As we explore our use of social networking and media for learning, I would like us to share how we have used social networking and media to support our personal and professional learning — in other words, the role of social networking and media in our personal and/or professional learning networks (abbreviated as PLN). For example, my youngest daughter Raeghan has used YouTube to teach herself several gymnastics skills that she then perfected with her teachers/coaches during face-to-face classes. She has done the same in support of her piano, voice, and tap dancing learning needs and interests. Although I don’t expect this level of detail, I want to share a significant way in which social networking and media have supported my learning.
In fall of 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. [Note: I’m fine, please don’t be concerned.] What I quickly discovered was in the in-person world, people don’t like talking about cancer…it is a very private matter. But, I needed to talk about it. Social networking was a critical part of my inquiry into what was happening to me. I was able to connect with social-networking groups devoted to breast cancer: treatment, surgical options, recovery, communicating with children, finding doctors, and so on. Without social networking (and the internet as a whole), I would have been lost. Social media sites such as YouTube also provided me with the video diaries of women facing breast cancer, and with videos of surgical procedures so I’d know what was involved. My surgeons also had workshop presentations available for me to view via YouTube. Finally, when I was ready to make my diagnosis and associated plans public, social networking made that possible for me to efficiently achieve. And, wow, was I glad I did. Suddenly I was receiving well-wishes from people that really lifted my spirits, and receiving stories about others’ cancer process. Going public via my social networks not only helped me with my process, but seemed to help friends and family with their own experiences of cancer — past and present.
At the same time I received my cancer diagnosis, a friend was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. When I went into the hospital for a bilateral mastectomy, my friend went into the hospital to continue with a series of treatments to try to slow the very aggressive cancer. During this time, although her family had medical insurance, they were facing quite a lot of expenses associated with the cancer and treatment. So, they turned to social networking, in particular a site called YouCaring. There are many sites like this one emerging, and it is a positive way to use social networking to help (although, I’m sure there are times when these sites are misused); it’s an example of how social networking can be effectively used for fundraising — on a grand scale, and on a local and more personal scale. After setting up their fundraiser on YouCaring, the family then used their other social networks (such as Facebook) to get the word out to family and friends. They raised over $25,000 to help with the costs.
Later that spring, my friend died. The funds raised helped her family focus on their grief instead of the medical bills. Social networking did this…and made it possible for her friends and family to help — to contribute and support — in a meaningful way.
This is just one example of how social networking and media has supported my learning, and been a critical aspect of my personal learning network — YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. all playing important roles in my breast cancer PLN because they connected me with people and information to support me on a new learning journey. What about you? How has social networking and media supported your personal and/or professional learning? How is social networking and media incorporated into your PLN, if it is?
I love the focus on PLNs, not only as professional networks, but also as personal networks. Even though I teach in a department of 11 people, I am the only one that teaches economics, this means I must depend on my PLN for content area information. I have flipped my AP classroom thanks to YouTube, and I have picked up countless activities, ideas, and articles/podcasts from the AP Facebook group that I belong to. I also follow a number of educators on Twitter. Again, the number of ideas that I have come up with because I have read something from one of their Tweets, are too many to count. I go to Twitter for more teaching strategies and Facebook for content, high school focuses, lesson ideas.
Your description so resonates for me. I can’t think of too many days that go by anymore that I do not access social networking or media to locate answers and garner ideas for my work. That would be an interesting experiment — go 1-5 days without accessing social networking or media, logging when you wanted to and what you did instead. 🙂
So far, the only digital social networking I am engaged in is on Facebook. I belong to two FB groups related to Instructional Design. I have posted a couple of opinion questions to one of the groups, most recently inquiring about pursuing a doctoral degree immediately after graduating from this program versus pursuing hands-on experience in a workplace before entering a doctorate program.
Digitally, and socially, I tend to be a private person. I actively choose to keep my personal digital presence to a minimum and well-hidden from the public. From an academic standpoint, my Imposter Syndrome is high because LDT is new enough to me I am apprehensive of putting myself “out there.”
