Wow – In “Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social Learning”, author Alec Couros lays out a compelling case for the use of personal learning networks in open access and distance education settings. His argument, found in George Veletsianos’ Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, is based on prevailing research from leading Canadian education leaders as well as a working example of PLNs being employed in a graduate level educational technology course from the University of Regina. I appreciated Couros’ distinction between personal learning environments and personal learning networks. Specifically, the visualizing of PLEs as a subset of PLNs provided a real light-bulb moment for me. One thing that stuck out to me was the idea that, in contrast to traditional course communities that often die out mere days after the course end date, PLNs have the benefit of lasting long after their intended purpose. The interconnectedness and interactive nature of PLNs allows them to offer sustained, long-term learning for students and facilitators alike.
Wonder – As this particular course was geared towards K-12 educators, and is obviously exploring the integration of social media and online interconnectedness in educational settings, I found myself wondering about possible implications and concerns that might arise. Particularly as it relates to the K-12 age group, I am wondering about the consequences of encouraging additional online activity. It has been known that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc can lead to self-esteem and confidence issues among adolescents. While the article and university course in question were not designed to address these concerns, are they not concerns all the same? It seems that integrating social media into the classroom context and thereby encouraging the uptake of such platforms among increasingly younger students may create new issues or exacerbate known drawbacks to such frequent online activity.
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