Month: October 2020

Explore how using technology can provide real-time engagement and include answers to the following. 

• How does social media help engage in community-based communications?’

As Jessica Clark and Patricia Aufderheide(2013) explained, public broadcasts and media like newspapers were essential in  connecting to the public and sharing information with citizens, until the Internet was created, which resulted in the creation of social media further down the line. These innovations have changed the way people learn about everything and has also resulted in user s going from “being an anonymous part of a mass to being the centre of the media picture”. Before social media, people could only connect to those they already know, like family, friends, teachers, and any other person they may meet in-person. Now social media can not only be used to easily connect with those we may be physically separated from, but can also be used to discover and connect with new people, thus creating more connections and our own online communities. Not only does social media and allow us to text or message people we’ve never met and publish photos and videos online, but it also allows us to communicate face-to-face in real-time using applications like Discord or Zoom.

• How does social media challenge community-based communications?

One issue with social media and community-based communications is keeping the attention and participation within your community. As social media allows us to connect with virtually anyone, it also means we connect with those of differing situations, such as race, gender-identity, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. This also means people within this community are likely to have different thoughts and opinions than you. These differences in opinions can lead to interesting and insightful discussions, but they could also lead to arguments and a disconnect between users.

Considerations when communicating via social media

Are there cultural sensitivities that should be considered?

as previously stated, it’s important to be sensitive of other people’s experiences and background. This definitely includes cultures. Doing or saying anything culturally insensitive is incredibly disrespectful to others and if your social media identity is connected to your professional identity, this can affect your employment in the future. Even so, it’s important that we avoid saying insensitive things to others not because of the risk of unemployment, but rather the risk of offending those in our communities and causing a rift within the community.

What should your PLN say about you as you communicate to the public via social media or communication tools?

The way you behave towards one another and the way you’ve built up your PLN can have an impact on your online identity. By connecting with those of differing backgrounds, you can learn from a point of view that you would never have learned from otherwise. Additionally, having a culturally diverse group within your PLN allows you to learn about more than whatever topics you have in common. You can learn about cultures you are unfamiliar with and then that gives you even more insightful information on differing topics.

What does it mean to balance your professional expectations and your personal beliefs in curating a PLN for the purpose of career development?

Let’s say you have personal beliefs that can be seen as racist or homophobic, or that make you out to be a bigot. Portraying yourself online as a terrible person and spouting out cruel things about other people can give you a poor reputation both online and offline. When putting yourself out there and creating a PLN, you have to understand that you are learning and should be open to learning from different perspectives. Being stubborn and biased and sharing your personal beliefs on what is meant to be a  professional account can lead to detrimental effects on your career and the way people see you. In your learning networks there should be a balance between being open about your personal beliefs and keeping things as professional as possible. Yes, it is good to share what you believe so people can have insightful conversations on personal topics, but it’s also important to keep things civil (and of course, don’t be racist or homophobic).

What do you think you need to reflect on (in regards to your PLN or development of a PLN) to adapt evolving social media communication expectations as a community learns more about who you are?

Although I believe I have been welcoming to those of differing backgrounds than me, I feel as though I could do more to connect with my community on another level. I could definitely improve at the balance between sharing personal beliefs and keeping things on the same professional topic. Sometimes sharing information about my personal beliefs can change the beliefs of others, or can result in conversations within my learning network that could greatly change my point of view.

References

Clark, J., & Aufderheide, P. (2013). A New Vision for Public Media – Open, Dynamic, and Participatory. In J. Pooley, L. Taub-Pervizpour, & S. C. Jansen (Authors), Media and social justice (pp. 55-67). New York: Palgrave.

First off I want to begin this post by saying the topic of growing a podcast and building a PLN prior to creating a podcast is something that really interests me, so I felt like I could share my experience with something similar to that.

I don’t do podcasts, but I do livestreams on YouTube for entertainment purposes, since the topic of my livestreams is gaming. I also post videos teaching people how to play certain games and increase the chances of unlocking or obtaining things in game that are usually incredibly rare. The channel has only just reached 800 subscribers, which when looking at other, much bigger channels, isn’t much, but it’s difficult to get to that amount in the first place.

What really helped for me was building a community before creating this channel. I used to post pictures on instagram of some of the rare encounters I would have in my games, which then gained a decent amount of attention. From there, people started asking me how I got so many of these rare things and so quickly. So I created a brief tutorial on how to play the way I do. Then people started suggesting that I make a YouTube channel and make a video tutorial on there.

