Author: atalayaanzer1

Using Your PLN for Growth: Describe how you actively use your PLN for professional growth and learning. What social media platforms have you found to be the most engaging, informative, and able to share resources, seek advice, and collaborate with peers?

We live in an era where the digital world is rapidly evolving and becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives. I believe utilizing a personal learning network is essential for ongoing learning, professional development, and personal growth. A personal learning network is a system of interpersonal connections and resources that individuals use for learning, professional, and personal growth (Hotchin, 2024).

I am a psychology major, and I use my PLN as a tool to connect with experts, peers, and resources that help to shape my professional and educational journey. I actively participate in the social media platform LinkedIn to seek advice, receive insights from professionals and students, and engage with research findings. LinkedIn has features that allow users to publish articles and create group discussions. These features enable users to gain knowledge while also connecting with others in the same fields. I often engage in LinkedIn groups like the “Clinical Psychology Network” that provide a wealth of information, discussions, and advice. I will use the information I gain from this PLN and apply it to my schoolwork and personal research. LinkedIn also provides a safe space for seeking advice and collaboration. I often use LinkedIn to talk to post psychology graduate students to ask for advice about job opportunities, research, volunteer work, and tips to get into graduate school. 

 As a visual learner, I utilize platforms like YouTube to engage with information relevant to psychology and teacher education. I find Youtube to be engaging because it provides in-depth descriptions of complex theories in simple ways with visuals and audio to enhance learners’ understanding of specific topics. I often utilize YouTube as a tool for studying. Channels like “Crash Course Psychology” provide a wealth of information on different topics, from research and experiments to diagnosing disorders. Overall, I find LinkedIn and YouTube to be the most engaging and informative platforms within my PLN. 

Engaging with Your Community: Think about how you engage with your PLN community. How do you participate in discussions, offer support and feedback to peers, and share valuable content?

I often use my PLN community as a way to ask questions, seek advice, and share my own opinions. Within LinkedIn, I regularly comment on psychology posts, sharing my insights, and ask questions in groups and to other professionals. I often ask about ways to build my resume and how to gain skills that will increase my chances of becoming employed in the psychology field. I also use Reddit to participate in discussions and share feedback. I am part of subreddit communities like r/psychology; within this community, users share research, professional milestones, experiments, and advice. I will often read research papers written by other students and professionals and provide constructive feedback and encouragement, fostering a collaborative and supportive PLN environment. 

Building a supportive PLN: What steps have you taken or plan to take to build a supportive PLN? How do you identify and connect with individuals with similar professional interests and goals?

When I am building my PLN I start by identifying and connecting with individuals who share similar interests and professional goals. For example, I will use specific key words like #psychology or #counselorpsychology on the Twitter platform to find hashtags related to my area of interest. This enables me to find relevant connections, posts, and psychology research information. As discussed before, I use Reddit and LinkedIn to connect with others in the psychology field, ask questions, collaborate, and gain knowledge.  Reddit and LinkedIn allow me to connect with individuals in psychology, create relationships, and ask for professional advice while growing my PLN. In the future, to create a more well-rounded, supportive PLN, I plan to become a member of the American Psychological Association. This platform will enable me to attend events and conferences online and in person, expand my understanding of psychological theories, and build relationships with professionals who have similar goals as me. 

Expanding Your PLN: What are your long-term goals for your PLN? What strategies will you take to expand your network to include international contacts or experts in specific fields?

My long-term goals for expanding my PLN include international contacts and experts in the psychology field. To expand my PLN internationally, I plan to engage with global psychology communities. For example, I plan to start following the British Psychological Association on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed on international psychological developments in research and psychology education. I plan to use platforms like LinkedIn and Coursera to connect with others in the psychology field. These platforms offer courses taught by psychologists from all over the world. I plan to enroll in some of these courses to gain psychology skills, study topics in depth, and collaborate with other users from all over the world. When doing some research on these courses, I found one on Coursea called “Mindfulness Practices” by Dr. Jon Khabat-Zinn. This course takes learners through mindfulness and stress reduction skills and includes interactive elements such as Q&A sessions and community forum discussions. When I take this course, I will be able to interact directly with the course instructor and other learners, therefore including experts and international contacts in my PLN.

