Sept 20th 2023

Hello everyone! My name is Jesse and welcome to my EDCI 338 Blog! I am currently in my 5th and final year in the Marine Biology program at UVic and am excited to be a part of this class first semester! I chose to take this class as throughout my past co-op term one of my main tasks was using social media to promote events for Ocean Week Victoria. I thought that this course would be a great way to continue learning the best ways to use online tools for educational contexts and continue to help me grow my understanding of our digital footprint. On the topic of online networks, feel free to add me on LinkedIn (Jesse Dool)!

Image representing our personal learning network and demonstrating our connection to others.

After going over the readings for the first week I came to better understand what our PLN is. Our personal learning networks allow us to connect to people, collaborate, and learn from each other, expanding our professional and social network. From a marine biologist in training point of view, the online world is a great way to stay connected to the new research being conducted everyday and share valuable information with each other to further research.  

  1. What does it mean to network using social media?

Technology has definitely changed the way we share information and connect with each other. Social media has become a huge part of this connection as our society continues to become more digitized. The readings talk about the new ways we seek out, access, and store information continues to expand. From video sharing sites to collaborative online spaces, the online world has become a huge part of our everyday lives. When just looking at social media, we can quickly look up someone using their first and last name. We can make connections with employers and see what our friends are up to. Personally as a huge user of social media, I find it as a great way to stay connected with my friends!! Overall, I believe that to network using social media is to create networks that support our professional development and stay connected as a society. 

  1. How are we motivated to participate in networked publics?

Thinking about all of the different online spaces I use… there is a lot! From various social media accounts, to LinkedIn, to Google drive programs for work, mattermost, slack, and more, to participate in networked spaces is not just a motivation, it is needed to stay connected. Reflecting on the readings from the week, the main theme I found between them was the opportunity for online networked publics to connect us to future job opportunities. Like LinkedIn for example- this is a great online networked space where employers can find out about your past job experiences and skills. It also allows us to look up various organizations and companies, view who has worked there in the past, opinions about the company, and view job openings. Networked publics allow us to build connections, maintain connections, and activate new connections. 

  1. What are the risks & rewards of public communications?

Online networked spaces are a great way to connect with new employers and collaborate with different organizations/ companies. Although, we have to always continue to be aware of what we post on our social networked spaces. As mentioned in the readings, online machines can take information from our social spaces and send us targeted ads, job postings, possible social media connections, and more. The possibility of our data being misused and the non-existence of privacy continues to grow. We are continuously subject to advertising and personalization based on what we post and who we connect with. Reflecting on past summer camp job experiences, the one thing we had to do was use a different name at camp to keep our identity and social networked accounts private. As someone who also plans on graduating this year and starting a professional career, I have become more and more aware of what I post on my social media and what employers can view when my name is looked up on the internet. 

Overall, networked spaces allow us to stay connected with each other, expand our learning networks, and make professional connections with employers. Although we must increasingly be aware of our digital footprint, and what we post on our social networks, to help protect our privacy.