So with those suggestions in mind, I created the channel, which quickly gained 50 subscribers, all who were following my instagram. Since then, my most popular videos have all been tutorials on how to play the game the way I do. All of those videos gained at least 1000 views, and up to about 3000 views. I then started doing livestreams where I played those games and demonstrated what my tutorials did, but in a live format so viewers could ask questions.

Do I want to share what the channel name is? Not really. But if anyone comments and wants to know, I’m willing to share.

Building a network

So the reason why I shared this story is because I believe before starting a podcast, after choosing a topic, you should build a network based around that topic. In my personal experience with my YouTube channel, I used Instagram to post about a specific video game franchise and soon people interested in the same topic started following me and from there we discussed the said topic in detail, looking at the odds of obtaining rare items in the game and how to increase those odds or find those items as quickly as possible. I shared what I knew about the topic, and others shared what they knew, which added to my knowledge on the subject. I also used an app called Amino, where users can pick specific topics and join groups based on those topics.

Another tool that can help in building and growing your PLN is Twitter. Bianca Woods (2013) shared several ways to use the app, two points of which stuck out to me:

• “Follow your favorite industry experts”. Having people you look up to who focus on the same topic as you would like to in podcasts is a great way to both develop a PLN and draw inspiration from them and use it in your own work. By following them, seeing what information they share, and what people they retweet, you can learn more from them or find more people to follow, which as a result grows your learning network.
• “Start conversations”. Connecting and interacting with other users on twitter helps in building connections. Sharing insights on posts other users have made can result in conversations with the user that could build connections or insights on a given topic.

How to emulate success stories and create a good podcast

Similar to the first point I shared from Woods’ article, following “industry experts” or those who have made successful podcasts on similar topics is an ideal way to create a podcast with similar success. It’s important to note that although sometimes discussing a relevant topic that is being shared by many users can be useful, it can also leave you buried underneath more popular podcasts. Choosing a unique topic or discussing a topic in a unique manner can spark interest in those looking for podcasts to listen to.

Additionally, advertising within your learning network is a great way of marketing. In my situation with doing livestreams on YouTube, I like to post on my instagram story, saying what time the stream is at and sharing my enthusiasm on what we’ll be doing live on the given day.  I also create a countdown on the same story so those in my time zone know how much time is left until I’ll be live on YouTube. This countdown also doubles as a notification for those who are interested. Tapping on the countdown gives viewers the option to be notified when the countdown is over, which means the instagram users are notified of my livestream on YouTube even if they don’t receive notifications for my YouTube channel. This can be used the same way for podcasts. Having grown a PLN, you have people who see what you post and read what you have to say, which means they’ll see when you’re doing a new podcast.

Collaboration is also key in growing an audience. Let’s say you have one user with an audience of 100 people, and you have an audience of 100 people as well, with no overlap. Doing a podcast together means their audience and your audience are listening, thus potentially doubling your audience, as those who came from the other user might enjoy your podcast and follow along. This collaboration tactic is used for all sorts of media forms, from podcasts to videos to music.

Privacy and Security

Before I delve into this topic, we have to first acknowledge that there will always be a privacy concern with podcasts. Unlike some social media platforms where you can choose who sees your posts or whether your account is public or private, podcasts are always public. Anyone from anywhere can watch them.

Podcasts can be about all sorts of topics, and people can share all sorts of stories and anecdotes and opinions. This means you could say something that’ll potentially put you in danger. Although it’s important to be genuine in your podcasts, it’s also important to filter out personal information that may put you at risk of a privacy or security breach. For instance, if your podcast discusses food and you share an experience you had with a local restaurant, this gives viewers the opportunity to find this restaurant location, and gives viewers an idea of where you live. This could also put the restaurant in a bad space if you had a poor experience. Viewers may give the business a bad review just because you didn’t have a good experience with it.

References

Woods, Bianca. “Building your own PLN: seeking new insights and ideas? Expand your personal learning network.” T+D, vol. 67, no. 11, Nov. 2013, p. 70+. Gale OneFile: Business, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=9daf4a31.

