Blog #5

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/