Shaafi's EDCI338 Website

1. Examine the application of social media to support learning
   Social media is a major part of our day to day life and there’s no point of keeping it away from educational purposes. Our major project for this course was to research and write about a social media platform. Not only did I learn about the insider knowledge of Snapchat, the social media platform my group and I worked on, but I also came to learn more about other social media platforms that could potentially support my learning.
   
   For example, Xiaofeng’s group researched about LinkedIn where I read “LinkedIn does a good job of being inclusive as a job search social media.” I had never used LinkedIn before, however after reading up on their research, I decided to try it out myself and created an account. I was able to search for jobs and even internships where I could potentially apply to for my co-op semester this summer. Each social media platform has its own unique selling points and I believe there are educational purposes in each one of them.
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2. Explain personalized learning and its relation to learning theory
   The term personalized learning refers to a diverse variety of educational programs and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs of individual students. Learning theory describes how students receive, process, and retain knowledge during learning. I believe that technology, as an educational tool, has reformed the traditional learning theories to offer a more personalized learning style for some individuals.
   
   According to a literature review written by Atikah Shemshack and Jonathan Michael Spector, technology integration can play a crucial role to personalize the learning experience. The review talks about how “learning is a natural human activity that is shaped by personal experiences, opinions online, cultural background, and environment. Learning is formed through an individual’s interactions, including the conveyance of knowledge and skills from others on the internet.” To me, learning is a more of a personalized experience than a theory framework that allows one to expand their knowledge, perspective, skills, and understanding. Therefore, personalized learning models can help to meet individual needs and goals.
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3. Recognize that the Internet is not a neutral or equal space for everyone
   In the beginning, the Internet was supposed to be the great equalizer. A source of learning that would allow students in the poorest and most remote areas to have access to the same information that the most privileged children enjoyed. A way for small merchants to sell their goods to vast global markets. It was supposed to be a place to bring people together; people who never knew each other before. However, the internet kept growing with insecurities. Everything on the internet requires a policy to help maintain a civil online world.
   
   While writing about Snapchat for our major project, I had to read through their private policies. We, as a user, usually overlook company policies because all we want to do is use the application for their separate purposes: Instagram to post pictures, Messenger to chat with friends, Tinder to find a relationship. Little did we know how much these companies know about us without us knowing. As written in our research, Snapchat had a recent privacy policy update where they collect log information such as details about how you’ve used their services, device information such as your web browser access times, pages viewed, IP address and pages you visited before or after navigating to our website. Sam Sheffer, a tech influencer, tweeted about this policy and freaked out as many would.
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4. Apply social media to develop a personal learning network in support of your personal and/or professional development
   Social media is a great way to build a PLN as it allows us to connect and share with other colleagues, friends and family. One of the main reasons I use different social medias is to build a well-rounded PLN that would benefit my personal and professional life. Different platforms allow us to connect with different people. For example, as I’ve elaborated on my own blog post, my high school friends are on Instagram, my family members are on Facebook and my colleagues/employers are on LinkedIn. Each platform is useful for their distinct purposes.
   
   I had once created a facebook account for an HR company and requested to join a handful of HR groups. There was an HR Professionals group where we, the HR company I worked for, did business with other professionals. This proves that social media is a great way to create new networks with new people for personal and professional development.
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5. Identify privacy issues and practice online behaviours that are legal, safe, consensual, and ethical
   Social media users’ concerns about their privacy have spiked in recent years. Incidents of data breaches have alarmed many users and forced them to rethink their relationships to social media and the security of their personal information. Yet, we continue to use these social medias on a daily basis to stay in touch with current friends and family members, keep up with world news or even just to stay entertained.
   