Daryl, as I’ve shared in a few places in the course, your concerns are the concerns we all should have and part of what we are doing in this course is working on managing our professional digital footprint. So you are not required to post personal information to social networks. You are welcome to establish dummy accounts to test things out, as an alternative option. I certainly do not want anyone to do anything that puts their safety and security at risk — each person in the course is the best judge for themselves. Consider what makes sense for your professional goals. Given your context and professional goals, you will want to explore how to use social networking and media in ways that support your work. In our discipline it is important to have a well-managed digital footprint. Much of our professional networking and thought leadership happens in the online space. So during the course I’m asking everyone to consider what makes sense for each person given their professional goals. One of my roles is to support everyone as they work to achieve their desired level of professional online presence.
Thanks, Joni. I definitely see how networking is now and will continue to be important as I advance in my new career path. My intention, as we move forward in this course this semester and beyond, is to strictly limit Twitter and Instagram for networking in my new career field. I find myself less interested in Facebook for personal use based on personal reasons and am seriously considering removing all Friends from my account. However, I recognize I should continue using Facebook solely as another networking tool.
Daryl, I [probably sound like a broken record on here. 🙂 Something I have always found helpful is keeping my platform use well-defined. I use LinkedIn professionally; Twitter, Instragram, and Pinterest academically; and Facebook personally. And I do not allow myself to become over-reliant on any of them. I use them when need and interest arises, I do not check anything daily. When I do access any of them, it is with intent – I have a particular goal in mind. This has helped me never feel overwhelmed.
Sometimes, I look at my smartphone -even when it is off- and it amazed me how that little device has changed my life and the entire world!
I remember when I had to visit the library to access the information I needed to complete my homework. For me, researching and learning where activities reserved for schoolwork only. Now, I am learning all the time!
Most of my knowledge about the software I use, I have learned from the Internet, especially on YouTube. I also look for (and find) resources for designing the classes I teach on Pinterest and blogs I follow. They also help me to keep myself updated in my field. Thanks to Pinterest and YouTube, I have learned how to cook, how to apply makeup, how to anything! On sites like TripAdvisor, I can research where to travel and know insider tips on what are the best places to visit within a city, or what are the best restaurants. I even read the news on social media now!
Most of that learning occurs while I am “on the go” and in the palm of my hand! It never ceases to amaze me!
Zelma, I love the way you describe the “on the go” affordability of social networking and media, and the roles various platforms — such as Pinterest, YouTube, and TripAdvisor — have in your professional and personal lifelong learning…and general day-to-day activity. We have so much potential available to us via our phones, as you point out! One of the things we have to balance is taking advantage of that potential while mitigating issues associated with personal data privacy and security. And it is a balancing act, for sure. This is what we are exploring in this course — how to use social networking and media platforms to support our students’ learning and our own learning, while at the same time protecting our privacy and keeping our (and our students’) personal data secure.
It’s amazing to me how social networking and media have become such a large part of so many very different areas in my life. Professionally, I contribute daily social content for Twitter and LinkedIn certain weeks and use so many online resources and communities to find information from which I think our customers will benefit. For example, I participate in our Quest Oracle Community to find some of these resources, connect with others, and attend webinars. I’ve watched many YouTube videos to learn both business-related and personal things and even contribute to our company’s YouTube channel providing online tutorials for our software.
On a personal level, I use Facebook quite a bit to stay connected with family and friends. I have a large extended family in mostly Pennsylvania, so Facebook enables me to stay in touch with dozens of cousins and friends from my childhood. Sharing photos online has allowed us to see each other’s children grow up and keep in touch even though we are far apart. My son’s marching band used a private Facebook page to keep all the students and parents informed of events, post volunteer requests, and post photos and videos. That has helped tremendously while my son was in band the past four years. My daughter’s dance studio also uses Facebook to post certain events. FB has become a place where the dance parents can connect and share photos and information with each other.
I’ve also used FB to keep myself accountable for reaching a personal goal. I had a book of 50 small acrylic paintings and I had only done two in a year so I decided to start posting them on FB as I finished them. This provided a little more accountability because friends would comment on the paintings or ask how they were coming along. It sped up the process a bit and I was able to complete all 50 in about 18 months. It also led to some painting requests from friends and family.
