Category: edci338

Examine the application of social media to support learning

During this course, I got the opportunity to further explore Instagram as a part of our major project. I believe it was very beneficial to create a persona and envision how they could use a social media platform as they try to start a  business, learn, explore and promote their skills and goals. This helped me see different ways one could use Instagram as well. I got to think about what may be involved when one is thinking more business-oriented vs. personal. By having the opportunity to do this research on Instagram I was able to gain an alternative perspective when I now use the application. I see it through a different lens. Being that everyone is using it for various reasons. Each individual has a different goal. Furthermore, Github was also used to support my learning in this class. This was by learning basic software development skills,  this platform allowed us to collaborate and learn inclusively with our peers. Lastly, using OpenETC Free Range Edtech-  WordPress allowed us to create a website, make posts, edit, and view others’ work. All of which promote collaborations, and creativity.

Explain personalized learning and its relation to learning theory

I believe personalized learning is a mix of people, devices, information, and services. These could be face to face, online, and with family or friends. It could include day-to-day tasks or work. Furthermore, its relation to learning theory to me was seen in  “Connectivism, A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” by George Siemens, along with my post recordgnized that education and knowledge in fact measured differently in the past than it is today.  the evolution of education and not only that what people learned what different but that how and the outcome of education was also measured differently. This made me question, how long does it take for knowledge to become obsolete?

In addition, to my statements above, digital tools have had an immense impact on how we learn in comparison to how we used to in the past. Michelle’s post made me reflect on this further as the digital advances we experienced growing up are first-hand demonstrations of the evolution of education.

Recognize that the Internet is not a neutral or equal space for everyone

I understand the internet is defiantly not an equal space for all people. I better understood this as we explored surveillance and privacy topics in class.  Moreover, the article “It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.” by Renée DiResta demonstrates manipulation tactics used in order to get specific topics’ attention in the media.  Unfortunately, all information is not treated the same for everyone  People can ban what is displayed in certain regions, and people can erase the history of certain events. Others can post false news. I have recently also learned that some accounts are by computers themselves. People have program accounts to be shown as if people are controlling them when in reality it is all technology-based. 

That means companies can also create accounts to help promote causes of planned conflicts for media and more. Understanding how much information is put out into the work falsely,  or on purpose to start certain narratives. People can even falsify the number of followers they have by using apps that add random people with names to one’s following. Additionally, while researching Instagram for our major project I learned something new in that I didn’t know that those who run the platform had access to viewing what is seen through the user’s features on that app. Ie the camera on Instagram or Snapchat.

Apply social media to develop a personal learning network in support of your personal and/or professional development

Personal social media includes Instagram. I use this for my day-to-day life, adventures, and interacting with friends and family. My professional socials include Linkedin. I use this to connect with other professionals whether they may be professors, colleagues, etc.. you can see how have applied social media to develop my personal learning network on this Instagram page.

Identify privacy issues and practice online behaviors that are legal, safe, consensual, and ethical

I was better able to understand privacy issues and practices in the chapter of this course as we took the  Privacy, Ethics & Security in Digital Spaces Developing Awareness of Privacy. This quiz made me think of my digital identity and what I define as my comfort levels when it comes to social media. When reflecting on this I  realized over the years I have been cutting down on the number of people I follow on my personal social media account. During this class, I recognized this to be such a bigger problem than people may understand as Riya, Robert, and I dissected the workings of Instagram. Part of our major project displayed, a review of the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policy Instagram has published. Some of my keys takeaways were that a user’s information is tracked and analyzed in order to provide them with advertisements for their specific interests. Another was that one’s communication whether it is done privately or not is all recorded as well. 

Recognize data ownership and licensing (Creative Commons, Copyright, Fair Dealing, and Public Domain) as a core practice when creating, sharing, or using resources online.

As I get older, I am understanding the importance of one’s rights, especially in using social media platforms. Social media nowadays is posting such a  variety of things it’s hard to keep track of. Exploring Instagram for our major project I learned that when making posts with music there is copyright protection. One is allowed to link music to a story but not have it in the background of the video. This is one way Instagram protects people’s rights and will typically flag a post if it is doing so. Furthermore, there are certain rules to what one can post for their own and others’ protection. For example, having explicit posts on a platform  13 and up age demographics of individuals have access to all kinds of content. it is important to use these boundaries in order to control the content and allow the amounts of people that use them continue to.

