How diverse is your existing PLN?

If I am being completely honest, I feel as though my PLN could be much more diverse. From a professional perspective, I mostly used WordPress, Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. I feel as though I could definitely develop this more. For example, I did not know much about LinkedIn before taking this class, and now I am quite interested in starting my own account and creating networks through it. Overall, I believe I need to branch out more by making the effort to seek meaningful connections and relationships through my PLN.

In your PLN, are you learning from a variety of voices or are you the loudest in the room?

In my personal learning network, I lean towards learning from a variety of voices, opposed to being the loudest in the room. I tend to stick back and observe instead of taking control and leading a conversation. I like to gain insight from many people, and I believe it has an impact on my own views and skills. As well, I am often worried about being wrong or judged in certain situations which also encourages me to stick back and learn from others.

Do you participate in a silo of information sharing (similar themes or wide range of interests)?

I often do not participate in a silo of information sharing. Like I stated above, I prefer to keep to myself and listen to other peopleā€™s voices and opinions. The only times that I tend to share information is when it is something that means a great deal to me. For example, the place I volunteer at was holding a fundraising event, and I did share that throughout my social media as it was very important to me. Other than that, I usually spend my time reading and observing other peopleā€™s social networks.

How can you use a diverse PLN to broaden your views of inclusion?

A diverse PLN can be used to broaden oneā€™s view of inclusion because it allows everyone to come together. When people come together it allows conversations to happen, ideas to be shared, and solutions to be thought of. As well, it allows individuals to obtain new information and skills and allows them to share and expand their own ideas and skills.

In your professional setting of choice, do you think inclusion is actively embraced?

My professional setting of choice is my current workplace in a grocery store. I believe inclusion is not as actively embraced as it could be. My employer(s) are definitely inclusive in the way that they are open to hiring anyone that brings in a resume, as long as they have the appropriate experience. But I recall an experience where somebody who identified as ā€œthey/themā€ got hired and the employers and other staff did not make the effort to ensure that the right pronouns were used. I do understand that having over 100 employees can be difficult and that they might not care about one individual, but that is what makes me feel as though the workplace could be more inclusive.

What is the learning outcome of your PLN and how are you ensuring your exposure to diversity and inclusion?

I feel as I am constantly learning from my PLN. Honestly, before this assignment I was not focused on ensuring my exposure of diversity and inclusion. Now that I have watched the Shelley Moore videos and read her paper, I am a lot more aware and hope to continue to work on learning more. I believe I can expand my knowledge through continuing to read other peopleā€™s work, engage in conversations with colleagues and peers, as well as watch videos. My goal is to be inclusive to all and I feel as though I have a lot to work on still.

How has your thinking about inclusion and PLN evolved after reviewing the videos and readings?

I found the videos and readings for this week to be extremely engaging and interesting to view. In the course interview with Shelly Moore (2021) she was discussing the idea of engaging with her students. What surprised me was when she was asking herself what do her students have to offer her. Instead of being the one person in the room that knows everything and has the job of teaching that information to others, she is looking at what contributions and information the students can teach her. I was surprised because I had not thought of a class like that before. It also made me realize that that is one of the main focuses of our current EDCI 338 course. Although our professor, Jesse, is assigning our projects and weekly blogs, all of us students are contributing to and starting conversations in Mattermost, where we are learning from each other. Mooreā€™s (2016) work discussed the idea inclusion. Moore mentioned that one of her students pointed out that the bubble representing inclusion, did not in fact represent her idea of inclusion. This was very interesting to me to read as all throughout high school we were shown those bubbles including inclusion, and no one ever talked about the fact that there is no ā€œother.ā€ I loved reading this conversation and I am wanting to continue researching and learn more about it.  

References:

Moore, S. (2016). One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion. Portage & Main Press. 6-11. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=6

Miller, J. [MILLER]. (2021, May 30). EDCI 338 ā€“ 20 minutes Moore [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeSV0rUl1bA