That is just the tip of the iceberg. It really is amazing just how many diverse online resources and communities are available.
Diane, I really appreciate your use of social sharing/contributing as a way to stay on top of goals. It makes me think about exercise…when left to my own devices I rarely exercise, but if I’m part of a dance/exercise class or walking/hiking group I make it happen. It isn’t peer pressure or guilt, it is because it is simply more pleasurable to share an experience with others in community. I would love to see your paintings!
As I was coming to a decision as to whether I wanted to pursue my master’s, one of the avenues I used to gather further information about the field was listening to an assortment of related podcasts. I really enjoyed 5 Trainers in a Car, which has a great sense of community. I also enjoy Dear Instructional Designer, and found that one particularly useful in its focus on people new to the field. Listening to a variety of podcasts and hearing various personalities across different shows really made it feel like a neighborhood and network. Yes, I’ve learned some new terminology and been exposed to products, ideas, and organizations to explore further, and also I felt like it was a good way to pick up some of the culture of the industry.
I’ve used YouTube or just generic internet searches fairly frequently over the last couple of semesters when I realize that I need some hints on usage of a piece of software or how to further stretch the capabilities of a program I already know but suspect is capable of more than I’m immediately using it for. I am the makerspace coordinator at my library, but none of the staff at the library originally had extensive background to the equipment that was chosen for our space. Thus, I find myself using fora, bulletin boards, and further internet searches for troubleshooting when equipment malfunctions or a model doesn’t work.
As for my truly social networking, I joined Facebook mainly for the babies and puppies – I live far enough from many of my family members and classmates that it’s fun to keep in touch, even loosely, and watch their families grow and change. I’m a fairly bad correspondent, so reaching a larger group simultaneously, and being able to see news from others is a really nice means of maintaining contact.
Katharine, I wanted to provide links to the resources you mention in case folks want to check them out:
http://5trainersinacar.thebackstoryproject.com/
https://www.dearinstructionaldesigner.com/
Podcasting is one of my newer resources for professional learning. I appreciate how I can listen to them on lightrail or when I’m walking. Podcasts are a great source. Are there other podcasts folks listen to? Please share! 🙂
My teenage daughters use YouTube all of the time – to learn a song, dance, game strategy. They also use it for homework. YouTube is definitely my go-to for professional learning. And TeacherTube is a good resource too.
I echo the thoughts of others replying and I think a grand majority of people have found a niche that they are able to communicate with via social media. For me, I was part of a group called Colorado 14ers and people would post and comment about hikes they had done, want to do, or failed trying to summit. Having this group was so helpful for me to know what to expect on each climb and even made friends along the way the I would meet at trailhead. Funny enough, I got along well with another girl in that group and we became roommates.
I also wanted to add that having the use of a shared google drive with my coworkers in our lesson planning is HUGE. My first year of teaching was a success in large part to being able to access so many materials from current and past teachers and add my own spin on it. Never had to recreate the wheel, but just add my flair to it.
I love it! What a great way to use Google Drive!
Alyssa, thank you for sharing this I will check it out. This is an example of another valuable aspect of social networking and media – connecting with communities of people with similar goals and interests. These communities serve as a resource for professional learning, brainstorming, problem-solving/troubleshooting, etc. And the networking aspect is incredibly valuable. One side note – folks, including myself, have leveraged online social networks for employment opportunities; so often these days it is who you know, and positions are filled because of online connections. This is what the PROJECT Networked Learning Space project is all about!
In using social media I have had two things happen, one is the increase in activities and events that I go to. The second is the support that I find.
I am a third year teacher, and during my first year I did not have the support needed to become a successful teacher. I used social media as a way to reach out to other teachers to find what to do to make my practice succeed.
on the personal side, when I was a junior in high school, I stated to lose my hair to an autoimmune disease( alopecia areata). Because I was still a teenager, the impact was hard, but using Facebook, I was able to show my family and friends, how I changed, without having to face them face to face, with the fear that they would judge my appearance.