Practice digital, networked, and open literacies in support of learning about social media and personalized learning

Ways I’ve practiced digital learning are by using digital notes, doing school work on my devices, watching lectures virtually, and performing research on computers. I’ve practiced networked learning by connecting with coworkers, professors, and other professionals on platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram. Finally, I have practiced open literacy by doing group assignments such as the major project, communicating with my peers through Facebook messenger, zoom calls, GitHub to work on our web page alterations for our assignment, and WordPress to comment on my classmate’s posts and post my own wow and wonder/ showcase posts for others to interact with providing me the opportunity to respond and continue a discussion. Each of these examples presents a variety of unique interactions and learning opportunities for me further develop my continuous learning skills which will support me in both my education and professional endeavors in the future. 

This week’s wow and wonder post is focused on “Emerging Technologies in Distance Education” Which was edited by George Veletsianos. Chapter six of this document, “Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning” by Alec Couros explains, the usage of educational technology using open-source software, in order to provide graduate students with online learning material. This was interesting as this is a result of exploring emerging theories of knowledge, which includes challenging current boundaries, and traditional educational practices. The wow for this week was that I was surprised to see that students notices a significant change in the result of their learning when the contents of what they were learning switched. As the format of the course was demonstrated the emphasis on institutional support in regards to open learning. The wonder I have regarding this article is, that I question if there were any negative impacts for a more virtual or technology-based learning environment and adoption of these tools. 

Link:https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120177_99Z_Veletsianos_2010-Emerging_Technologies_in_Distance_Education.pdf

This week’s WoW was inspired by a short film “#tresdancing” by Queen’s University. This short film displayed the use of surveillance-oriented technology and strategies to enhance student’s educational skillsets. However, I was very surprised to see the openness and intensity of technology use. For example, the student was taking an at-home exam with surveilling technology and was disqualified from the examination due to background noise. This is a factor that is not in the student’s immediate control. Therefore, I don’t believe they should be getting punished for it. I also wonder, what privacy rules would be put in place for a tool like smart glasses. I don’t believe an educational tool should be dictating a student’s personal life choices. It seems like a good concept. However, I believe it should be executed differently. Furthermore, this makes me wonder how the technology is able to make these suggestions? What data is used to come to these conclusions and how often is it getting updated? How do we know something is wrong or right? And what if in some context it is ok and others it is? 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUivOlVpcWA&feature=youtu.be

This week the article “It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.” by Renée DiResta described the discrepancies between social media regarding one’s account, or what they are posting. My WoW for this week is that I didn’t know how common it was that some companies/people to use bots and sock puppet accounts as a manipulation tactic in order to get specific topics’ attention in the media. I  was surprised and therefore this led to the Wonder of how often is this the case? Where bots are used to portray chosen topics in the media. What platforms are safe and don’t contain any type of malpaly? In conclusion, I  chose this WoW topic as I believe it is frightening that not enough people question what is on social.  Especially in regards to the amount the newer generations are attached to social media and how big of a part of daily life it has become for many people.

Hyperlink

From my Showcase post, I chose my first wow and wonder post as I feel I have gained a better overall perspective on understanding personal learning networks and made meaningful connections regarding this course as the last few weeks have passed.  

The third article from week one  “Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them”  by Rajagopal, et al. 2012 caught my interest as it refers to one’s professional development and growth through networking. This includes learning strategies built from refections and social interactions and experiences (Rajagopal. et al, 2012).  By reading this article, I gained a new perspective on networking in a professional setting. This includes the three-layered approach proposed by Grabher and Ibert (2008) (Rajagopal. et al, n.d). Which explains the communality layer/strong ties, sociality layer/weak ties, and connectivity layer/very weak ties. All of which, play an important role in creating, and maintaining relationships as well as, the structure of professional networking skills (Rajagopal. et al, n.d). Not only is networking a skill that can be further developed, but it is also an attitude towards learning and can help in various stages of one’s career(Rajagopal. et al, 2012). 

My peer, Riya’s feedback gave me the perspective regarding the changes in networking within professional environments after the switch to online work and school due to covid -19. For example, Riyas’s post stated “It also makes me wonder if covid-19 has changed these professionally networking methods forever? As I have noticed and you might agree with me as well, it is difficult to network in your workplace when most of the staff is working from home.” I agree I do think our form of networking has changed immensely as now it is done over zoom or Microsoft team calls, emailing, etc..  This has made it much harder to build, activate and maintain connections (Gutierrez, 2021). I too do question if this will become a new normal. However, personally, I would like for it to go back to building in-person connections. The reason why I chose this article as my WoW topic was that I have recently started my first Co-op in the Health Information Sciences program. I am currently in a new workplace and have the opportunity to network professionally. My orientation was done online which was a new experience to me, meeting my fellow co-op peers was a different experience to do via MS teams and was also a new normal the company had to get used to. (Sandy, 2020) explains the changes university students are experiencing networking through this pandemic. Sandy also provides great tips for those new to this online version of networking as she promotes doing your research, asking the right questions, and sharing your goals while making these connections (Sandy, 2020). 

