Apply social media to develop a personal learning network in support of your personal and/or professional development. Explain personalized learning and its relation to learning theory
I want to address Samantha’s questions from her wow and wonder post for this point; “Will the chaos be too open-ended and unstructured for certain students? Will students be able to behave appropriately and effectively self-organize themselves in order to use their time wisely with the freedom that comes with the chaos?” I think it is great to break down how to control this chaos of constructivist learning so others can understand. Constructivism goes hand in hand with your Personal Learning Network (PLN) because networking can be informal and still controlled so it does not create this chaos. A great example of constructivism learning is in a previous blog post I wrote in EDCI 335 where I explain my experience in an Indigenous Education (IED) course, IED 371. The facilitation of the course was about group circle discussion from the course materials provided with no question prompts only open conversation. This gave students the opportunity to look from different perspectives and use a variety of interpretations from peers which was way more efficient in applying critical thinking and listening to others. It was still a guided group discussion, but it was mediated by the professor. It was all based on our personal knowledge and comments or questions we have from the readings. My blog post dives into this more, but it is a great example to show that it is possible to have control or guidance in a fully constructivist course. This method makes students think about how this new information affects the old information and understandings they have already acquired.
Examine the application of social media to support learning
The Diversity of the social media tools used in this course was great. Because I took EDCI 335 and 339 last year, I really appreciate being able to use WordPress as a blog again. I also enjoyed the online resources and readings that were assigned. I appreciated Shelley Moore’s energy and how she provides examples in this video that makes it easier to understand, which is a great way to keep learners engaged. One thing that I am still deciding on is GitHub because I do not think it was the best tool we could have used as a class to learn about diverse social media skills and tools. GitHub was confusing because there was no tutorial on how we were to use it other than the instructions you provided which were a little confusing but helpful. For someone who is not technologically skilled, this software created a lot of anxiety from the constant unknown from the no guidance. The whole experience felt unorganized, it was hard to understand why I using it because my focus was on trying to figure out how it worked rather than understanding how it was supposed to be useful. As always, I appreciated the constant help you provided for GitHub, but because the software was so difficult and had multiple steps for a simple task, I tended to forget everything after the meeting. I do respect its connectivity, accessibility, and how it shows us how to collaborate and use different technology skills. I just wish that I had more time to use it so I would learn to appreciate and understand it better.
Recognize that the Internet is not a neutral or equal space for everyone
Looking at my wow and wonder from week four and the showcase post about it, I still stand by what I wrote saying that the topic of digital immigrants and natives should only be looked at to be dissected and discussed as to why these terms and his methods were harmful to specific groups of people. Because of the topics in the course and all of the privacy and safety sections that we went over, I have been critically thinking about my usage and presence online, even by questioning the task of posting a TikTok post. I did not feel fully comfortable posting on TikTok from personal worry as well as more advanced worry from learning about their Privacy Policy, but I had no other choice as my group encouraged me to post anyway. I stated in the Privacy and Surveillance section of the major project that TikTok is very invasive and legally finds loopholes where they may keep and share all your private information, even if you deactivate your account. I honestly think that everyone should take the time and absolute patience to at least read the Privacy Policies of apps, but ideally, users should read both the Privacy and Terms of Service. The internet is a risky world and thanks to this course, I am thinking more critically about what I do online.
Identify privacy issues and practice online behaviors that are legal, safe, consensual, and ethical
I really appreciate how this course introduces and makes us aware of all the privacy and safety issues online. The short film that you had us watch in week 8 #tresdancing, really resonated with me and my personal beliefs and worries about online safety and invasion of privacy. The film really captured the interest and curious side of technology, but also the very questionable and risky aspects of having such an invasive form of education such as the scholAR glasses in the film. Those glasses although a really creative learning tool, I personally find them too invasive and it has risks with the right of having personal privacy. I also found that the instructor helping Francesca was very disconnected, and also she showed signs of questionable or invasive behavior from all the different profiles of students and their activity with the learning material and lack of attention to Francesca in their meetings. That instructor role did not provide adequate support for Francesca and that is a problem all on its own, the lack of instructor support or guidance is one of the biggest issues we are still improving on.
Recognize data ownership and licensing as a core practice when creating, sharing, or using resources online (week 6)
I have realized and started to be more aware of the people and businesses I follow because a lot of the time the pages that I do follow are only trying to sell something or spread drama or fake news that is irrelevant, a waste of time, and space online. I find it very difficult now to sift out through the lies online and where the truth really comes from when I do find something reliable. This idea that DiResta (2021) states about Ampliganda are that it can come from an average person or from someone with more public influence like a celebrity (para 4), so we never truly know whether the information is reliable or not. Regarding fake accounts and using Bots to spread fake news and trends, the public is the ones who seem to spread this ampliganda instead of the Bots (DiResta. 2021. Para 6). This tactic is spreading and moving so fast due to the newer evolution of PLNs and connectivism online. Yes having a wide PLN is great to learn from and we can benefit from networking, but it also allows and gives permission for all the fake news and pointless drama to seep in, which floods the feeds and tries to gaslight everyone online. This is how not only the governments and their media, but larger business companies too tend to start using their employees as what I like to call, Ampligandorists.
Practice digital, networked, and open literacies in support of learning about social media and personalized learning
For this question, I thought that I would share a couple of ways that I access and use social media as a digital network and learning hub. I have downloaded this app called Greg, yes it is called Greg, such a great name. What is Greg? Greg is if Instagram and Samsung Health had a baby. This is a Plant app that tracks your own plants’ health such as when to water or if they require more sunlight. It also has a social aspect where you can post, ask questions, and interact socially with other plant parents. You can network and connect with people and talk about other interests outside of the app if interested, but I personally do not for privacy reasons. I also have recently been using Instagram for mental health awareness, networking with other Indigenous businesses and pages, and metaphysical fanatics like myself. I use Instagram to start the research process and I cross-check everything I look at to make sure it is reliable or not. Some of the pages I follow include Arctic Tundra Designs, Mental Health CEO, The Hazel Witch, and even my own band Komoks First Nation.