   Every major project group talked about how our information could potentially be used against us. Leo’s group talked about how Discord can read your private messages and delete specific content with no prior notice or without reason. Discord tracks users even if a user uses the Do Not Track (DNT) header. They can sell or transfer your personal data as part of a bankruptcy proceeding or other type of financial transaction. This is why we need to look out for our digital footprint and make sure to act wisely and ethically. Leo’s group ended that paragraph saying, “overall, by using Discord you relinquish your right to privacy regarding anything you say or do when using the service.”
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6. Recognize data ownership and licensing (Creative Commons, Copyright, Fair Dealing, and Public Domain) as a core practice when creating, sharing, or using resources online
   Copyright protects all original works, provided the conditions in the Copyright Act have been met. Through copyright, authors have the right to prevent others from reproducing their work or copying any substantial portion of it. This leads to the prevention of their work being copied to the degree where they cannot sell it effectively or receive credit for it. In this way, I believe that copyright is beneficial as it fosters intellectual creativity as it provides an incentive for a creator to work freely, allowing them to gain recognition for their work as well as protecting their livelihood.
   
   Mary’s group project on Youtube described how Youtube deals with copyright infringements. When a creator is caught violating the rule, an algorithm runs to prevent the spread of the misinformation about largely discussed topics such as harmful conspiracy theories, hate speech, and recently incorrect medical information about COVID. Furthermore, they will receive a copyright strike and the video will be demonetised. Once a creator receives 3 copyright strikes, their Youtube channel will be terminated. This can be a big deal for some creators as they rely on youtube as their source of income. Therefore, serious Youtubers refrain from copying other creator’s content as it could negatively impact their personal lives.
   
   I believe that copyright is a great system that indirectly forces intellectual and creative freedom, especially for social media content creators. If someone comes up with an original idea that works well, they will be rewarded through various means such as popularity, monetary and respect. The only constraint is that that the user must be aware of these copyright regulations before they create, share, or use resources online.
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7. Practice digital, networked, and open literacies in support of learning about social media and personalized learning
   Github provides a great platform for version control and collaboration. I have known about Github for many years, however this course was the first time I properly got to know how to use it. Professor Colin had initially created and invited everyone to a repository where we posted issues to introduce ourselves. This was the first time I had worked with Github and I thought I would break something. As I learned more about the various features of the platform, I grew curious about the other capabilities of Github.
   
   At one point in the course, we were asked to make our own repositories where our learning pod collaborated on the major project. We were able to work on it together, simultaneously, without compromising the integrity of the original project. It was as simple as creating a group on Github like it was creating a group in any other social media. I was afraid that I could potentially delete the entire project with one misclick, however I came to realize there was a history section where I could see the past versions of our project. Github is one of the many platforms that allow a wide range of services which supports learning through personalised learning. As a computer science student, I’ve been told Github will be a crucial social networking site that I will be using on a daily basis and I look forward to it!
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I’d like to thank Colin and all my peers for a wonderful semester. This course has not only been educational but also fun at the same time. I’ve gained a more vast idea about social media and learned some new skills along the way. I first encountered and started using Github four months ago, when the semester started. I was initially scared to use Github, thinking I would break something while learning how to use Github but luckily I didn’t. Now that I’ve got more comfortable using it in this course, I’d say I’m confident enough to explore the platform even more. Shoutout to Colin for the support when I was totally lost and confused on Github. Amazing course!

Wow

Chapter 6: Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning of Emerging Technologies in Distance Education highlighted some of the key processes that lead to the development and facilitation of a new born course: EC&I 831. As previously stated on one of my other blogs, the use of PLN is limitless. Using emerging technology to build a strong personal learning network was the key to success of this course for its students. A quote regarding the success of the course comes from Jennifer, who wrote, “The best part of this course is that it’s not ending. With the connections we’ve built, it never has to end.”

Wonder

It’s amazing to build connections and relationships that can last a lifetime. However, is there really a limit to building connections? If not, can it be harmful to have too many connections? These are a few questions that I’ve never paid attention to and am curious to see what people have to say about it. Leave a comment if you have some input on any of these questions.

