Above is my personal V&R map. Here you can see that I use youtube more as an Insititunal resource; I visit to better understand a topic. I also have Instagram, messenger and phone calls in personal and institutional because I have my own personal Instagram accountant, and I also run a school club account. While messengers and phone calls are both personal and institutional as my co-workers at my current co-op, and past jobs and volunteer have also reached me through those apps. I also utilize canvas to make posts for both these Instagram accounts.

 What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?

 

Students have taken advantage of the use of social media to develop and expand their professional networks. Students can engage on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, blogs, and online forums. I personally do not have Twitter or use Facebook only Facebook messenger to connect with my peers. As the majority of my peers and my co-workers connect through Instagram, Facebook messenger and Linkedin.

Linkedin is my opinion, is the best platform for students to develop their PLN. It is set up so people can share and connect with other professionals. Here we can connect with our peers the faculty members, obtain information on job vacancies and even prep ourselves for interviews but look at the LinkedIn account. Furthermore, LinkedIn gives students the platform to showcase their talent, interests, their skills, and employers could contact you directly if you have the skills and experience they are looking for.

Instagram is very popular and is mostly used for personal reasons; however, many people have taken advantage of this platform and used it to grow their PLN. Creating a business/professional account where people advertise their company, small business, create an account to spread awareness, and so much more. Also, a unique aspect of Instagram is “influentials” when people have many followers, and they are sponsored to advertise for a company. When growing your platform, people can follow each other and even message each other growing their network and creating partnerships with people. A personal example is I was connected by this company to post pictures of their watch to expand their demographic. Another example is that I have my own personal Instagram account. I also run the school club I am a part of the account. This includes creating Instagram stories to engage the students and creating online events.

What can you (as a student) consider to expand your professional learning network?

 

I have given a lot about ways to expand my professional learning network. I want to be more active on LinkedIn because all my information is updated, and I continue to update it when needed, but I barely post, like or comment. And doing that is inhibiting me from growing my network; that is something I would want to work on. I was also thinking of growing my PLN network by creating a professional Instagram to share content, but as of right now, I am still exploring ideas of what I want to share. But by doing this, I would be able to expand my PLN network in a completely new way and share this on my LinkedIn and connect with users who want to learn about that content.

 

 In your network, how can you create a digital identity/reputation?

Your digital identity and reputation is everything you share online; post, sharing comments, likes, etc. In my Network, I can create my digital identity by doing all that I can comment and liking on people’s posts; I can also reshare their posts on my feed by doing this, I can create an identity of what I care about and what I want to spread awareness of. Furthermore, I can connect and message people, which I have done a few times on Linkedin; this has allowed me to share thoughts and create a dynamic conversation. But what needs to be considered is being respectful and making sure that you are wording your comment appropriately. As you do not want to write a comment and be offended or hurt by it because they do not understand what you meant, that changes the way people see you online. As everything you do online will reflect on who you are. The way I use LinkedIn, and my personal Instagram account is LinkedIn is a public account. Anyone can find me and look at what I wrote about my skills and experiences. At the same time, my Instagram is private only friends and family can see what I posted, which is usually just family pictures and highlights from my life.

 

Consider what a local employer would do if you applied for a job with them – can they search the content, is it of benefit to the career path, does it hinder the opportunity for employment

I know many employers take the time to look for potential employees online, via a google search engine or social media platforms. I know I am always ensuring what I am sharing on any platform is appropriate, respectful and kind. As I am active on social media platforms and have a digital footprint, potential employers can find information about me. When someone searches online for information about me, they will find my LinkedIn account, and the first thing is that I am a research assistant for Fraser health. They would find this blog, a few projects from high school, my published post for a club at uvic, and finally about my field-hockey team in highschool. This would benefit my career path because they would find more information about my educational, professional, and extracurricular activities when searching for me. And I have been contacting LinkedIn by local employers to join their company, as they liked what they have seen about me on my online platforms.

 

 

 

References

Wikipedia contributors. “Digital Visitor and Resident.” Wikipedia, 31 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visitor_and_Resident