Month: March 2023

Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course? 

Throughout this course I’ve learned how to setup and build my PLN. A successfully built PLN affords me many opportunities to improve professional development post-course. Firstly, it allows me to collaborate with a variety of people that collectively can help me answer questions and topics I am curious about. Currently, I am studying Health Information Science at UVIC; through my PLN I can get access webinars and workshops that expand my knowledge in Health IT and help me develop skills to pursue my career. Additionally, many of the guest speakers and professors can help me get job opportunities. Example: A guest speaker in one of my classes reached out to provide junior analyst jobs for us students on behalf of the Ministry of Health. PLN can also be used a source of creativity that supports or challenges your existing perspectives. 

Can your PLN be relied on to open professional opportunities?

I believe your PLN can relied on to open professional opportunities. Finding career opportunities on your own can be extensive and exhausting. An PLN can not only shorten the search for professional opportunities but also open up ones that weren’t available otherwise. One of the most common ways people find jobs is through word of mouth. Having a group of peers or superiors that can provide you with connections is the easier way to advance in your career.

Open dialogues about media literacy and factual information can create conflict; why does this happen?

Having open dialogues about media literacy and factual information will 100% create conflict. Media literacy influences how one extracts information from media. The influencing factors are : Who created the message? What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? How might different people interpret the message differently? What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in or omitted from the message? Why was this message created? 

Say a politician made media post about environmental issues and his plan is to solve these issues. An onlooker reads this post and agrees with the politician points and believes his plan is sufficient. The outlooker could blindly have these views because of their own cognitive biases. For instance, the onlooker had a very environmentally conscience upbringing therefore the environmental issues may be magnified for them. Additionally, they might also have confirmation bias as the information presented by the politician already aligns with their own existing views.Other biases at play could include present bias, if the environmental plan involves immediate action and results, people reading it may be more open-minded to the idea versus if it was a long-term plan. Distortion bias could also lead to fabrication or misleading information; people have a tendency to report what other people are reporting and agreeing to. The onlooker is definitely swayed towards a particular opinion because of all these previously mentioned factors and if another onlooker was reading the same information they could have conflicting views.

What is the benefit of having a PLN that values media literacy?

Media sources provide easy access to information quickly but can be difficult to derive useful information free of biases. Making sure everyone in your PLN values media literacy and is critically thinking about research framework will allow you to derive and share more factual information that is better related to your own life. Say you wanted to buy a new cell phone and asked for advice through your own PLN. Many phone companies using media to promote their product using creative tactics that exaggerate their features and hide their own pitfalls. Having a PLN that can critically think and understands media literacy would aid in effectively evaluating the information being presented and derive useful information with confidence. Through your PLN you would have a better view of what phone matches and delivers on your ideal needs.

How does social media engage communications? 

Social media promotes communication by presenting people with a platform that allow users to have conversations, share information,create web content, and many more ways to connect. The ease of connecting with people online and variety of different platforms engages communication through social media. Many of us live busy lives and cannot connect with our peers in our day to day lives, however, through use of social media we can engage communication on our goals, significant events, hobbies, and/or work without the need for face to face communication. Additionally, social media has various ways that make communication more engaging than in real-life. Use of likes and favorites, comments, DMs, replies, shares and retweets, saves, clicks, and mentions

How does social media challenge communications? Is it inclusive? 

Communication through social media definitely has its own barriers. The most obvious challenge of social media communication is not having the same level of depth in conversations between people/groups. There are a lot of aspects of communication that are missing such as tone of voice, emotion, body language, and being disingenuous when communication is held online. Additionally, online interactions often promote less-free flowing conversations that lead to shallow conversation topics and small talk. Online conversations are very restricted as they involve back and forth texting; long texts that attempt to convey meaning are very tiresome to write out and aren’t often read by the receiver. This discourages meaningful conversations online. Texting is also a fragmented form of communication which means its difficult to foster a meaningful connection through this form of communication as a lot time is past in between responses. 

Social media is both inclusive and exclusive at times. It allows for quick communication between people from far distances at any time. It removes a lot of the traditional barriers for communication, however, there is a learning curve to using social media and requires users to have access to technology. People of poverty or the older generation may not have access to this technology or the digital literacy to use such forms of communication.

Does your PLN amplify the views of others? 

My personal learning network does not amplify the views of others. Although I frequently use social media, I feel that I am more of a passive user of it. I don’t engage in or share content on social media platforms such as instagram, facebook, twitter, etc. I mainly use it for entertainment or to gain insight on activities that I am participating in real life.

The policies of employer social media communication expectations. 

Social media communication expectations definitely would depend on the field of work, however, there are some general rules that should be followed. Anything controversial, especially regarding politics or polarizing subjects should be avoided in conversations online. Separation from work and personal social media use should be part of the expectations as well. I think the policy expectations should be discussed with employees to make sure its fluid and not too restrictive but wouldn’t lead to any future complications for the company.

How to better use social media to build PLN – Influencers & Commentators

Influencers & Commentators have used social media to good success further their personal learning network. They use platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Linkedin to discuss and share their learning experiences in their own career or hobbies. By sharing the lessons they learned and giving advice for future strategies for other people trying to pursue this career and/or hobby they connect a group of people together that have shared interests.