Explore The video Provided & Reflect on The Themes of A PLN In A Professional Capacity – How Does A PLN Give Power to Messaging for An Individual or Community?
My PLN gives me the power and accessibility to be able to message individuals in my community. I can message people at any time of day and typically expect a response. If I need assistance in a class assignment for instance, I can contact one of my peers and ask for clarification. Rather than emailing the teacher for the class and wait one or two days for a response back, I can get immediate assistance and complete the task quicker. Brad Baker states that growth in the community is important and essential, he says the main purpose of his learning network is bring further understanding. I can easily relate this to my PLN because I primarily use it for educational purposes when I need clarification in a class as mentioned before or for personal purposes as well.
Education Occurs in So Many Environments Beyond the Classroom, How Does Social Media Help Expand Education & Associated Needed Communications?
Social media helps in expanding education and associated needed communications. For instance, in EDCI 338 we are using the platform Matter most to connect with our classmates and professor. We are able to send messages for the whole class to view or privately to individuals and have the ability to create group chats as well. I have not had this type of format in any of my classes before, and I think it is a great way to make the students feel more connected and engaged with the course and can have various students answer a question that one student may have before the teacher can get to it. I think with distance learning, everyone has seen how much social media can bridge the gap of education and support learning due to the pandemic. An added bonus of utilizing social media for educational purposes is that you are able to contact individuals after hours as well, which is where the platform Matter most really peaks in. As mentioned before, students can interact with students and answer each other’s questions, whereas the teacher may not be able to answer until the next day.
Community Communications Go Beyond Blogs and Social Media Shares, How Does A PLN Help and Hinder the Development of Thoughts and Ideas in Education Discourse?
A personal learning network is beneficial because it encourages students to communicate to their peers and teachers. Students are able to do this even if they are located in different parts of the world. They have the ability to discuss their ideas, thoughts, and questions. This has been evident due to the distance learning that we have been doing due to the pandemic. Although, on the other side of the spectrum, the downfalls that I have seen are that since some teachers are not very proficient in technology and it is difficult for them to adapt to this type of learning environment. This can lead to delayed communication between the student and teacher which can be frustrating for the student who is trying to excel in the course, whereas if there was face-to-face interaction the student could immediately ask their question and receive an answer. However, this is where the PLN can be beneficial, and you can contact your classmates to see if they potentially know the answer to your question.
How Does the Use of PLN Raise Awareness Opportunities in Education?
As Brad Baker mentioned, he used his PLN for the purpose of raising awareness for the indigenous communities. The use of a PLN can assist in spreading information and also gaining knowledge at the same time. Individuals can put anything out on social media and can expect some sort of immediate response. This is also relevant in online education because students can put their ideas and questions out and various individuals will interact with you and provide you with different answers and opinions. This can be a great way for students to get a grasp of what others thinking processes are and be able to broaden their views and ideas in the process.
What Is the Role of Social Media in Education?
As mentioned before, the role of social media in education is to provide students the ability to connect with others and learn from one another. Social media can be various people from all around the world with different backgrounds and opinions to create a meaningful discussion with one another. Social media can bridge the gap of face-to-face learning in the sense of communication and makes things more convenient to access like educational material.
What Are Some Problems with Social Media Communications in Education Settings?
A downfall with social media communication in the educational setting can be the overwhelming amount of information that is accessible to the student. This can result in incorrect information being presented to the student which can result in further confusion. Another downside can be that students may heavily rely on the internet or social media to aid in their learning processes rather than attempting to understand the concept themselves initially before turning to alternate resources.
References:
Miller, J. (2021). “EDCI 338 – BRAD BAKER.” YouTube, 04 Mar. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy63SmEpvCw.
Veletsianos, G. (2010). Emerging Technologies in Distance Education. AU Press. Ch.6. pp. 114-115, and 128–138
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