Month: February 2021

Blog 5# Building Your Own PLN

As Woods described at the beginning, people’s self-improvement at work may not have substantive progress, because they are likely to repeat the same work. Everyone has a different thinking mode, so sharing your opinions in the personal learning network can give you a lot of room for improvement. Their different approaches can help us to check our works with new eyes. “A PLN is simply an informal group of people who you learn things from on a regular basis. And if you’re doing it right, they learn things from you too.” Nowadays, it is not difficult to create your own PLN with the help of the Internet, both Zooms, Skype, Google Drive, or Youtube are good platforms.  As a student, I think it is very important to listen to the opinions of experienced people on PLN. Their advice will give me some career advice for people with no work experience. Meanwhile, PLN should also be a way for you to help others. The more you contribute to PLN, the more others will want to help you.

Reference:

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, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A348998538/ITBC?u=uvictoria&sid=ITBC&xid=1010abdf. Accessed 25 Feb. 2021.

Q&A for PLN in EDCI learning

How diverse is your existing PLN?

As an undergraduate, I created my PLN for learning EDCI course this term. In my opinion, I have never had any experience in PLN production, so it is my first time getting into PLN. Honestly, my PLN is not very diverse, because I just learning from my classmates and EDCI professors. Based on the define of PLN, “A Personal Learning Network is a way of describing the group of people that you connect with to learn their ideas, their questions, their reflections, and their references. Your PLN is not limited to online interactions, but it is that online, global interactive part that really makes it special. It is personal because you choose who’s part of that group; you choose if you want to lurk–just check out what people are saying–or if you share; because you choose when to do so, and how to do so.” Everyone in PLN could be a teacher or a student. Nowadays, PLN is becoming more and more important because of the impact of COVID-19. People have to spend more time on PLN whatever they want. For example, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Bright Space, and Mattermost are efficient choices.

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

Yes, I learned a lot from a variety of voices in my PLN. My classmates and I have different backgrounds, so the way we think about problems has its limitations. To avoid that, I learned other people’s opinions from reading other people’s blogs and comments, such as the difference between Chinese digital wallets and other countries. We may come up with different answers from different angles,then both of us learned from PLN. Secondly, I am not the loudest in the room, and I do not care who is the loudest in the room now. My skills are not proficient enough, so I will think about it when I improved my skills.

 

Do you participate in a silo of information sharing?

Based on the definition of information silo, “An information silo is an information management system that is unable to freely communicate with other information management systems. Communication within an information silo is always vertical, making it difficult or impossible for the system to work with unrelated systems. Information silos can exist within a variety of businesses,” I do not think I am participating in a  silo of information sharing. If I have a chance to participate in it, I would like to do it.

 

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

Although it is more efficient to analyze other people’s arguments from their background, it may lead to unfair conclusions. In my opinion, I think a diverse PLN is really helpful to broaden my views of inclusion. Compare with communication by face to face, people sharing their opinions on PLN will not let some irrelevant information (gender, age, job, or nationality) interfere with their thinking. After I broaden my views of inclusion, I can think about problems from a broader perspective.

 

 

 

References:

Five Moore Minutes. The Evolution of Inclusion: The past and future of education. 2 Oct 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo&feature=youtu.be.

Schoology. (2019, April 18). Personal Learning Network (PLN) benefits, tools, and tactics. Retrieved February 15, 2021, from https://www.schoology.com/blog/personal-learning-network-pln-benefits-tools-and-tactics#:~:text=A%20personal%20learning%20network%20(PLN,of%20your%20own%20professional%20development.

Chen, J. (2020, November 02). What is an information silo? Retrieved February 15, 2021, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/information-silo.asp

Personal Digital Identity vs Professional Digital Identity

 

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

In recent years, there has been a vast increase in the number of students who choose to develop their professional networks, such as Mattermost, Brightspace, and Zoom. From my own experience, I study from several different digital platforms which I never tried before.
BrightSpace: UVic chooses BrightSpace to replaced the original D2L in the last term. Compare with the last D2L, BrightSpace has higher efficiency and a more intuitive interface. Students can easily find the materials they need to complete their homework. In my opinion, “upcoming events” remind me of the important event in the next few days.
Zoom: a common video communication for most teachers. Compare with Skype. Zoom does better on help the interaction between teachers and students.
Mattermost: “is an open-source, self-hostable online chat service with file sharing, search, and integrations”. Mattermost is mostly regarded as an alternative to the more popular Slack.

 

What could the student consider in expanding their professional learning network?

As a student, I had signed up on different platforms to expand my professional learning network. In China, consider the update frequency and scope of use, I prefer to use an online platform called “EduSoho” to learn Math, English, and Physics. “EduSoho” not only supports graphic, audio, and video teaching but also supports OBS remote screen recording live broadcast, WeChat voice interactive live broadcast, video live broadcast teaching, etc.

After I came to Canada, the platform which I used usually is “Chegg”. Chegg is a membership platform. After people pay for membership on Chegg, they could get help from teachers online. These teachers not only give you the answers but also explain every step. This platform helped me a lot in calculus and passed the calculus course.

 

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

In fact, I tried to create a digital identity to show the best face of myself. I always use my photo with a smile as my profile picture, It seems that I am very friendly and shorten the distance from others. In addition, I never post unnecessary information on the network. Sometimes, leaking too much private information on the Internet will cause unnecessary trouble. All in all, I created a digital identity to leave a good impression to communicate with others more efficiently.

 

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?

When I applied for a job, I do not think it will hinder the opportunity of employment, because I showed the best of myself in public networks. Moreover, the local employers might more focus on my ability rather than the result of searching.