This is just two ways that social media has effected my life, but the outcomes in these instances where very positive.
Alex, I so appreciate both of these examples. Your experience in high school really spoke to me. The people in our lives want to connect and be supportive when challenging events happen to us, but they often don’t know how and/or don’t want to make us uncomfortable or sad. Social networking and media, as you’ve described, allows us to share as much as we want to share and provide guidance to our friends and family in terms of interacting with us about the challenging events. So very helpful, and the support we receive as a result is better aligned with what we need because we had more control over the dissemination of information.
I have embraced Linkedin as a means of connecting with new professional resources, or maintaining contact with existing ones as we fan out across the country. While it’s primarily a way to seek or provide employment, the social posting aspect has evolved into a “peek behind the curtain” into people’s personal experiences and perspectives as they (mostly) pertain to work. I’ve seen shared posts from desperate people who have applied for hundreds of positions with no result. While perhaps born of frustration or despair, I often find HR professionals taking time to counsel & advise these folks. It has advanced my knowledge of how hiring managers think, and caused me to look at what job-seeking strategies I use that are inefficient or counterproductive. To the extend that I have shared frustrations with the other members of my extended network, it is also reassuring to know I am not the only one dealing with a back-stabbing co-worker, a client who is immune to good advice, or a supervisor who exemplifies the Peter Principle.
I too have found practitioners/professionals sharing their expertise in LinkedIn and Twitter. Another platform I like is Quora. My husband who is a professor of computer science will jump onto Quora and answer questions regarding software development, programming, and computer science education. And often he isn’t the only one – so the original poster receives responses from several experts. Pretty great!
On LinkedIn, I like this group for this reason — Designers for Learning (LinkedIn) https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8469014/ Do others have LinkedIn groups to recommend?
The majority of my PLN comes in the form of YouTube videos. I use these videos for just about everything. When I was teaching, I would watch how-to videos on using Google suite products so that I could better teach my students. For one of my classes last semester, I watched a lot of videos on how to use Filmora, green screen set-up, etc. This summer, I used YouTube to watch how-to videos on how to answer difficult interview questions.
While I was traveling, I used Trip Advisor quite a bit to see what people had to say about different places/activities.
As Daryl mentioned, I am also pretty private with my social media presence. I don’t use Twitter, Pinterest, or Flickr at all. I hardly use Instagram or Facebook. I think partially it’s because I want privacy from students. Early on in my teaching, students found my music page and it caused a big distraction in the classroom. Now, I use a different last name for my music gigs as a way of protecting my ID.
The other reason I am hesitant about social media is all the current events that surround them. Twitter continues to allow hate speech despite how dangerous it can be (and has been). Facebook acknowledged that it was targeting children in order to get them to use their parent’s credit cards to make purchases. Facebook also willingly participated in the spreading of targeted ads that spread misinformation and hate filled messages. I have a hard time supporting these platforms because of events like these. Google is guilty as well, but it’s so huge that it’s impossible to get away from.
I know that there are many ways that social media benefits people. I try to focus on those areas exclusively. But I will always be cautious about them!
Nicholas, this is exactly the approach that is needed I believe. Know your goals. Then select the social networking/media platforms that best help you achieve your goals, while mitigating issues associated with privacy and security. Diligence and vigilance are needed, for sure. I really like that you shared the need to keep professional and personal lives separate, especially for educators. Your solution to set up accounts with an alternative name/ID is great. I do this as well, and it really helps.
While I absolutely understand the value of social media for networking, I have not found a good place for it in my personal or professional life.
Like Daryl described earlier in this thread, I am a very private person by nature. That translates into a hesitancy to post publicly and a desire to keep any digital presence as hidden as possible.
I’ve also found a direct link between social media use and my anxiety levels. Cutting social media from my typical online routine has helped my mental health significantly. While I recognize there is a loss of possible knowledge and connections that comes from abstaining, I also think this is the correct choice for my personal well-being at this point in my life.
