Month: July 2024

Research on Social Media and Learning Communities:

I chose psychology as my topic of interest because I am a psychology major with interests in research, lifespan development, and mental health. When researching communities, I found a Reddit community called r/psychology (Psychology (reddit.com) with over 3.3 million users. This learning community offers a wealth of discussion and research from recent papers, personal experience, and advice. This group allows users to share research, collaborate with others, provide study tips, and receive personal support. This science-based community has clear guidelines and rules to prevent the spread of misinformation, clickbait, and plagiarism. It also has clear ethical guidelines about not sharing medical, psychiatric, or psychological advice, as this site is meant for discussions and networking, not medical practices. r/psychology provides learning opportunities by connecting with professionals, consuming literature, asking questions, and keeping up-to-date with research. I personally plan on using this Reddit community to ask questions to others in the psychology field about graduate school preparation and gain insight on recent theories and research developments. 

Building Your Personal Learning Network (PLN):

When building my PLN, I plan to use platforms like Twitter and Reddit. Twitter’s real-time updates allow learners to stay informed on the latest research, news, and world findings. I plan to participate in Twitter by using hashtags such as #psychology or #educationalpsych to find relevant content and discussions I am interested in. Through Reddit, I plan to join groups like r/psychology to ask for advice, discuss with other members, and learn from others experiences in the field. I think Reddit will be the most effective for creating a PLN because there are a vast number of diverse users from all over the world, and many professionals and experts contribute to discussions while providing valuable information. Reddit allows for interactive discussions where users can ask questions and engage in back-and-forth dialogue. Reddit also allows users to be anonymous, share recent research findings, and create subreddits to focus on specific topics. Additionally Reddit allows users to consume information without having to contribute information which is great because I am interested in consuming and sharing information through my Reddit PLN .

Setting Professional Goals and Engaging with the Community: 

I plan to use Reddit for in-depth conversations, advice, engaging with the community, and consuming research, as well as LinkedIn for professional networking. I will engage in discussion on Reddit by sharing my insights and collaborating with peers through advice and feedback. I plan to engage more with my Linkden account to reach out to those in the educational and psychology fields to ask for advice, create connections, and look for potential job opportunities. 

Protecting Your Information and Ensuring Ethical Behaviour: 

To protect my privacy and information, I plan to use strong and unique passwords as well as multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of security breaches within the PLN. I am cautious with personal information I share publicly and regularly review privacy settings. To ensure ethical behavior is conducted within a PLN, I make sure to adhere to the rules users must agree to, such as engaging in respectful conversation and avoiding sharing false or misleading information.

Privacy Concerns and Online Participation: 

I prefer to join online communities with strong privacy platforms and guidelines about what is allowed and not allowed to be posted to ensure information is relevant to the community. When joining online communities such as Reddit or Twitter, I prefer to use a pseudonym or anonymous name to protect my privacy in the public domain. Overall, I am cautious about the information I share and photos I post, as I don’t want a negative digital footprint that could affect me down the road.

What is digital identity?

I define digital identity as a multitude of things, it is not only your presence online but the identity you formed through social media profiles, professional networks, and online collaboration. An individual’s digital identity includes personal information such as living locations, photos of self, personal behvaiours and personal and professional affiliations. Your digital identity is how you view your self and how others view you, and it is a permanent collection of data about you that is accessible online.

How do you present yourself on social media platforms for personal use? What kind of content do you share, and how do you manage your privacy?

On the social media platforms I use for personal use I present myself by sharing content about my life that reflects my interests, lifestyle, and hobbies. I like to share photos of my travels, special moments with family and friends. One of the main reasons I use social media is to share my life with family and friends, I have many people in my life that don’t live near so its nice to keep them updated. To manage my privacy I have my accounts set to private, therefore I have to accept anyone who wants to follow me and view my posts. I am also mindful of the content I share making sure not to share sensitive or inappropriate information.

What steps do you take to maintain a professional image online?

To maintain a professional  image online I use platforms such as Linkden, to highlight my skills, job experience, and accomplishments. I display myself as an office intern, aspiring psychology masters student, and current UVic student. I use Linkedin as a tool to connect with others in the same professional and educational field as myself, which enables me to make networking connections. I keep my personal accounts private to create a division between my personal and professional digital identity, part of the way I do this by using my nick name in my personal accounts and full name within professional accounts.