Self-reflection

I’m looking forward to research and find out if there are any cons to a PLN as I’ve only known and researched about it’s benefits and advantages. I will also be looking out for any comments to see the interesting ideas and perspectives that this idea can bring to the table.

Wow

#tresdancing was such an interesting video. In short, the video is about a girl who fails her math exam which means she has to repeat the year. She asks her teacher if she can do anything to pass the class and the teacher replies saying she has to follow instructions very carefully. She gives the girl some technological glasses to wear which prompts her with math questions every now and then. The teacher explains that if she reaches level 20, then the girl will pass the year; and the girl accepts.

In my opinion, the glasses is recording everything she sees. It is like a human moving surveillance camera. In all aspects of life, personal information is collected and analysed by organisations that produce various outcomes—surveillance is not simply good or bad, helpful or harmful, but it is never neutral.

Wonder

I wonder what organisations like the one shown in the video do with all the recordings and information gathered. They could possibly eliminate crime. For example, when the girl sees a person “committing an illegal action”, she is asked to report it to the police by a blink of an eye. What if one day the organisation decides that the user’s decision does not matter and directly reports the action to the police. They would just be taking advantage of us by providing minimal to no benefits. This raises many security questions such as what are these organisations doing with all this information. Are we being taken advantage of? Are they doing all this for a good cause? Are they going to be truthful and open about their purpose with the information? Is surveillance always a good thing?

Self-reflection

I feel like surveillance today is trustworthy and advantageous. However, if we wear glasses that records everything we are doing in the future, we are going to lose privacy. Is privacy more important than being safe? Where is the balance between having good security from surveillances and having one’s personal privacy?

Wow

The article, It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda, brings up the interesting idea of Ampliganda. It is the result of a system in which trust has been reallocated from authority figures and legacy media to charismatic individuals adept at appealing to the aspects of personal or ideological identity that their audiences hold most dear. The public is able to speak their minds with a good possibility of it spreading over the internet. It is scary how the social media algorithm works to identify popular content, true or not, and surface it to users. The internet is a giant web of interconnected users, each with an agenda, shouting at one another to pay attention.

Wonder

I wonder what consequences could surface due to an individual’s content, whether it be a Twitter post or YouTube video. Are these algorithms causing more mayhem than educating one another? How do these algorithms work? How is content considered popular?

Self-reflection

I personally feel like these internet algorithms have a long way to develop. I’ve briefly read about YouTube’s algorithm and have seen different responses regarding the algorithms’ advantages and flaws. Most YouTubers disagree with YouTube’s algorithms as it only favours channels with videos about recent trends and advertiser-friendly content which is biased. I’m interested to see how the YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the other social media’s algorithm turn out in the future.

Wow

First of all, Shelley Moore’s idea about Transforming Inclusive Education is breathtaking and eye-opening. I totally agree and support her advocate for inclusive education and how she seeks to reform Individualized Education Programs to better suit the needs of individual students. Her bowling analogy was really effective as well. When an idea is introduced using an analogy, it makes it much easier for the viewer to understand and interpret what is being said. Her idea to target and teach each and every learner no matter their ability or disability is a topic that should be talked about more, especially within universities or learning institutions. Not only is she advocating for a great cause, but she’s also trying to advocate it through different mediums which is interesting. She tries to capture and educate all groups of audiences. Some people read about this idea through the book that she wrote and some people might have come across her idea on a youtube video. This idea to spread knowledge to different groups of people could be effective in terms of reaching more people which is great for movements like this.

Wonder

I wonder if there’s a research out there that proves that this is a valid and reasonable way to publicise information. Whether this is a better way, numerically, to spread advocacy about a certain topic. I’d love to see the percentage of people that have been reached per media and compare whether publishing a book made a significant reach to audience members in this technological world today.

Self-reflection

Shelley Moore’s idea was impressive to me to the point where I had binge watched some of her content on youtube. It was also interesting how she had advocated about what she learnt through different mediums. At the end of the day, I hope she succeeds to make an impact on the majority of learning institutions around the the world to bring uniformity.

