As a student, my education environment always contributes to my learning. Since having the experience of performing my education online due to the pandemic, the same goes for my PLN. It is that there needs to be a supply of options provided in order for me to be successful with my learning.
In the article “Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning Chapter 9: Designing for Open and Social Learning Alec Couros and Katia Hilderbrandt agree that to know your PLN is successful is if there are “Providing Opthats that account for varying student comfort zones.” Enhanced by this concept, it is important for instructors to take into consideration the comfort of sharing content as a student. In order to provide that comfort, the option to provide “both public and private interactions” (158) is necessary, which will allow instructors to create an open PLN where students have the opportunity to develop their knowledge at their own pace.
Personally, I believe Instagram can provide this option of openness and comfort. Instgram provides the ability to create a private account, to which the users control who can follow their content; the option to direct message is available, again; the option of privateness; as well as the option to create a public account to those who feel comfortable of sharing to the public eye. It is Instagram that gives many opportunities for students to learn, and at their own pace and comfort.
Instagram can also fit into the professional network society. The important feature in doing so is creating an algorithm to advertise your content as professional. Couros and Hilderbrandt recommend the usage of a “Feed Aggregator” to filter content to your preferred audience. Instagram has this feature by giving the option to tag other users, use “hashtags” to find relatable content, and by following like-minded users so that new recommendations for you have the same content as you. This is extremely popular within the professionalism of business..
Like noted, a PLN environment is just as important as an in-person educational environment. By expanding your PLN to the content you prefer, you can use any social media platform as a resource for education, though my recommended platform would be Instagram.
Velestianos, G (2016) Emergence and Innovations in Digital Learning: Foundations and Applications Designing for Open and Social Learning AU Press, Athabasca University