV’s and newspapers are now outdated and replaced by Facebook and Youtube. Public figures like celebrities and politicians can use this to their advantage because of their huge following, but there are negatives that come with it. Some celebrities choose to show off their daily personal lives while others choose to show the professional side of things. No matter which way you slice it, more famous people will get ridiculed for what they post regardless. A lot of praise comes with being famous and so do a lot of hateful words. 

But these figures can always become more successful and influential in a sense. Building on their PLN and expanding can help their growth. Once you have a huge following it creates a buzz which makes it easier for your PLN to grow. When figures decide to speak out on situations it could be really helpful for their personal career since they have a huge platform, it can give their influence a boost. As well, if they don’t speak out, or say something incorrectly they will receive a flurry of hate comments. There is a lot of attention that comes with it and sometimes it can be good attention or bad attention some people deal with it better than others like Donald Trump. Trump relies on attention solely to grow it doesn’t matter if it is positive or negative, he gets more popular regardless and it helped grow his PLN and campaign. 

For negative replies, it is always good to accept criticism when it is constructive. If there are personal attacks and hate comments, it is best to ignore it and let it be. For your PLN it is best to surround yourself with people who are like minded so you are sure that they will be giving you constructive criticism to help you out and not put you down. 

References: 

Vance, Jody & Miller, J. “EDCI 338 – 2021 – 03 – 21 JODY VANCE.” 03 Mar. 2021. doi: https://.youtube.com/watchv=dgZOJgJKdyl&feature=youtu.be

Hirst, M. (2018). Navigating Social Journalism: A Handbook for Media Literacy and Citizen Journalism (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9781315401263

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?

The benefits of a diverse and inclusive PLN in social media sharing can be seen today by how engaged the world is in social media. Social media messaging is so beneficial especially in a time like this. With Covid-19 being such a huge factor in how we interact now, social media involvement and activity are very useful. Activists, celebrities, and politicians have now turned to social media. With their following, it is much easier to post a photo or send out a tweet and reach millions of people as opposed to a physical announcement. Social media is huge right now and a lot of people are capitalising on its benefits. Having a PLN, especially a diverse one is great for knowledge as you get new perspectives and understand others. Social media sharing is a great way to engage in knowledge sharing and interacting with your diverse group. Social media sharing can be useful if a voice needs to be heard. The majority of the world is on social media so it is easy to access your target audience. If everyone in your PLN shares it can amplify your voice to new levels that couldn’t be possible without social media. It can be a great way to raise awareness or even get a message across. Without social media, all we had was the news and media outlets which could be corrupt and we had no choice. Social media now allows anybody to be heard.