PLN & Education

After studying and reflecting, I wrote this post, which will answer questions such as: How can educators create discussion? What role does social media play in education? What problems exist in social media communication within an educational environment? How do Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) promote or hinder the development of ideas and concepts in education? Which social media platforms are beneficial to education? How can social media be integrated with professionalism and regulations when working with disadvantaged groups? These questions will be addressed along with my own reflections.

Harry Dale cleverly used the analogy of a stage, the two sides of a wall, and a hole in the wall to illustrate the relationship between PLN and educators, as well as PLN’s situation when facing users on different platforms. Firstly, PLN, or modern social media as commonly understood, is currently in a rather awkward position. Young people like to use social media to experience the world, but opportunities and risks coexist. Such a large-scale online platform makes it difficult to have good supervision and a highly systematic and efficient operation. Despite this, educators are constantly trying to broaden the path for future generations. For example, they are using social media platforms to spread unsolved problems and theories from ancient Europe and the Middle Ages—concepts that were merely ideas at the time—like dandelions in the wind, creating discussion and adding value and meaning to education. However, in the current environment, the resistance is still very significant. If I were to say that PLN will invest in education… In the education sector, and given its dominant position, a host of problems arise. For example, which stage of education benefits students or learners most, and which is unsuitable? Conversely, which groups are suitable and which are not? With a vast amount of information, we cannot quickly build a system like our offline learning system. First, let’s consider the simplest example: for ease of management and statistics, we categorize educational institutions below the university level by school district. This allows for resource differentiation and direct comparison. But how can we accurately achieve this comparison within a PLN (Public Learning Network)? We can’t create a “Truman Show” environment, because that would contradict our original intention—this is the first major challenge. Secondly, the second major problem is communication. Education is the transmission of information, like a spark passed down. Whether it’s a toddler learning to speak or a student like us, the process involves receiving and understanding information. But without the offline “petri dish,” how can we achieve more efficient communication? Our technology is advanced; for example, 3D projection, 5G networks, and VR can all become educational resources. However, this is a double-edged sword. Does this mean that only the wealthy are qualified to receive such modern and advanced education? If online education continues to develop in this direction, it will be a monopoly for ordinary people, a fate predetermined from birth. Therefore, how to ensure that online education maintains the same communication efficiency and results as offline education is a problem we need to consider and solve. I think fragmentation is a good idea. Since we cannot control the environment, we can segment learning according to our attention span. For example, we can use interactive methods or segmented videos to maintain communication quality. At the same time, we can establish online supervision in the education sector, combined with AI technology and large-scale model analysis to collect data. This ensures that there is no bad information or bullying during student communication, and also collects more accurate and timely data. For example, YouTube teaching videos can be broken down into smaller parts, allowing students to watch and learn repeatedly according to their needs. This is a good starting point, but it lacks supervision. Secondly, language is a thorny issue in communication. How to communicate across languages ​​is a difficult problem. I think subtitles and AI voice acting are good choices that are low-cost and efficient. However, we must return to the harsh reality that these designs are for ordinary people. Among us, there are many vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, autism, ADHD, and many other situations. What role does PLN education play in this regard? This is harsh. Currently, there is no way to establish effective and healthy communication among vulnerable groups because, when these sensitive and vulnerable individuals enter this new world, what they see and encounter is designed for ordinary people. When these groups join, they inevitably experience rejection and even cyberbullying. Therefore, a role similar to “cyber police” is needed to intervene. First, AI algorithms should be used to block educational videos that highlight user weaknesses. Second, users with a history of misconduct should be closely monitored to prevent them from committing violence against vulnerable groups. Rules should be established, such as the fact that bullying any other user on social media will result in a stamp appearing on one’s profile picture or in a prominent place, with a penalty lasting a week or longer to punish such behavior.

We are accustomed to traditional education, and perhaps our concepts and ideas are shackles that confine new social media education without our realizing it. We live in the 21st century, but for education, PLN feels more like it existed in the Middle Ages or even earlier, like the Renaissance, opening up a new world for society amidst controversy and resistance.

I’ve come up with a humorous analogy to describe the relationship between PLN and our current situation: modern online educational social platforms and PLN are like water bottles. They’re no longer inconvenient or unable to store water like they used to float on water. But now, all we do is use a sharp blade to cut a hole in the bottom and drink from it, not only defeating the original purpose of storing water but also causing unnecessary waste. PLN is like that—it has unlimited potential, but we educators and users need to improve ourselves to maximize its effectiveness.

Thank you for your patience in reading. If you’d like, please leave a comment so we can discuss it together!

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