Context Collapse Online & My Instagram Network Diagram (Week 3 Blog 1)

 This week's VoiceThread really made me think about the context collapse I am experiencing online. I want to focus only on Instagram because that's the platform I most frequently use, and it lets users create different accounts. 

 I currently have three accounts I regularly use. My main account, which is private, started back in 2015 when I was an undergrad. So far, I have 453 posts posted on this account with many highlights of stories, which shows how active I am in sharing my life, travels, hobbies, and food I eat within my network. I was surely more active back when my network was relatively small. However, as I started living abroad, getting involved in different communities and networks, and began my career, I started to be cautious about what I uploaded, even within my network. Once, I even had a few of my elementary students I teach request to follow me, which made me very uncomfortable. I did not ever want to share my personal life with such young kids! I also had some people I didn't even know follow me at one time I made it public. This was the moment I experienced context collapse, which limited my freedom to share whatever I liked and whatever I used to. This constant self-censoring led me to open another account.

 My second account is very, very private. I only have 15 of my closest circle of friends follow me, and I upload my life - more so that it doesn't need a careful selection of pictures and more of a diary format (I feel like I can be more genuine here).

 Then I have my third account, which I opened at the beginning of this year mainly because I needed an instructor account for the undergraduate course I taught. I have been too busy to upload anything there, but I did communicate with students and followed some of my colleagues, professors, educators, and accounts related to my field.

 I created this diagram using Canva and realized that my main account and professional account rarely overlap. I think I prefer these accounts to be shared with different groups of people as the purpose is different. Then I start to wonder for those following my main account or my professional account only, do they know real me? Do they have to know the real me? Can I say we are on the same page within the network, or do I prefer it this way? If you have similar questions or wonder, please leave comments! I'm happy to discuss this with more of you :) 

Reflection (Week 2 Blog 3)

 This week, we started focusing on more specific terms related to Web 2.0 - produsage and digital natives. I wasn't so familiar with the word produsage before, so reading articles and peers' posts and getting involved in discussion helped a lot. 

 I know this is a choose-your-own-adventure type of course, but as a person who prefers to have plans, I think now I found the right rhythm of days to navigate this course that best suits me. I plan to read uploaded articles or watch VoiceThread at least by Tuesday and write the first blog post on a topic that interests me. Then, I plan to start participating in discussion posts and interacting with peers by commenting on blogs from Wednesday, writing another blog post on any new tools I tried by Friday, and writing a reflection post on Sunday. I will see how it goes!

 One more reflective point about using Feeder to connect with peers. I have been enjoying it a lot as I can navigate it so easily to see any new posts my peers have uploaded. However, it would have been better if I had gotten a notification about whether somebody had replied to my comment. I visited some of my peers' blogs and wrote a comment, but since there are many peers in this course and many posts are constantly uploaded, it is hard to keep track of where I left my comment. Does anyone relate to this? If you know how to get Feeder or just the Blogger itself to give me notifications, please let me know!

Are Digital Natives All Tech Savvy? (Week 2 Blog 2)

Are digital natives all tech-savvy? This is an interesting question, considering how many diverse technologies have been available and more than two decades have passed since Prensky first coined the term "digital native." Prensky(2001) referred to one's familiarity with technology as "accent" and "language." It is explained that the new generations think differently, raising the need to teach them differently. 

Illustration by Vanda Kovacs

As a former elementary school teacher, I did face some noticeable differences regarding this matter with the students I taught. I remember back in 2020, when I asked my 6th-grade students to search specific terms using the smart pads provided, most of them immediately started searching on YouTube. This was a surprise for me. I assumed that they would go to Google or Naver, a popular search engine in Korea. I remember asking them why they would use YouTube to search for things, and they said that because somebody explains it to them with video and audio, it is easier to understand. After that, I started to realize that some gaps do exist. Young generations these days are relatively more familiar with short video forms, creating and sharing them. They selectively use social media to share their life and to connect with others. 