Wow

The Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement was a wonderful read. I learnt a few interesting concepts; the concept of a visitor and a resident. Visitors and Residents is a simple way of describing a wide range, or continuum of, modes of online engagement. It has proved to be a useful way to come to an understanding of individuals’ motivations when they use the web in differing contexts. For example, if I had to order my medication online, I’m publicly letting the web know of my health status which is private information. We are not proposing that one mode of engagement is better than the other, simply that different modes are employed depending on the individual’s motivation and context at the time.

Wonder

There was one thought that stood out to me. Visitor mode is where individuals do not leave any social trace online and Resident mode is about social presence. Is there possibly a mode where we are ‘off the grid’ where we are neither visiting or resident, just simply not there? I would be interested to look into that idea. Another far fetched thought I had was, do these same principles take place on the new and improved Web 3.0? Will we ever be allowed to surf the internet without leaving a digital trace?

Self-reflection

It’s interesting that we are sometimes ready to provide our digital information right away in some cases and hesitant in other cases. These decisions are purely based on the context, security and the purpose of what we intend to do. It’s crazy how we think we know so much about something to then know nothing about the future because the past is left in the past. For example, we know Web 2.0 very well. When Web 3.0 is introduced and starts replacing Web 2.0, we need to learn about all the new possibilities that can be opened up to users.

Here is my Visitor and Resident map:

Wow

Reading Siemens’ Journal on Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age was really interesting and thought provoking. “The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). ” How cool is it that we can double knowledge in exponentially reduced time now. We’re learning, innovating and discovering so much nowadays to the point where we’re adding to book of knowledge exponentially. Luckily we have the internet to store all knowledge to be accessed by the others. Technology has definitely changed the way we used to learn and discover. Looking up information takes a simple google search nowadays. Comparatively, we had to search through numerous books in search for specific information and knowledge.

Wonder

This makes me wonder how long it will take to double our knowledge again in a couple of years. Is technology powerful enough to discover knowledge we never could discover without that specific technology? Will the world knowledge ever double in less than 18 months as previously stated? Will advancing technologies double knowledge at a faster rate in the next few years? This is an interesting topic I would definitely look into in the future.

Self-reflection

This reading took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It felt like I was taken into the future to question existence and knowledge. This was a great read as it made me think deeper about life and envision a possible future where we could attain knowledge instantly through the use of technology. An amazing world to look forward to.

Wow

After reading the articles about the Personal Learning Network (PLN), a flood of ideas and thoughts shot through my mind. I learnt that PLNs are not new, but technology has, however, changed how we connect to others and have expanded their reach significantly.

Social media and technology have, specifically, removed the physical barriers that once existed to communicate with each other. Time zones and distance no longer present the significant hurdle they once did either. 

Today we are able to connect like we could never imagine before. We have all types of networks and modes to connect with people, such as:

• Family – Facebook 
• Friends – Instagram 
• Relationship – Tinder
• Work related – LinkedIn 

You could potentially build a connection with someone famous by just simply sending them a message on social media. It’s become this easy to build connections. 

Wonder

There multiple ideas that got me curious while thinking about PLN, one of the few were:

In the past, there was almost no way you could connect with the President of the United States with no particular reason. However, now we are able to contact the President of the United States without barriers, by sending them a message on social media and praying they reply. This made me realise, if we have the ability to connect to the President of the United States, we can possibly contact any other educators or family members one way or another. This opens up the possibility to connect with an unlimited range of people.  

This also makes me wonder whether there is a future where we can take it a step further to receive a message back from the President of the United States. From from not being able to say anything to the President of United States, to being able to send a message to the President of United States, but can the next step be receiving a message from the President of the United States for sure? 

Self-reflection

Not only is the PLN fascinating, but it holds limitless possibilities and ideas to build upon. We have many more technologies to develop which would create many more fascinating ideas and builds which I look forward to!