I decided that the PLN I would focus on for this course would be education, as most of my life right now is currently focused on schooling. With this in mind, I’ll be looking at my learning networks from this course, EDCI 338, along with two more courses I’m taking: EDCI 335 and EDCI 339, because I think it would be interesting to compare them.

• How diverse is your existing PLN?

I’d say it’s rather diverse from what I can tell. I have classmates from all over the globe. In all three of my courses, there’s a fair amount of people from Canada, China, and the United States, with everyone generally being from different places within those areas, and all having different experiences and genealogies.

• In your PLN, are you learning from a variety of voices or are you the loudest in the room?

I’m generally a listener, so I am typically quiet in class. During group discussions in EDCI 338, I feel like I should contribute more and that’s something that can be improved upon. In EDCI 339, we don’t have assigned groups or any groups in the first place. What we do have are tasks in which we have to engage with threads from other students. The ones we choose are up to us, which allows us to engage with threads based on our interests. In that situation I contribute a lot, although it is quite forced.

EDCI 335 I was brought into a group to work on a project. This group of 5 people had very few active voices, and as a result I felt inclined to make my voice heard so we could get things done. Unfortunately the person who brought me into the group dropped the course and now I’m the only active participant. I feel like had things gone well, we could’ve been an active and engaged group where everyone shares their thoughts, but now I’m the loudest voice in the group due to communication issues. Additionally it’s difficult to engage in discussions due to time zones, as the rest of the group members are in china and usually don’t say anything until 1am.

• Do you participate in a silo of information sharing (similar themes or wide-range of interests)?

My classmates in all of my courses have very different interests. I have classmates who are interested in psychology, computer sciences, engineering, and economics. The one thing that many students have in common in my EDCI 335 course is a minor in education, like myself. There are also a large amount of students doing a major in either psychology or health information sciences. EDCI 338 also follows a pattern of having students in psychology, health information sciences, and education. EDCI 339 has many students doing a minor in education. Aside from the similarities in educational interests, there isn’t much else in common.

• How can you use a diverse PLN to broaden your views of inclusion?

Becoming familiar with and actively engaging in coursework and collaborating with classmates who come from different backgrounds can break barriers that come from biases and stereotypes. When you know nothing about a person aside from their race and gender, it’s easy to make biased and unfair assumptions about a person. Working with people who are of different races, sexual orientations, gender identities, and religious backgrounds can help you realize how much you might have in common with others. Knowing more about a person helps you to be able to relate to a person despite the differences you may have.

These online courses seem significantly more diverse than the courses I took in-person and, although it’s unfortunate that online courses mean I don’t get to work with my classmates in-person, it allows me to collaborate with people from significantly more varied backgrounds. As we learn together, we also learn more about each other and can see people for their unique personalities and the good attributes they have rather than look at them as a person of a certain ethnicity, gender, or sexuality.

• What is the learning outcome of your PLN and how are you ensuring your exposure to diversity and inclusion?

As all three of the courses in my learning network require collaboration in order to complete assignments, it’s important to me that everyone can feel comfortable in voicing their opinions and sharing whatever information they would like with the group. If we don’t allow some people to have their voices heard or if we behave in such a way that might make people uncomfortable to share, then people won’t participate and can’t be included in course discussions, which may worsen learning outcomes for all parties, as we could miss opinions that could greatly change the path we take in our learning and limit the potential outcomes of our work.

• How has your thinking about inclusion and PLN evolved after reviewing the videos and readings?

One thing I noticed in the readings really caught my eye because it shares an opposite opinion from what I learned in a class last year. In a class I took on teacher education, we discussed inclusivity and how we shouldn’t simply look at everyone as the same. Yes, they should be included, but we need to recognize their differences because we need to recognize the unfair treatment some people have had based on their backgrounds.

When Shelley shared a diagram meant to represent inclusion, a student expressed her opinion on the topic, saying she didn’t believe that was proper inclusion, as it showed some of the circles in the diagram as being different, and meant they were bringing “the others” into the circle, when in reality there shouldn’t be “others”. In the end, they’re all students.

I feel like these two viewpoints, although polarizing, can both be used. It’s important that we see everyone as being the same in a learning standpoint, but we also need to remember that some students are treated differently based on racism, sexism, and various biases others may have. We need to recognize the differences but acknowledge that race, sexual orientation, gender, and other backgrounds does not change the personality and work ethic of a student. In essence, we need to acknowledge that there are biases against people and we need to not feed into those biases.

