Category: edci338

Blog Post #5

On August 5, 2024

Feature image by Miles Loewen on Unsplash

Using My PLN for Growth

As my PLN grows, so do I and I am still learning how to get the most out of it. I actively use my PLN to encourage professional growth and learning by leveraging multiple social media platforms to connect with peers and experts in my field. By being more active on social media in a professional setting, I am now exposed to others in my field and who I can learn from. After following someone, I receive suggestions to follow other similar accounts who follow a trend of the first person’s content. Just liking posts has increased my chances of seeing that person again on my feed or having the platform give me suggestions on who to follow next. I have started to use LinkedIn to enhance my networking capabilities by being able to join relevant group discussions and participate. Participating in these group discussions are a little scary so I haven’t really used my voice that much yet, just the like or repost button. Additionally, Reddit’s specialized forums allow for niche deep dives and lots of peer collaboration on topics, which I discovered through the Analysis of a Learning community assignment. By engaging within these communities (not limited to Reddit and LinkedIn), I can stay up to date and informed on news in areas I’m interested in. I find Reddit is less intimidating to use as you are not posting a question directly to those you look up to, so I feel there is less pressure and judgment. However, once I feel comfortable in my knowledge on a topic, LinkedIn is where you can connect with specialists to give you more insight. I say this because I get nervous speaking with specialist when I have little knowledge of the topic, so educating myself first on reddit with external resources before going to LinkedIn is what makes me comfortable. Spreading across a few discussions or forums allows me to find diverse perspectives’ which also helps my professional development.

Engaging with my Community

Since I am just starting off with my PLN, I have not fully engaged in all the discussion groups/ forums I’ve joined. It is a little daunting to be honest, putting your opinion out there alongside numerous professionals and specialists, so for those discussions I stick to mainly commenting with a question or liking the post. I don’t have the confidence yet to pull my own audience with a post, but hopefully in the future when I have something I am working on that I am proud to share and get other’s perspectives, I will post and keep those interested updated. On Instagram, a platform I haven’t been hugely reliant on for my PLN, I find it easier to share content. With the ability to repost something to your story, it shows your support of others ideas and it broadcast’s that to your following to get the idea out. LinkedIn also has this feature which I enjoy because those who follow you can see what you are interested in and expose them to new ideas, news and concepts.

Building a Supportive PLN

Photo by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Unsplash

To continue to build my PLN, I have taken steps to expand my reach with different approach’s. I initially focused on finding key individuals in my field by joining different groups and forums on topics I am interested, such as ‘Microbiology Professionals’ on LinkedIn. I try to engage by asking questions and liking posts to establish my presence and willingness to connect with like-minded professionals. By following professionals I am interested in, I stay updated on conversation’s they are having as they happen and participate in ones I find particularly interesting. As I gain confidence in my presence online, I plan to reach out personally to individuals with the learning communities I am apart of to build professional relationships and connections. By doing this I hope to create a network of peers, mentors, and curious onlookers who can provide diverse support and resources to collaborate on discussions.

On the forum ‘Microbiology Professionals‘, I found this video that briefly explains the human microbiome and it’s importance as it has been the focus of lots of research lately and I find it interesting. Check it out if you’re interested!

Expanding my PLN

My long-term goals for my PLN include expanding my network internationally to include experts in their niche specialities from their respective corners of the world. This is interesting with science because not everyone in different countries are working on the same project, or even same area, and it is interesting to see what others are researching or developing that meets their nations needs. To achieve this, I plan to leverage global platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit to expose myself to global discussions within an international learning community. Collaborating through social media allows for different ideas and perspectives to be heard and addressed. By engaging and continuously expanding, I want my PLN to be as diverse and dynamic as possible, consisting of an international community By contributing to global conversations, I aim for others to join so we can create a place of online engagement that brings people together to share our interests and learn from each other. By doing this, we create an engaging online community where everyone can gain insights and build connections from around the world.

Blog Post #4

by kenziewhite

On July 30, 2024

In Blog Posts, edci338

Feature Image by Tiplada M from Unsplash

Diverse PLN Benefits

Having a diverse PLN is critical for professional and personal growth. Being able to have a diverse set of perspectives can be beneficial in all aspects of professional life. As we become more globalized and connected through social media and the internet, it only makes sense that we become more inclusive as well. Utilizing the incredible global network at our finger tips, we can get in touch with people on the other side of the world with the simple push of a button. If are able to access global networks, we should also be able to appreciate new perspectives, ideas, and knowledge other people bring. Greater global diversity has lead to a more cosmopolitan attitude in younger generations. As we become more inclusive, we become more collaborative as well allowing for advancement, personally and professionally.

