Who Needs to Know About My PLN? #11

This week’s reading truly spoke to strength in numbers and how, “ great ideas can come from anywhere and anyone” (Qualman, 2012). It spoke to how leading means empowering others to make change, as well as changing your thinking and having a “mind [that] is open to insight whenever it comes and [being] flexible enough to respond to it” (Qualman, 2012). Meaning that with every new technology or finding, a leader must be flexible and rethink/reshape their ways in order to be up to date, trustworthy and reputable. It also spoke to leaving this world better than it was when you entered it, with a quote by Bill Clinton (Qualman, 2012). 

The above statements made me reflect on our course and what we have been building. I began recognizing how I have learned so much from others in this course and it would not have been possible for me to have gained such great knowledge without my counterparts. Everyone in my university network has truly contributed to my knowledge, thus to my reputation and my well-roundedness. I also realized that during our final assignment, after tasks were delegated and each member felt empowered to create, our members offered expertise where I could not. Everyone had a role to play that was significant to the task and which enhanced our final product. One of our members was savvy in the use of TikTok, the other was excellent at making sure we were maintaining our goals and hitting out proposed due dates and the third was excellent at organizing meetings to ensure we had thoughtful conversations and dealt with any misconceptions. Left alone, I would not have been able to create a final product as efficiently and as flawlessly as we did. I am grateful for all the insight, experiences and abilities that my team brought to the table as they truly enhanced the experience and the product. 

Next, I began reflecting on having an open mind and changing my thinking  when necessary. We did this all the time while reading each others’ blogs, having Mattermost discussions and while creating our final assignment. I was constantly changing my blog posts, or adding to them once I read other perspectives or engaged in communications from someone who read my blog and pointed out new ideas. During our final project meetings, we were ever changing our thinking, sharing our new insights and moving ideas around in order to produce something that made the most sense. I know that I have listened to others, absorbed their ideas and changed my thinking before, however  I never understood the importance of this until this course. I never knew that these communications and these changes were truly broadening my scope and allowing me to be more inclusive and to generate more trustworthy and objective information. 

Not only did I reflect on changing my thinking, but I reflected on changing the technology and tools I use. Before this course I was hesitant about technology and social media, but now, I realize it is a way of life and a way to network. It is important for me to continue to grow and be flexible with what I use and how I network. Before I was afraid to get my “feet dirty” by potentially using a platform I could mess up on or posting something that could make me look foolish. However,  “we can’t expect to go through life without getting our feet a little dirty; digital or otherwise. In time we will acquire blemishes on our feet. However, as our feet continue to grow, the percentage of impurities in relation to the size of the foot decreases. The same holds true when it comes to our goal for our digital footprints” (Qualman, 2012). I have realized through this course that what I do now, how I post and engage today, is setting me up for my future. What I do today and tomorrow, if done in a positive and empowering way, will be what I am known for, not the little mistakes in my past or in my attempts.

This brings me to my reflection on how we should leave the world better than when we first entered it. Our networks allow us to do this. We can instill change by using our connections and I had done this in the past. However, what I never recognized was that my support (my network) truly started long before I needed them to help me. I began these networks before even thinking about making change or before needing help. I was helping others before they were helping me. I started by forming a community to share ideas with and to bond with over like-minded things. I never realized how much they would hold me up and look out for me and my endeavours as they have proved to. This was a huge reflection on how the world is good and how, TOGETHER, we have much more impact to make it better for those who come to be in it. It was a reflection on what is possible with the help from a community/network. 

Since taking this course, I will acknowledge that I was certainly not as well versed in privacy concerns/ protection as I thought I was. After taking the security quiz from one of our lessons, I went into my settings in my facebook and Instagram and tightened up a lot. I actually read the terms and conditions and thoughtfully and critically assessed why I was doing what I was and who I was allowing to see/share my content. I also decided to create two separate Instagram accounts; one for personal use for just myself and close family/friends, and a second for my professional account which I will allow access to through my school website and to students and parents. This way, I can connect to my learners’ and to their families and display my professionalism, without bombarding them with too much other information from my personal life. This acts as a way to keep me professional and as a way to share the amount of me that I am comfortable sharing in my professional life. 

All in all, this course has truly opened up my mind to what I have been doing online and to how I can use this network of diverse trusted people as a support system, as a community, as a way to empower others and as a way to make and spread change for the better for all. Moving forward I am excited to continue to expand my PLN and to seek new opportunities to learn. I am also ecstatic to share my knowledge with my children and with the learners I teach so that I can empower them to make change and to use these powerful platforms/tools and networks for good. To use these tools as a way to enhance their brains and to enhance the world around them. 

 I will finish off with a statement from a TedTalk where Miller speaks. Miller explains that, if we “reevaluate how we immerse in technology, not only for our kids but for us in our daily lives. If we rethink how we approach awareness of use we will raise a community of connected youth. This community will be made up of digital citizenship. One that will demonstrate an empathetic and positive use approach to communications online. And when we think about moving forward, the community will include leaders guided by versed educators” (Miller, 2014). In this course, I have reevaluated how I immerse in technology in my daily life. I have learned how to responsibly use technology in an empathetic and positive way. Therefore, it is my turn to teach these learnings to the people around me and to become a leader who is well versed so that we can grow together and realize that we all have so much experience and insight to offer this world. So that by building our brains and by working together, we can leave the world better than when we entered it, for everyone.

Citation:

Qualman, E. (2012). Empower Others. In Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success & Influence. McGraw-Hill.

Miller, J. (2014, November 10). “Reevaluate, Rethink, Release.” March, 31, 2021, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiGclrVXAws

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