Refrences

 https://connectedlearningnetwork.opened.ca/category/july-3rd-july-9th/

Diverse PLN Benefits: How does having a diverse PLN improve your learning and personal/professional growth? Share any experiences or examples you have.

Having a diverse PLN is valuable for personal and professional growth. A diverse PLN enables users to be exposed to multiple different perspectives, ideas, cultural customs, and experiences that expand users understanding and approaches to whatever they are interested in studying or teaching. Interacting with teachers from different cultural backgrounds on a PLN platform like r/teachers, can allow teachers to learn about new teaching methods, engage with different classroom strategies, and incorporate educational philosophies and course outlines into their own teaching. For example, a teacher from the U.S. could collaborate within the PLN with a teacher from Finland, and they could exchange teaching practices. In Finland, teachers focus more on student autonomy, mental health, and student led projects (Govinside, 2020).  Additionally, in Finland, teachers are determined to tackle inequality in classrooms to reduce bullying and mental health issues among students (Govinsider, 2020). After learning about teaching in Finland, the U.S. teacher can apply those diverse strategies to her own classroom to increase student engagement and promote student well-being. In my own experience with studying psychology, I have found that learning from diverse professors and resources has broadened my understanding of mental health in different contexts. It has helped me to understand how different cultures and genders cope with mental health disorders and the different ways of promoting inclusion for these people. Having a diverse PLN promotes empathy and understanding for others who may face more exclusion than we do as privileged Canadian students. 

Creating an Inclusive PLN: What steps can you take to ensure your PLN includes various voices and perspectives? Think about actions you can take to promote inclusivity.

When creating a PLN, it is important to create an environment that promotes inclusivity and embraces the various voices and perspectives of diverse individuals. One way you can promote inclusivity within a PLN is to make an effort to follow those within your own field from different cultural and professional backgrounds. For example, if you are a teacher, you can use Twitter to follow educators from different backgrounds to learn about different teaching styles and perspectives that can then be applied in your own classroom. Another way to promote inclusivity is to share diverse content, articles, blogs, and resources created by educators from different backgrounds. For example, sharing a journal with the r/teachers subreddit from another country that focuses on diverse educational perspectives related to inclusion and equality. This will allow other teachers on the platform to read and learn about these diverse perspectives, which they can incorporate into their own classrooms and share with other educators. 

Social Media Dynamics: Different social media platforms have unique features and cultures. How do these differences affect how you interact with others in your PLN? Reflect on your behaviour and interactions across platforms.

Different social media platforms have strengths and weaknesses that affect how users interact with others in their PLNs. Social media platforms like LinkedIn are networks designed for professional networking, development, and collaboration. My interactions on Linkden are formal compared to other platforms like Instagram and TikTok.  I am often connecting with individuals that are in the psychology field, it allows me to participate in discussions, explore career opportunities, and read articles and research shared by professionals. On the other hand, I use the platform Reddit as a more casual user than a professional. Reddit allows users to stay anonymous, which can encourage open and honest discussions between users. It also allows users to share resources, ask for advice, and participate in discussions. I engage in subreddits such as r/teachers and r/psycholgoy; these communities provide diverse perspectives from users all over the world. These perspectives can help enhance users understanding of different educational and psychological topics. When I engage on Reddit, I prefer to be anonymous to allow for more in depth conversations with other members. I also often ask for advice and read articles within the forums. 

Challenges of Inclusivity in Digital Spaces: What difficulties have you faced, or do you think you might face, in making your PLN inclusive? Consider ways to overcome these challenges and build a supportive and inclusive PLN.

A common difficulty faced when making PLN’s inclusive is users different time zones. It can be hard to coordinate meeting times and promote collaboration between users when they are not awake at the same time. A way to overcome this challenge is to promote asynchronous learning and communication tools like forums and discussion pages to ensure all users can participate and engage with content in the PLN regardless of where they are located. Many PLN’s like Reddit include users who speak a different language than English. Learning how to use translation tools and basic phrases in different languages can promote inclusivity and communication within the PLN. Additionally, learners with disabilities may need subtitles for videos and alt text for photos. Including diverse visuals and audios can also help to cater to different learning preferences and styles.

References:

How Finland designed its schools around well-being (govinsider.asia)

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.