Personally I have taken part in global book exchanges in the past. It started on Instagram where one of my friends said if anyone wanted to join a global book exchange should direct message them- so I did. I have linked here how it works as the author of this article explains it a lot more elegantly than I could. I did not receive 36 books, however it was a really cool experience to read something that someone you have never meet or even know their name has sent you. It opened up my perspective and helped me get back into reading! I haven’t participated in one for a few years but they are really cool if you ever get the chance.

Creating an Inclusive PLN

I think inclusion is very important in a PLN as it allows for diversity, however, my view is not to be inclusive by trying but just let it come naturally. Basing who you interact upon superficial characteristics is just detrimental to your growth, people are different and have unique things to offer that we should harness to leverage our PLN’s and make them more dynamic. Not everyone has this view and understanding global barriers, such as technology access and language barriers, is crucial to see how we can improve inclusivity and add to our PLN. Proactively diversifying my PLN may get my algorithm going to suggest other professionals or creators that are from different countries or communities so that I can continue expanding my network. A network should be dynamic, ever growing, and if we can address these barriers, I don’t see how inclusion becomes an issue anymore. In the article “One without the other”, Moore talks about moving from a mindset of tolerance to one of acceptance, which I agree with. Acceptance of ideas, culture, language, perspective, it all compounds to diversify us and promotes growth.

Social Media Dynamics

Different social media platforms have distinct features that shape how I engage with my PLN. Twitter allows a succinct and focused message to be shared, often allowing quick updates or participating in real-time conversations. This immediacy and wide reach allows users to connect with those of other cultures in no time using hashtags or comments. Whereas, LinkedIn’s professional atmosphere encourages more detailed and formal interactions, allowing me to find industry-specific topics and professionals to build deeper connections. LinkedIn seems like ‘the long game’ if you will, connecting with others and sharing professional journeys and experiences help’s you stay in touch and innovative. Instagram’s visual-centric approach allows me to share creative and informal content, which can highlight more personal or casual aspects of my journey. Each platform contains unique culture influences, not just the content but also with the users. The depth of interaction differs by platform and each has it’s own purpose for engagement to grow and integration of all of them allows for a robust PLN.

Challenges of Inclusivity in Digital Spaces

Creating an inclusive PLN in digital spaces presents several challenges, particularly around ensuring diverse voices are heard and valued. A difficulty I have noticed when starting to create my PLN in social media is the tendency for one group of like minded-individuals to dominate the conversation or comments. This in turn marginalizes other perspectives that are knowledgeable and additive. Unfortunately, this makes the conversation become exclusive to those like-minded individuals and creates a homogenous environment. Without inclusion, this environment fails to be a true representation of the full spectrum of ideas, experiences, and cultures others have to offer. Efforts to overcome this can be to engage more with those marginalized in the comments and inquire as to what their background or field brings to the topic. Understanding that people can become excluded because they have a different perspective is the first step in supporting diverse individuals. Continuously supporting a globalized conversation can break up the dominating opinions and allow for those diverse perspectives to come through and be heard (or read).

Actively promoting a diverse and inclusive PLN is what everyone should work towards, not only because it is fair to be kind and open to hearing others perspectives, but diversity is personally beneficial. Having other worldly views makes you more approachable and knowledgeable which could in turn result in opportunities that others don’t check the box for.

Blog Post #3:

by kenziewhite

On July 23, 2024

In Blog Posts, edci338

I choose to research how to improve my overall nutrition which will help my body, brain, and my mood. For this topic I turned to Reddit and specifically delved into the thread r/nutrition. Here I found an abundance of information all concerning nutrition in different aspects of one’s life. As a science major, the human body has always interested me and recently I have been looking into different ‘superfoods’ and natural supplements to help my body work at it’s full capacity. From healthy work snack options, to learning what a good fat-carb-protein ratio is for your goals can be found here from a variety of people with different educational backgrounds.

