This weeks readings and video from the course channel have given me some insight and perspective into what it takes to build a genuine and successful PLN. The interview with Mo Amir was very insightful in the sense that we could hear from someone with a notably successful podcast and PLN. I liked particularly what Mo Amir had to say about building an audience. Which was that he doesn’t worry or even look at stream counts or overall numbers for any of his podcasts. His reasoning was that looking at those statistics would artificially push him towards catering to certain topics to gain popularity. Through ignoring these statistics Mr. Amir has been able to cultivate a very genuine PLN where he creates the best possible content on the subjects HE is interested in, rather than creating something he is not passionate about but caters to the highest view count. This has lead to the best possible outcome for both Mr. Amir and his listeners. I believe this to be a good outlook when building a podcast and relying on your PLN. Don’t necessarily cater and create content with the intent of casting the widest net possible. Create it with the intent of building a quality product that comes from a genuine source. In doing this you will surely garner an audience of some size.

Could my PLN be used to help professional development post-course? Absolutely, the connections I have made throughout the course and more specifically with my final project cohort could definitely help professional development. I think especially since all of us in the course have been exposed to the same information and now will have similar perspectives on the importance of building a professional network through your PLN everyone would be more open to staying connected for the sake of networking and having potential opportunities arise from it.

To answer the question on if my PLN can be relied on? well though I think my PLN is dependable and is certainly a good resource for me to use to build professional connections and gain opportunities. I still think that one should have good in person communication skills as well and that’s there is a lot more that goes into a good professional appearance and portfolio than a good PLN. The readings this week discussed a lot about how there is such a movement into online networking and how much can be done from ones PLN now but I would still say that a PLN is just a baseline tool for you to use to gain insight, perspectives, and connections. It provides you with the means to connect to people but the work certainly doesn’t stop there.

References

Social Media and Emerging Economies Technological, Cultural and Economic Implications – Chapter 5- From Information Society to Network Society: The Challenge https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-02490-5

A Global PLN – Supporting One Another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgoDet6pwaI

Media literacy is a skill used to process and analyze information we come across over a wide variety of different mediums. Julie Smith talks about media literacy in her interview with Dr. Miller and speaks on how someone proficient in this skill is able to ask the important questions about information they come across and disect/think critically about such information. Smith breaks it down that said person asks question about ” Who was the sender, what’s their motive, how is it created, who profits off of this information?” (Smith 2021) All obviously very important questions to ask when sorting through the slew of information we have to process online in todays day and age. Media literacy is both the means to ask questions and think critically about what we are exposed to, and also how to effectively use different media mediums to create digestible media’s for others to view.

Media literacy is so important for precisely that reason. Being able to question things like local news is an example of media literacy. If one were to take CHEK news for example at their word and not question whatsoever how they profit off of the content and messages they spread then that would not be someone who has good media literacy skills. If nobody possessed these skills, nothing would ever be questioned and we know how that usually ends up.

Media literacy is often such a dismissed skill for a multitude of reasons. The first of which being confirmation bias and human nature. We naturally seek out information that supports the answer we wish or already believe to be true. We seek out the media that supports our view point and then feel less inclined to evaluate it critically as we would an opposing media source. The other ignored side of media literacy in the sense of creation in that the purpose of media literacy in some capacity is to “Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriate expressions and interpretations in diverse, multicultural environments” (Trilling & Fadel, 2012). Which is something that is often overlooked as we its not easy to take a different perspective in media creation that is not intuitive to our own understanding of something. Media creation that can be processed and digested by a diverse group of people is an incredibly powerful yet underutilized skill.

You would want your PLN to have varied views but a factual consensus because you want to have diverse opinions, which may not always be the factual consensus. But part of reaching a factual consensus is including those opposing views and giving reason to why they are flawed. Varied views lead to a factual consensus. You need to have a proper and responsible consensus that adheres to reality and provides that truth but at the same time including a host of different views allows us to see that truth from a variety of angles

References

Miller, Jesse. EDCI 338 – MEDIA LITERACY with JULIE SMITH (2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57r3-aEnci0

Trilling, B. & Fadel, C. (2012). 21st Century skills: Learning for life in our times. John Wiley & Sons.

