Blog #3

How diverse is your PLN?

Honestly my PLN could be much more diverse. I use twitter, outlook, Brightspace, Instagram etc. But I think I could develop my PLN on the professional side a lot more with thinks like LinkedIn which i tend not to use very much. My PLN diversity could benefit from some new professional or personal apps where i can actively seek out new connections and network with people which i tend not to do very much of with my current PLN to be honest.

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

I’m definitely learning from a variety of voices, I tend to observe much more than participate on social media which leads me to gain insight and think critically about how different facets of my PLN interact with each other. I’m maybe overly cautious of the opinions i put out into my PLN to be honest as I’m often not sure whether I have carefully considered my opinion or thought enough for it to be something that i want on my page forever. I would say I’m someone who takes advantage of the vast amount of information and voices in my PLN but not someone who really takes advantage of the ability to project their own which could certainly lead to good discussion.

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

I only really participate on subjective topics or things I know I am competent enough to comment on. I will ask questions occasionally but like I said before I’m quite cautious about the opinions I put online as I think its easy online to just comment your thoughts on something without thinking about it even though you may not really have enough perspective on the conversation to share anything meaningful. I think if you are not competent on the topic or you do not have anything meaningful to say, then you should just share and interact with information by asking questions or observing.

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

I think its definitely a reasonable task to develop a diverse PLN and use it to broaden how you see inclusion. Interacting and conversing with people who have completely different worldviews across the globe has never been easier. If you make diverse connections with diverse groups of people across multiple different apps. You are sure to broaden your views of inclusion and see many things in a different light. The basis for everything is communication. Just through interacting and communicating about even mundane things online can lead to higher levels of inclusion among everybody. It all starts with a hello.

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

My professional setting of choice is social services, specifically in outreach as that is what I do for work. To be honest I do think inclusion is attempted to be actively embraced in the field but at times I think a lot of it can be rather performative as opposed to meaningful and real inclusion. That being said I think this professional setting is still doing better than the corporate world for example in terms of inclusion. I would just hesitate to use the word embraced is all I mean. It is important in social services to strive for that though as you must provide assistance to everybody from all walks of life.

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

I learn a lot from my PLN and I would like to think my world view becomes broader every day due to my interaction in it. From my interactions in academia on Brightspace and matter most, to personal interactions on things like twitter. I would like to think I’m being exposed to a diverse set of people and ideas and being inclusive aswell. I have quite a few friends from different places across the world who I have in my local network and I would like to believe that helps me in creating a diverse and inclusive worldview in my PLN.

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

My ideas about inclusion and PLNs in general has become much more sufficient after the readings I believe. I think its very easy to get caught up in mob mentality or angered easily by certain views we see amplified online. But if we approach such views with inclusion and a respect for diversity we can often come to an understanding with one an other that seems to be uncommon on the internet in this day and age. Accepting that the internet and those in your PLN are likely to have vastly different ideas then your own is the first step to discussion. In our local community we are often times not espoused to such different ideas but online that is not the case. Keeping this in mind can help us remember to be inclusive and mindful of the diverse environment a PLN can be.