I wanted to further look into some healthy meals on another platform that I could create myself. I found that the more I looked into different creators and content on instagram, more related content came up and I was swimming in healthy recipes! This reminded me of the book Atomic Habits, where the author says that the 2nd law is to “make it attractive”. Seeing all these healthy recipes online that looked aesthetically pleasing motivated me to try and make them for myself. I noticed how easily we can use social media as a motivator if we surround ourselves with the right things on it.

Side note: Atomic Habits is an excellent book I have linked here if you want to check it out!

Building My PLN

I plan to use a variety of social media’s to build my PLN to make it as diverse as possible. I find platforms like tiktok and instagram throw a lot of information at you in very short and visually appealing format, but the information itself tends to be very surface level.

Instagram: I enjoy instagram in a personal setting, for me it is not the best tool for my PLN but I think it would be good to give me some ideas about my PLN. Also I believe it can lead me to creators on different platforms as most have youtube channels or podcasts as well that I can use as a tool.

Youtube: With youtube, creators can make in-depth content that can be as long or short as they please. As a visual and auditory learner, I find this platform best to learn different skills and I resort to it often.

Reddit: Reddit allows people to join groups and ask or answer questions people post. Although I do take it with a grain of salt (because people on the internet don’t always speak the truth), I find it helpful for directing me to a group of people with a common interest and idea’s on how to help or improve.

Twitter/Facebook: I know these two platforms are not one and the same and I personally don’t have that much experience in either area, but I believe that they are great for real-time updates. Twitter uses hashtags to group discussions whereas Facebook allows you to join groups with a collective interest.

All the platforms above play to different strengths and have multiple things they can offer that another platform can’t. I believe using multiple social media platforms will help me to create a diverse PLN.

Setting Goals and Engaging in Communities

Determining the right media to engage with communities can depend on your goal and intention. My goal, professionally as a scientist, is to build my PLN around those in the science community and learn more about what different pathway’s I can take with my degree. Being able to receive support and reach out to those already in the field, the information I gather will help me further my career while I focus in on what interests me the most. As for engaging in the community, I believe this piece will be dynamic. Initially I will start with questions and passive engagement until I feel comfortable enough to share my own ideas and innovations. LinkedIn comes to the top of my list for working on my professional goals as it is a very career oriented platform. Whereas my personal goals involve things like staying healthy (exercise and nutrition) which I don’t think LinkedIn would provide a community I would benefit from. For my personal goals I think initially turning to instagram to get that quick surface level information, would allow me to then find creators I like and learn more with them on their youtube or blog.

As mentioned in the article Leveraging Social Media to Build a PLN, one must also consider the format they are interacting with online. Again, I think this will differ between my personal and professional PLN. I am unsure which media will work best right now, but I think I will enjoy text as my mode of interaction for professional platforms and audio or visual for my personal goals.

Here is a video I found that lays out a simple process of creating a PLN that can be applicable in both professional and personal goal-orientated communities.

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fby_VgVpno

Protecting Information and Ensuring Ethical Behaviour

Online safety is a priority for me. With the growing risk of being hacked or tricked into pressing a fraudulent link, I have become more cautious of where I put my personal information in. I do believe on a professional platform that having your full name (first and last name) is customary, however, extra information that is ‘optional’ I take into consideration if I want to fill it in. I don’t think LinkedIn or Twitter needs to know my ethnicity, religion, birthday, etc so I give platforms the bare bones of what they need to know without giving up too privacy.

The internet is not the safest place and can be full of imposters. When creating my PLN I intend to thoroughly look into the people I connect with closely to ensure they are who they say they are and never give up private information that I deem unnecessary.

Privacy Concerns and Online Participation

Privacy concerns are not a huge concern of mine in the context of joining a new platform or social media as I am very selective as to what I share and can control that. I ensure to familiarize myself with the privacy settings and toggle/input what I feel comfortable with. For example, for all of my apps that ask to see my location I always say “only while using app” if the app requires my location (i.e uber, maps, etc). I don’t like the idea that apps can collect my location data in the background and I am aware they can do this so I disallow those settings. Same goes for other online communities, I will share what I feel comfortable with situationally per platform.

Blog Post #2

by kenziewhite

On July 16, 2024

In Blog Posts, edci338

The term digital identity is somewhat unfamiliar to me, however, in school I was taught the term digital footprint. Both of which encompass ones online presence, past and present. It was emphasized of how important digital identity was to keep us safe online because once it’s out there, it can never truly go away. Every profile, post, and password is apart of your digital identity that you want to keep safe and protected.