How do personal versus professional approaches to digital identity affect social media use?

My personal accounts are more casual, laid back, and include a variety of topics when compared to my professional accounts. My professional accounts include more professional achievements and connections with others in the same field. Within privacy settings I tend to keep my personal accounts more secure to protect my private life and details about my family and friends.

Reflect on the challenges and benefits of maintaining personal and professional digital identities. How do you ensure they complement rather than conflict with one another? Provide examples from your own experiences.

Maintaining a private digital identity can be hard in 2024, with so many people on different platforms, from different areas of your life. I find that even if my account is private I will often be posted on friends or family members accounts that are public. I have to ensure that these posts don’t conflict with personal and professional standards. It can be annoying to be the person that makes your friend take down a post but sometimes that’s what needs to be done. Additionally, maintaining and engaging with multiple accounts can be time consuming and sometimes my professional accounts can be neglected in periods where I am busy with school work. Some benefits of having both private and public accounts allows me to share a well rounded image of my self encompassing personal interest and professional knowledge. To make sure my different accounts complement each other instead of conflict I am mindful about what I share ensuring that posts on my personal accounts do not contradict with my professional image. 

Looking ahead, how do you plan to manage your digital identity as social media continues to evolve? What steps will you take to adapt to new platforms and trends while maintaining a consistent and positive digital presence?

My name is Atalaya Anzer (Ata) for short. I am planning to graduate from UVic in May 2025, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Minor in Education. I have gained a deep appreciation for psychology and education over the past few an 3 years at UVic and I am hoping to work as an educational counselor at a high school in the near future. I was born and raised in North Vancouver B.C., since I started university I’ve spent my summers on the mainland and the school semester in Victoria. Education has always been a top priority in my family. My moms works as an office clerk at a high school and my grandma is a retired English teacher. They both instilled a deep appreciation and respect for learning that has helped me perform to the best of my abilities and take learning seriously.

What interests you about social media and personalized learning?

Social media & personalized learning are fascinating to me because they transform how we access, share, and engage with information. Social media platforms provide an infinite amount of educational resources, news coverage , and discussions about current events.  I love that social media allows for family members and friends to keep up to date with each other’s lives, anywhere in the world.  I have a lot of family members spread out around the globe and I love that I can talk to them often and see what they are up to on social media. I think personalized learning is interesting, because it supports a multitude of diverse learning styles. I like that personalized learning doesn’t put students into a one size fits all model but instead customizes each student’s educational experience to enhance learning and engagement.  I appreciate classes like EDCI-338 because it is asynchronous, flexible and online allowing students to complete the work on their own without any specific meeting times. 

How do you currently use digital tools in your learning or professional life?

I use digital tools in all aspects of my life. For learning, I use technology to access school websites like Brightspace, research using the UVic library database and Google. I also use platforms such as Zoom and email to contact professors and classmates. As an office assistant at a construction company, I use tools like Microsoft Teams, Excel, and Google Docs to organize notes, data,  and communicate with coworkers.

What is your understanding of digital literacy and its importance in education?

Digital literacy allows students to access immense amounts of information quickly and conveniently. I think having and understanding of digital literacy is important in education because it enables students to research topics, gain knowledge, and critically evaluate sources. Additionally, it is crucial for career preparation in an increasingly digitized world.

Describe any experiences you have with Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). How do you plan to develop and utilize your PLN through this course

Personalized learning Networks have been important to my education journey, specifically collaborative learning with Peers. Working with peers on assignments and studying for tests has helped me perform to the best of my ability. PLN’s enables me to ask my peers questions when I don’t understand things and vice versa. I also use my PLN as a way to test my knowledge. Through this course, I plan to further develop and utilize my PLN by working with classmates and collaborating on group projects.

Refrences:

The Top 4 Social Media Platforms for Public Agencies (And How to Use Them) | Tripepi Smith – Social media image.

North Vancouver | The Canadian Encyclopedia – Image of North Vancouver.

png organisation 10 free Cliparts | Download images on Clipground 2024 – PLN image.