That said, I do find it interesting to hear how people have utilized social media as a learning tool and what they’re using it for. Maybe in the future when I’m no longer struggling as much with anxiety I can start leveraging social media for personal and professional growth.
Laura Rose, your approach is perfect. You know what works and doesn’t work for you, and you approach your social networking/media use accordingly. I hope this course provides a space for exploring how these platforms may be used to best support your goals and interests. It make be that you determine to really narrow your use, you are – each person – is the best judge of what makes sense for them. Thank you for sharing about the anxiety it can cause. I agree, and therefore I limit my use, and do not allow myself to get overwhelmed. It has taken time for me to get to this place, but it has made a difference for me. I only log in when I have a specific purpose/goal.
This may sound counter-intuitive but I have been amazed at how social networking has brought my family closer together, both immediate and extended family. I realize that many people over-use their devices, especially smartphones, and that this has caused them to feel disconnected from each other. However, rather than distance, Facebook (for example) has brought me a higher degree of closeness with family members. As they post photos and video clips (even cat videos!), as well as quick one-liners of experiences – good and bad – I get to participate in their daily lives and then can respond with comments and encouragements. The plethora of GIFs, emojis, etc. have brought humor and joy into the ordinary moments of life. I admit I almost never use my phone for actual calls; I just don’t like talking on the phone. With FB Messaging, I can communicate more with less, and can have a dozen contacts a day with my family members rather than one or two calls a week. For example, during the planning stages of my daughter’s wedding, we started a Messaging group that included our soon-to-be son-in-law. This was a great way to get to know each other, as well as for quick group decisions about wedding plans that made the process much easier. Now that they have been married a year, we still have our four-some Messaging group. It is how we can all share the highs, the low, the odds and ends, of our days with each other. This has been the opposite of disconnecting, and has rather been a fun and bonding experience.
I am replying to my own post because I realized later that I had not really answered the question about PLN, or professional/personal “learning” as compared to online relationship. As far as learning goes, I am a vicarious social networker. This means that when I am seeking information, I seek out the online community that has already done the deep digging for accurate and useable data or instruction. I do not necessarily join the group or post to the website; I simply take advantage of eResearch that has already been done by its members. This can be anything from a tartar sauce recipe using sweet relish instead of dill, to seeking current archaeological finds for one of our seminary’s biblical history courses. While I might begin with “Googling it” or Wikipedia, I am learning some digital literacy in that I use these as starting points to discover more verifiable sources at social networks with expert members. One example relates to my work in the LDTE program at CU Denver. I have sought out the Techsmith User Forum over a dozen times for how-to’s and tutorials on learning to use Camtasia. Camtasia is an excellent program with lots of features but has a high learning curve (for me) and is not without its glitches. Why struggle for hours when I can go to their online community where my questions have already been asked and answered? And these are not just technical FAQ sites, these are actual social networks, where members communicate with familiarity…even friendship. This is one of my Camtasia PLN’s: https://feedback.techsmith.com/techsmith/topics/welcome_techsmith_user_forum_visitors. (Side note: I’m not sure why this blog is time-stamping my posts as 6 hours ahead of my MT time zone?)
Jacki, first regarding the time stamp. I went into settings and reset the clock. Let’s see if that helps. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the Camtasia example! This reminds me to again make sure people are tracking that we all have access to Camtasia now — through university licensing!
Your use of social networking/media for both professional and personal learning mirrors my own. My 13-year old daughter just looked up a recipe for a teriyaki-inspired salad dressing, looked at a couple of recipes, then made her own version. 🙂
This is me too, Jacki! I have never liked talking over the phone, so messaging has really improved my communication levels with friends and family. For example you all getting to know each other during the wedding planning.
One thing your comment has me thinking about are my daughters. They are both on their phones all of the time. They are in constant communication with each other and their friends in Colorado and California. Just the other night I heard all of these voices from my 13-year old’s room. I stepped in and asked who she was conversing with. She showed me she was on her phone, video conferencing with several people from her class. They were talking about books in common, music, being vegetarians (or not), and so on. It was animated and lively! I have seen both of my daughters do this frequently, mostly when playing online video games – they are connected with their friends and they are collaborating on strategy and offering each other support. So I suppose it seems like a lot of device time, but I really love how connected and collaborative their use of that time is.
In my personal life, social media has done more harm than good. Currently I mainly use social media as a way to keep in touch with family and good friends. I am naturally a private person, but even more so with social media. I am interested in using social media professionally and do have a few LDT Pinterest boards. Like Laura, however, social media causes me alot of anxiety and it is difficult to overcome that internal barrier of anxiety and self-preservation to start using it professionally.
For my PLN, I use Pinterest and YouTubet. Pinterest feels “safe” as there is no interaction between people and YouTube is my how-to video go-to platform. It has helped in all my lifestyle adulting from replacing light fixtures, using distressing ink and removing melted on crayon from t-shirts. I also YouTube for entertainment, but again I do not interact. Yet. Maybe…
One of my current professional goals is to start a social media presence for my department at work. I am hiring a student “social media expert” to build the accounts, link them and also promote them. I think this will not only help in recruiting for our programs, but also foster student engagement and community.
Christy, I do agree that having an organization social media presence can be helpful. Just as it can be helpful for professionals to have a social media presence. I completely understand the anxiety side of usage. I hope that during this course there are opportunities to check a few things out to see if there is a social media presence you might adopt for yourself that makes sense for you and does not cause more trouble (or anxiety) than the benefits.
I am actually very excited for this class. For me, learning about social media creates a safe place to explore it and how I want to use it.
My social networking has been limited over the years. Initially, I was very active on Facebook but then my young students kept friending me and asking me why I hadn’t accepted their request. It was easier to stop viewing my page, then I had an excuse. As my own children have grown up and begin to move out of the house, I am finding the need to reconnect again. I have also used Facebook to get information out to my friends on a large scale, such as when my daughter’s high school was putting on a musical. I was able to market the show very easily.
I use YouTube to figure out how to do things that I have never done before (ie: changing my tire). I also use it in my teaching to help me find new ways to teach different math concepts to my students when the traditional method is not catching. I also will pull up the audio to a book that I am using as a read aloud and play it for my students. There are so many more creative readings of many YA novels on YouTube. My students love it and it allows me to work with individual students while the class listens to the novel.
I use Pinterest to find anchor charts and other materials to help improve my academic presentations to my students.
What about you? I am a huge proponent of social networking and the impact it has had on me as a professional educator. I’ve used many different platforms… I used to be a heavy user of Facebook have pretty much grown tired of it and it just became a time sucker for me. Same with Instagram, I use it but very sparingly. I’m less into the social side of social media and more into the “how can social media grow me as a professional?” side instead. I am a huge Twitter user and send and receive Tweets on pretty much a daily basis. I have a couple thousand followers and I follow about that many people of which 99% are in the field of education. Meaning, pretty much everything that comes through my feed is about teaching and learning and leadership of schools. I have also met some incredible people via Twitter, this has been such a blessing to me personal as well as to me professionally.
Twitter has not doubt dramatically impacted me as a professional educator and leaders!
I receive constant compliments about my library bulletin boards, its all Pinterest. I confess, my use of social media has been looking for creative library ideas, bulletin boards, book displays, book fair decorations. I have not been using social media to its fullest potential. I do belong to several professional groups on Facebook where I can ask questions regarding library programs. I have set up an Instagram for my school library but haven’t posted for months (years?) But when I did it was student book reviews, I would tag the authors.
Regarding privacy on Facebook, I dropped my married name on my personal Facebook and created a new profile with my married (professional) name. While this caused quite a ruckus with friends and family inquiring on my marital status, it has eliminated the friend requests from parents and students on my personal account. My professional Facebook account has less activity, I also use this account to post on our school Facebook page.
Personally, I used Facebook to garner advice and volunteers when starting an ovarian cancer nonprofit. Many of my friends had either started a 501(c)3 or had legal/organizational advice to share. I used Facebook to promote events, raise funds, and recruit volunteers.
I have not explored Linkedin, I’d be interested to hear the benefits of adding this platform to my social media accounts.