References:

Moore, S., & Schnellert, L. (2016). Introduction & Part 1: What Is Inclusion? Debunking the Myths. In One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion (pp. 6-12). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Portage & Main Press.

●  What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?

When it comes to careers, there are plenty of websites used to help people find jobs within their professional interest. Indeed is a well-known website where anyone can search for job postings near them and under categories that interest them. Additionally they can post their resume online to make it more accessible to potential employers. I used this website in order to find my first job and the setup was simple and I got hired very quickly.

A similar website to this is LinkedIn. Like Indeed, this website helps people build a professional network and find jobs that might interest them. The website also has an option to learn new skills that will benefit the user in finding the right job for them.

Social media like instagram can also be used professionally. Although it isn’t a typical job, there are many influencers who earn money for posting photos online. Influencers will do sponsored posts to advertise a product to their viewers and make plenty of money off of it. The type of content you make doesn’t matter as long as it gains an audience and the interest of companies that could potentially sponsor you.

Another way of making social media a part of your professional network is monetization of videos on websites like YouTube, twitch, and tiktok. These three websites all have different requirements in order to earn money. Youtube requires you to have a minimum of 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time within the span of a year. Twitch requires you to have streamed for at least 500 minutes, have streamed on at least seven separate days, have a minimum average of 3 viewers, and have a minimum of 50 followers. Tiktok’s “creator fund” is possibly the most difficult monetization system to work with, as it requires a minimum of ten thousand followers, along with a minimum of ten thousand views in the span of a month.

●  What can you (as a student) consider to expand your professional learning network?

Depending on what I would like to do in the future, there are plenty of options. I can join MOOCs (massive online open courses) to learn more about things that benefit my career path, engage with other students participating in those courses if possible, join online groups on Facebook focusing on topics that make up part of my professional interests, use websites like Indeed and LinkedIn to share my resume and put myself out there, and simply use google to find more ways to engage with others and learn more within my field of interest. I can also use websites that allow me to ask and answer questions on topics that interest me and further engage in discussion on the subject matter. Websites like Yahoo Answers and Quora can be used in this manner and allow anyone to answer questions you or someone else might have.

●  In your network, how can you create a digital identity/reputation?

As mentioned in my previous blog post, our digital identity is how we represent ourselves online. We can have as many identities as we would like by creating separate profiles for different topics and different audiences. This concept is also used in our everyday lives, even offline. Most people talk to their friends in a way that is very different from how they would talk to others. We may speak very casually with friends, but depending on who you’re speaking to, you may filter your words differently. For instance, you likely wouldn’t use vulgar words around a young innocent child. You also likely wouldn’t complain about your job while you’re at work, knowing that your employer might hear you. These filters are also used online.

I know from my own experience using instagram, I can talk openly about some things on one account but can’t say a word about it on the other. A good example of this is my original instagram, which I used to post about some enjoyable times I had throughout high school. My audience was made up of my friends and classmates. As I preferred to look good in their eyes, I kept things simple, posting about some of my dance and choir performances and also some big trips I took.

Not a single person who follows that account knows about my other, more popular account, which focuses on video games. Throughout high school I felt like my classmates had something against girls playing video games, so I chose to keep the obsession to myself until I made an account using a different name and no face to post about these games. Here I speak very differently with my audience, as we engage in discussions about these games instead of stuff related to my personal or professional life.

●  Consider what a local employer would do if you applied for a job with them – can they search the content, is it of benefit to the career path, does it hinder the opportunity of employment?

Using online forums, I can develop a more professional digital identity separate from the identities I have created previously, but there’s always the risk that these identities will be discovered to be the same person. If I say anything inappropriate or unkind, this could affect decisions made by employers, and can therefore affect my career. With this in mind, no matter the subject matter of my accounts, I make sure to behave in a similar manner on each of these accounts. Although I’m sure I won’t find any potential employers through my gaming account, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t treat people with respect. Even with friends offline I treat them with respect because I don’t see any point in bullying my own friends, even if it’s lighthearted. Sure, there are some things I wouldn’t say online that I might say offline or think to myself, but it’s important to filter things out and keep things mature and professional, even on the most obscure accounts you might have.

References:

OCLC. (n.d.). Visitors and Residents. Retrieved from http://experimental.worldcat.org/vandrmapping/signIn