Personal Digital Identity vs Professional Digital Identity
Your PLN – Inclusion & Community Engagement
By looking at my PLN, I would say there is some diversity, however, could be more diverse. Lots of the apps I use are more my personal entertainment and social networking, except for the few apps that relate to schoolwork. There are not many apps I use for professional development, like LinkedIn, but it would be a good idea for me to create an account. As I am taking my Bachelor of Education, I will use social media tools such as Pinterest and TikTok to find new ideas for lessons plans and to engage students, as teaching is all about sharing resources and collaborating.
Throughout my education, I have been very fortunate to hear from so many different viewpoints. During first year, I was able to take many different courses through different subjects and meet many people in many different faculties. Second year, we were in cohorts in education specific courses, crossing paths less with other faculties. Throughout the Education program, we have had numerous opportunities to go into schools, making connections with local teachers and students. Alongside this, our classes have greatly prepared us so far with pedagogy, inclusive education, and history. As we continue on in our path of being teachers, we will encounter many Professional Development days, as we always continue to learn and better ourselves, and take account to many different viewpoints into our careers.
How has your thinking about inclusion and PLN evolved?
As future educators, we are very much in the public eye, to both the education system, parents, and students. Part of the teacher professional standards and school district contracts guide teachers to keep their social media private and professional. Social media allows users to share, collaborate, and create connections with others. However, with communicating online, it is hard to read tone and message, as well as tell if something is real or not. Tone is such a huge part of communicating, which is hard to read through text online. This can lead to misunderstandings, and loss of information. As the usage of Artificial Intelligence is rising, it can create lifelike false information, as well as normal false information on the internet, making it hard to find reliable sources and information. In society today, inclusion is very important and many online services work hard to be as inclusive as they can, but however, inclusivity is always growing and evolving. The reading mentions that we all see inclusion differently, which I agree with. What one person sees as inclusivity, another would see as not being inclusive, so it is hard to draw the line on what is inclusive and what isn’t. Personally, I think that social media is inclusive, however, by usage, users get grouped off and separated, and don’t overly see the other side of social media. We were lucky enough to have a class this past term on educational psychology, where we learned a lot about inclusive education. All our other pedagogy and history coursework this past year has gained us lots of new perspectives and insights, leaving us more open-minded individuals, which is important in the field of education. The more connections and learning experiences I create for my PLN, the more educated I will be, creating a more inclusive learning experience for my students.
Having a diverse and inclusive PLN in social media allows diverse learning, creating more open minded, thoughtful, and respectful individuals. Since we are able to connect with any person, community, and subject online, it allows us numerous learning opportunities, even if it is not presented as one. Even something as simple as watching one TikTok could be a pivotal learning experience and create more open-minded individuals, even if you do not recognize it. Social media can be impactful for the learning community, whether we realize it or not.
Resources
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=13&c=RVBVQg