Thoughts on the video

The conversation between Dr. Miller and Brad Baker was an interesting conversation on PLNs in a professional capacity that gave me some insight into how educators use their platform and their cautions within it. I really resonated with the point about often times people are lambasted online for making a mistake rather than allowing the person to own up and take accountability for their mistake and learn from it. I think this is very much the case for anyone with any sort of influence using their PLN in a professional capacity. I also liked what Mr. Baker had to say about being cautious and thinking before you post an opinion online as it can be misconstrued and reformed into something you never intended. I think about that possibility quite frequently so I tend to be very mindful of how I form and present my opinions in my professional PLN. I mentioned my thoughts In a previous weeks blog but I truly think with PLNs in a professional capacity its important to be cautious but genuine. Don’t take a stance you don’t believe in but always be mind full of how it can be construed.

Which social media platforms are beneficial in education

This to me is an interesting question because I think almost all social media platforms can be used in some way or another for education. We use YouTube in the course to witness guest talks and gain insight into new perspectives from people we would otherwise not be able to hear from. We use matter most to communicate with our peers in ways that Brightspace doesn’t allow. Twitter could be useful to exposing new perspectives As well and enriching our education but that’s not something we have used in the course. Really it depends how the social media is used and which circles you are in on those sites. Social media is vast, its applications for education are only limited by which PLN’s you involve in your education using the sites. Social media can either be a tool for misinformation or truths and new perspectives. All just comes down to how you utilize it. The reading points out the importance of immersing yourself in various PLN’s and that it comes down to ” Use and understanding of social media in the formation of human networks” (Couros 2010) meaning that it can be an amazing tool for education should it be understood and used properly as I said above.

Consider the equality that exists when all have the same platform to engage community dialogues.

It goes without saying that when all have the same platform to engage in a dialogue, nobody loses. Often times barriers are put up to stop certain groups from engaging in a dialogue. All this does is narrow are perspective and worldview and cause misunderstanding and negative views to proliferate. Understandings about one and other can almost always be reached by having a dialogue. We are all human and all part of a community at some level and so we should all be able to have our voices heard in these dialogues.

I also am glad that we were asked about the vulnerable sector and social media as I work in the vulnerable sector so I can give some perspective on how social media fits in. Confidentiality is very important, there is certainly an extra layer of professionalism that must be kept and many times your opinions are better left out of the equation. I think those who work in the vulnerable sector as well would agree that social media use in the professional capacity needs to be kept minimal and neutral to many degrees. Threes always a lot of strong opinions when it comes to things like the homeless population, corrections, education or other parts of the vulnerable sector and its important to remember how polarizing some opinions can be. Hence my care in using social media in the professional capacity in that sense.

Refrences

Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning / Alec Couros- Chapter 6 https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120177_99Z_Veletsianos_2010-Emerging_Technologies_in_Distance_Education.pdf

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?

A diverse and inclusive PLN is one that understands the societal issues that are present in the world and their local community. The presence of diverse voices are what informs everyone and keeps them from becoming narrowminded and only seeing the issues that effect themselves. This inurn means that when you have this PLN with a diverse worldview that understands the different issues that different groups go thorough. They will understand when you say or do something that impacts their community at a local level. For example, Markiel Simpson used his leverage from his incredible PLN to push for black history to be included in the curriculum at a community level. The people and community members in his PLN understand why this is important because his PLN is diverse and inclusive and they understand why educating people on black history is an important message for the community. They understand where he is coming from.

Having a diverse PLN is kind of like having a widely amazing and incredibly group of people from all walks of life, but everyone’s on the same page. Everyone understands each other or at least makes the attempt to understand each other. Clark J., Aufderheide P. (2011) argue that public media platforms are now essential in a democratic society as they are truly by the people and for the people. These incredible diverse platforms and PLNs like Markiel Simpsons have the potential to change the world in that they offer an incredibly way to become knowledgeable on current issues through a diverse and inclusive conversation in a way major news media fails to do in almost every aspect.

Of course its not all easy. Markiel worked incredibly hard to build his platform and it all started with him networking during his volunteer work and meeting the right people. He started local within his community and his organization and now is an essential piece of the NDP network and changes lives daily while building this amazing PLN. PLNs like this teach me that though we often change our way of messaging to reach different people, often times with a diverse platform a sort of understanding is formed where people can universally understand the messaging because they are already part of a diverse community. Mr. Simpson is definitely and inspiring figure and I’m very pleased that we got to listen to his talk as I would have never known about this figure had it not been for my own education PLN within the class.

Refrences

Clark J., Aufderheide P. (2011) A New Vision for Public Media. In: Jansen S.C., Pooley J., Taub-Pervizpour L. (eds) Media and Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1057/9780230119796_5

EDCI – 338 MARKIEL SIMPSON (Miller 2021)