However, it can cause some problems when making such generalizations that all digital natives will be tech-savvy. Below are two news articles I found interesting - stating that students may not be as tech-savvy as teachers or professors presume. 

Universities must stop presuming that all students are tech-savvy_TimesHigherEducation

Students Say They Are Not as Tech Savvy as Educators Assume_EdSurge

So what are the implications for teachers, then? Teachers should take into consideration that there can be a possible digital divide in the classroom and provide appropriate support. Assuming that students will have or lack existing knowledge or skills just because they fall into specific generations can be dangerous. This can be connected with the topic of digital literacy. What is digital literacy, and how can it be defined? What consists of digital literacy and are there different standards applied for different generations? What should be taught to enhance students' digital literacy and ease of use? I plan to dig deeper into it and look forward to discussing it with my peers! 

References

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. 

Learning about a new tool - RSS Reader (Week 2 Blog 1)

 As the world is filled with more and more information, I think we do reach a point where we get mixed up with what I follow in which account under which platform. This was a problem for me, too. I wanted to be up-to-date with the news that I was interested in and followed several accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. As Instagram is the platform that I check most regularly, I tend to get news from Instagram page that I follow. The AI algorithm is also smart enough to tailor my feed after seeing how much time I spend reading these posts, which means what appears on my feed changes from time to time. So, I do not have the same amount of exposure to this news on a regular basis.

 I believe this week's new tool can be one possible solution to this problem. I wasn't so familiar with the RSS Reader program before, but after downloading Feeder, I could see how easy and quick it could be to get information on just one page. I was surprised to see how it generates new blog posts from my peers just by uploading the HTML file with the blogs' URL information. This will allow me to easily access my peers' posts and leave comments. I also connected some newsletter pages and keywords to have it appear on my feed. I will keep exploring what to add to my feed, and to manage a reasonable amount of feeds that do not overwhelm me but rather help me in getting information.

Reflection (Week 1 Blog 3)

 This week focused on Web 2.0 and its related terms. The second discussion topic and thread on Information or Instruction especially had me thinking about what role Web 2.0 and social media can play in an instructional context. With the configuration and distribution of information over media, there rises the importance of choosing the right information to one's needs. The topic of networking and community was also interesting, and I hope to learn more about this in the following week.

 Next week, I plan to participate more in the discussion sections and explore more about the networks and communities formed online with my social media accounts. 

Web 2.0 Tensions (Week 1 Blog 2)

 While watching Dr. Dennen's VoiceThread, the last couple of slides about Web 2.0 challenges and tensions stood out to me. Although Web 2.0 brings huge benefits to both educators and students, some barriers exist because of the nature of social media. Can the benefit of wide access counterbalance the threat of lack of accuracy of information? Likewise, can the merit of forming a networked community over social media counterbalance the lack of control? These are some interesting questions that arose to me and are also closely related to what I have been exploring in a few of my projects.

 The first question can be closely related to students' data literacy skills and, more broadly, media literacy. With the flood of information over social media platforms, gauging students' skills and knowledge regarding checking the accuracy of information is essential. This can give insights into what kinds of data literacy education should be held at the K-12 school level.

 The second question reminds me of my experience as a 6th-grade homeroom teacher back in 2020. During the pandemic, teachers couldn't really control what students were going through on social media. They were doing their best to connect with each other - which is a great thing, but at the same time, a number of cyberbullying cases were reported to the school. This issue is more of an ethical/behavioral matter but cannot be overlooked. 

 I hope to explore these questions so forth as the semester progresses. 

My First Blog Post (Week 1 Blog 1)

 I am excited to join this EME6414 course. The last couple of weeks have certainly provided me with a refreshing time to take myself away from my laptop and enjoy rest to its full extent. Now that I am back into student mode, I can't wait for what this summer semester goes like! 

While introducing myself to the discussion board, I realized that I have some professional social media accounts but rarely use them. Now is a good time to start building my social presence throughout this course and be more active. Below are my accounts.

LinkedIn

Twitter/X

Instagram