What digital platforms are students currently using to develop their professional network?
As social media growing popularity of social media, the original intention of social media for entertainment purposes has derived to also educational, personal learning and networking purposes. For developing professional purposes specifically, some common options are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Edmodo. LinkedIn is an employment-oriented social network service that allows students to start to build a network in professional fields prior to actual employment, and also helps employers to see students with great profiles. Twitter is also a pure networking tool to connect with others and let students do micro-blogging and find other people with similar interests to learn together in a certain field. Edmodo is for educators and learners and extends their networks within their interested fields.
What could the student consider in expanding their professional learning network?
In order to expand the professional networks for learning purposes, first, students can enlarge the numbers of PLN platforms used, build complete profiles and actively participate in online events hosted by the platforms. Second, within the PLN platforms, students can join a specific community to expand their horizons and make more meaningful connections.
How does data privacy and security limit and/or promote a PLN?
A common concern that people share is the personal data safety and privacy-related issues, and especially when students are building their professional profiles, many personal information and data are exposed publicly on multiple platforms, raising the problem of potential stalking and information leaking. Therefore, it is important to filter and select the information they are exposing carefully, to avoid unwanted data security issues.
In your network how can you create a digital identity/ reputation?- Find out what a local employer would do if you applied for a job with them?
There are a lot of options for us to use to build a digital identity and professional profiles include LinkedIn and Facebook, there are specific functions of the app that provides filtering according to locations, and by learning what the employer wants, we can build a more integrated digital identity.
