Along with Twitter, Instagram was new to me this semester. I decided a few weeks ago that I would take some time to get familiar with Instagram and the benefits it brings to education. Unfortunately, my experience with Instagram has not been great. I have had my account for two weeks, and just this weekend I received an email from Instagram of changes made to my account and suspicious activity. When I got on my account someone had changed my name and profile picture and had posted an incredibly disgusting and inappropriate video. I have been using social media for years and never really had an issue, but this really bothers me. I'm thankful that I really didn't get too far into posting pictures and sharing anything because this could have potentially caused me a major problem.
One negative experience doesn't negate the fact that I have grown as an educator over the last few weeks. I will continue to build my PLN, learn and gather new ideas. Will Richardson mentioned that in order to help our students create and effectively use a PLN , we must create our own. I would definitely say that I am well on my way, and my PLN is stronger now then it was before I took this course.
I found a few videos to share that remind us about the benefits of creating a PLN and why having a PLN is so important.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am glad Instagram caught the account breach quickly. Here is an article that explains what you can do to prevent it from happening again:
https://blog.iconosquare.com/instagram-hack-proof/
Secondly, you have definitely grown as an educator during the 8 weeks of this course. It is evident from your blog posts and social media interaction.
RE: "Educators often forget they are surrounded by experts every day." -Nicholas Provenzano"
I love this quote! What a great way to express the simplicity and power of building a PLN in the digital age.
Dr. Dell
Wow! Rachel I think you did an amazing job with this blog post and I'm kinda jealous. Your infograph looks very professional, you did an amazing job picking out your color scheme to make it pop and keep the readers interest, and that quote at the bottom was perfect. I also really liked how in your blog you shared your interesting experience with Instagram with us because it reminds us of the potential dangers that we have to be mindful of while learning and implementing new technologies into the classroom. Thank you very much for sharing this with us.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you had a negative experience like that with Instagram! Over the last few weeks, I have started to use my Instagram as part of my PLN - and I am loving it! I have gotten so many great ideas, especially how to incorporate character education into the classroom. I hope that one negative experience does not deter you from using Instagram as a PLN.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteI am completely with you on having to remember to get on Twitter. Out of all of the PLN sites we have discussed throughout this course I am still not too fond of Twitter. I still think it is a bit too hard for me to navigate as well as I just do not like the layout of the site at all. I would prefer to use Facebook over Twitter. It's a shame you have had a poor experience with Instagram though. I love that site but more personal than professional. It's good to hear you say that one poor experience will not deter you from continuing to learn how to use social media sites as a way to grow as an educator though!