Furthermore,  as time continues to progress learning strategies also continue to change. We have found alternative ways to teach. For example, using technology in classes. In high school, I was introduced to Kahoot, an interactive game-based learning platform that was continued to be used in my years of university.  This form of learning produced friendly competition, recall, and easy access for a large group to be interactive from while in person or online learning environments.

Moreover, from later weeks I have also understood that as learning has evolved humans’ perspectives evolve as well. This was also expressed in my peer, Riyas’s post as she touched on the notion of the half-life principle in her. I find this principle very fascinating as well and it is also a new concept to me. Personally, I believe as more diverse groups of individuals are able to share their opinions and perspectives freely, it has opened a  gate to understanding concepts in a deeper manner. This ultimately is allowing us to understand new information and retire the past notions that were geared to specific demographics.

I continue to wonder, what future information or notions will change? how will they be accepted? and will notions that seem soo correct at this time seem wrong or outdated at a later time in my life?

References:

Gutierrez, K. (2021). What are personal learning networks? What are Personal Learning Networks? Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/personal-learning-networks

Rajagopal, K., Brinke, D. J.-ten, Bruggen, J. V., & Sloep, P. B. (n.d.). Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure, content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them. First Monday. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3559

Sandy. (2020, September 30). How covid-19 has changed networking for students. YouAlberta. Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.ualberta.ca/youalberta/2020/09/how-covid-19-has-changed-networking-for-students.html

(Photo)

8,000+ free networking & network images – pixabay. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://pixabay.com/images/search/networking/

For this week’s wow, I found the concept of Inclusivity very interesting from Shelley Moore’s reading and videos. “One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion” explains that diversity is not being taught. in schools, there isn’t enough inclusivity, and that we need to ensure the evolving visions regarding inclusivity are put to practice in classrooms, schools, and communities (Moore. et al, 2017).

The video “Shelley Moore: Transforming Inclusive Education” displayed using the 7/10  split bowling example to further explain by showing the difference of bowling straight down the middle of a lane in comparison to bowling at a curve to hit the harder pins (Moore, 2016). This was meant to show that children who may need more support in a class won’t get them and how including education and diversity can reach more kids and make a bigger effect on those we are teaching (Moore, 2016).

Furthermore, the shift of institutions to communities also allowed for more people to be closer to their friends and their families (Moore, 2018). Ultimately, this demonstrates that inclusivity leads to better and more meaningful relationships. This makes me wonder why kids had to get split up if they have a disability? Why can’t everyone learn together in a purposeful and meaningful environment? What further actions can we take to increase this inclusion?

References

Moore. (2016, April 4). Shelley Moore: Transforming inclusive education. YouTube. Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYtUlU8MjlY

Moore, S.et al, (2017). Ebookcentral-ProQuest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca. Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=6 

Moore. (2018, October 1). The evolution of inclusion: The past and future of Education. YouTube. Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgXBhPh5Zo 

This week’s wow is based on the article “Visitors and residents a new topology of online engagement”   the Wow I recognized within this article was that I found it to be interesting that the act of using technology is being compared to be such as learning an alternative language. I do believe the use of technology is similar to the act of learning a new language. This is because just like speaking another language, using technology is another skill set that has to be learned and practiced. However, I do believe that technology is easier to understand after initially using it. Whereas, language can take a much longer time to master. The Wonder I have for this week is regarding the concept of visitors and residents. It was explained that motivation can come from both categories mingling. This is interesting and makes me want to understand this relationship further. In regards to privacy, I am now more aware of using public networks when using my mobile devices and the risks that are associated with doing so.

Link: https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049

Wow 

Something I found interesting this week was within the article“Connectivism, A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” by George Siemens, which explained the relation between behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism and its impact on learning in the past compared to todays’ day in age. By reading this article I recordgnized that education and knowledge in fact measured differently in the past than it is today. For example, how in the past, the numbers of years of knowledge were seen to be more impressive than now when certain achievements and, milestones are found to be equally impressive. This changed my perspective as it made me think about the evolution of education and not only that what people learned what different but that how and the outcome of that education was measured differently.   

Wonder 

This week I wonder how long it takes for knowledge to become obsolete as well as things in life are continuously changing and evolving. When is something outdated? I would like to gain further understanding of the concept of “half-life knowledge”. This is because it is very interesting to me that half of the data that is known today was not ten years ago, and similarly will not be in the next ten years. Who decides these changes, and how do we know what is right and fair for everyone to believe. 

Link: https://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm