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 PLN can benefit the development of thoughts and ideas in education discourse through encouraging openness to diverse perspectives, affording the opportunity for learner to continue their learning beyond the classroom content, and offering space for constructive feedback. Whereas it may hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in education discourse through overwhelming students with the abyss that is knowledge on the internet, spreading misinformation like wildfire, and through potentially propagating low quality content.

How do educators create discourse?

Educators create discourse through engaging with their learners in ares such as classroom discussions, and in engaging with their peers in areas such as teacher oriented personal learning networks.

What is the role of social media in education?

One way that social media can be used in education is to afford learners the opportunity to go beyond the classroom, through connecting with peers in the metaverse who may offer more diverse perspectives and differing avenues of knowledge to peruse.

What are some problems with social media communications in educational settings?

One large issue with social media communications in educational settings is that true social media can never be fully filtered, which creates space for a negative classroom culture, which affects everyone, i.e., one rotten egg (or comment online) can reek throughout the entire environment. One way to combat this issue is through employing highly monitored and filtered social platforms where learners are only allowed to engage with their classroom peers, however, this limits their ability to form a proper PLN.

Which social media platforms are beneficial in education?

I would argue that all social media platforms can be beneficial in education settings because it all depends on how they are employed. Many platforms are more universally fruitful, such as using Facebook to create private learning groups (for project work, study sessions, etc.), while others are slightly more nuanced in their ability to support learning, but even a platform such as LinkedIn can be beneficial when used correctly, such as offering business students a space to learn from observing the online behaviours of master businessmen. It’s all in the application.

When working with the vulnerable sector, how does social media fit into professionalism and regulations?

Professionalism and regulations are always important considerations, however, they gain even more weight when applied to social media use for a vulnerable sector. Practices such as privacy and confidentiality, informed consent, filtered content, and cybersecurity should be heavily enforced when maintaining space for those who are more vulnerable. These efforts ensure that vulnerable populations are afforded the same opportunities to build PLNs as any other member of the public.