Photo by dole777 on Unsplash — Photo by dole777on Unsplash

Social media is an excellent tool for networking with others and getting your name out there. It can also be used against you if the wrong people get ahold of your passwords or photoshop your photos out of context. My personal social media presence has decreased since graduating high school, and I have become more cognizant of the content I am posting. Currently my social media highlights my travels and interesting things I have seen or done, making my posts very few and far between. In addition to posting very minimally, I ensure all my accounts are private and I have to accept or deny peoples request’s to follow me. This makes me feel safer online as I am in control of who sees my profile and posts first hand and no one I don’t know can be let into my personal life.

On my private social media accounts I can have more fun with my posts and share a picture of the sunset or my friends out to dinner without too much care. However on my professional social media accounts, I ensure I am presenting myself as I would in a job setting. Meaning I want to come off as professional and would instead reply on threads about an article I found interesting, or comment on a peers successes. My professional social media is about expanding my network, whereas my private social media allows me to connect with my friends and showcase my personality. Below is a list from an article by Lenna Garibian distinguishes the “Top 5 drivers for Personal and Professional Networks” which is a good visual representation of how I feel about the usage of personal and professional networks. I have attached the link to the article below as well as it is a quick read but takes into account statistics from people in a poll.

https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/8961/professional-vs-personal-the-social-media-mindset-divide

To maintain my professional presence online, I ensure I am consistent in using my full name as my handle so that it is easily recognizable. I would also like to start using a professional photo but have not had the opportunity to have one taken. I think having a professional photo shows that you have put in the time to look professional and presentable online and gives you a leg up in the job market. My language for a professional post would also differ quite a bit from a personal post, making sure I am not using slang or abbreviations.

I think that personal digital identity can complement a professional profile in a way that shows your interests and provides a better overview about you prior to a potential interview. Job’s are not just about being the best at it, a company wants to ensure its employees are pleasant people who can collaborate on projects and deals together. Showing some of your personality online can highlight characteristics that cannot be taught and are applicable to specific jobs.

An example of how my personal and professional online presence has complemented each other was not my doing but one of my employers. I used to work at a small business that taught people how to do water sports and all the coaches had a little ‘About Me’ section which intertwined our personalities as people but professional skills and specialities as coach’s. It showcased my highlights as an individual apart from the company, and as an employee.

Going forward, I would like to be more active on my professional social medias to build my network and learn about different career paths that may interest me from professionals. I will still remain as a private account to protect myself, but I would like to look into adding multi-factor authentication just to be safe. I believe networking is one of the greatest ways to gain insight and knowledge and would like to enhance my professional presence online to expand my network.

Blog Post #1

by kenziewhite

On July 9, 2024

In Blog Posts, edci338

Hi everyone! I’m Mackenzie and I am going into my fourth year of undergrad in microbiology. Obviously an experience that has influenced my educational journey was the pandemic as it impacted my last year of high school and first year of university. Being transitioned from in person to online multiple times throughout the year was tough and definitely a learning curve in the beginning, but once most of the issues were figured out I began to find how useful open learning can be.

Another influence on my education has been travel. I have been fortunate enough to see some of the world and want to continue exploring it. Historical sights really interest me and all the history they carry with them. The prospect of going somewhere new excites me to learn a little about the places before I visit them before I get to see the real thing. I recently got back from Greece and I’ve attached a picture of my best friend and I at the Acropolis in Athens! The use of social media to influence travel has increased in my opinion and online I am always exposed to new places that I want to explore.

Currently I am in Calgary, home for the summer but attend the University of Victoria from September-April. Digital learning is a tool I rely on when I come home, not just for summer, but throughout the year as well. Having tools online allows me to work on assignments or study while at home for Christmas or reading week, allowing me to come home to see my family and friends. In addition to having used digital learning in the past, I am fully reliant on it now for this course as I am not on the island. I am excited to dive into how I can further my knowledge and digital literacy to enhance my skills online and become well rounded in the facet of technology.

My experiences with personal learning networks is not very advanced, I admit I have made a LinkedIn and Facebook profile that I have never used and that is the extent of my PLN. I think that a PLN is a great tool to connect and collaborate with others to learn new things or access new opportunities. Throughout this course I would like to shape my PLN to my needs and to make it more accessible and diverse so that I use it on a regular basis.