Category: EDCI 338

What Are Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), and Why Are They Important?

Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) are “groups of people and resources that support an individual’s learning and growth” (Hotchin, 2025). PLNs act as a supportive ecosystem of connections and resources extending beyond traditional educational settings; they offer personalized learning experiences tailored to individual interests and goals. The personalized tailoring helps me focus on my areas of interests without having to sift through other parts that aren’t relevant to me. PLNs include “teachers, classmates, experts and colleagues” (Hotchin, 2025) and provides a platform to “share ideas, ask questions and learn from others with experience” (Hotchin 2025). These connections are important for gaining knowledge from others inside your field. The reason PLNs are important is because they foster knowledge and skill enhancement, offer personal and academic support, and provide resources for career development. In short PLNs are an essential support that I need for long term gain in my personal and academic goals.  

Social Media Dynamics for PLNs

Social media dynamics and understanding them are essential for effectively leveraging PLNs. The more you interact with certain content or certain users the more you will see that media in your day to day usage of social media “And thus your personal PLN will begin to bloom” (Gray, 2019). For me, staying aware of this dynamic helps me connect more effectively. One way I do this is by having professional accounts and personal accounts. On my personal accounts I like casual content and follow whoever I find interesting. On my professional accounts I make sure to only interact with people and posts that will foster learning in my field of interest. By doing so I can tailor my content into a PLN that supports my growth and development. 

Long-Term Network Development

Building a strong PLN requires you to be “actively participating, sharing resources, and supporting others in your network” (Hotchin, 2025) by doing so you can cultivate meaningful connections through consistent engagement. “The more time you spend commenting and interacting on your social network, the stronger your digital relationship will become” (Gray, 2019). This means you need to stay on top of your PLN for it to grow and help you long term. It requires consistent work for “sustaining meaningful connections over time” (Hotchin, 2025). Staying consistently active is not the only thing you need for growing your PLN, you also need to stay current with the trends. By staying on top of trends you not only help yourself but you also help others in your PLN. This will also develop strong connections that you make through your PLN. 

PLNs are vital for personal, academic and professional growth as they provide valuable connections, resources and learning opportunities. It is not only beneficial to have a PLN but you also need to understand social media dynamics and stay active in engaging with content that aligns with your goals. By doing this you can gain a long-term network that supports you and enhances your learning and career development.

Sources

Gray, K. (2019, May 15). Leveraging social media to build a digital PLN. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/leveraging-social-media-build-digital-pln

Hotchin, J. (2025, March 4). Module 4 (Feb. 17th – Mar. 9th) – University of Victoria – EdTech. University of Victoria – EdTech. https://personalizedlearningnetwork.ca/category/module-4-feb-17th-mar-9th/

A Personalized Learning Network (PLN) is a beneficial tool for expanding knowledge in topics that you are interested in. Making a space that is tailored to your interests, you can engage with content resources and communities that support your personal growth. With social media platforms such as Reddit and Instagram, you can have accessible spaces to customize your learning journey. For me, a successful PLN has a mix of accessibility, personalized content, and active engagement. Inclusivity is also extremely important in your PLN. For it to be inclusive it is important to consider the principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This way you can ensure that your is accessible for all. 

PLN Spaces Through Social Media

A personal learning network is extremely beneficial for growing your knowledge of what you are interested in. Places such as Reddit, Instagram, etc. can be used to customize your learning as you see fit. For me, my personalized learning network has to have a combination of a few things. 

1. A PLN needs to be accessible. Personally, my PLN spaces are condensed information so it is easily accessible. For example, TikTok videos do a great job of this. 
2. Personalized content and resources. A PLN needs to have content that is tailored to my goals and interests. 
3. Active engagement. It is important to have PLN communities that are active in supporting. I use active subreddit communities for any questions I may have or information I am looking for.

I have found that when engaging with experts, communities, and resources that align with my interests I enhance my knowledge. By connecting with experts I have access to deep knowledge that would not normally be available to me. This also helps me keep up to date with the tops I am interested in. It also gives me somewhat of a mentorship as I build connections. This is great for when I need hands-on advice. I also gain knowledge from diverse perspectives that help me think in different ways. It is extremely important to me to learn from people with all types of backgrounds as they all have something different and beneficial to share. The combination of these has made my PLN substantial in developing my personal goals.

Inclusivity and UDL in PLNs

To ensure that your PLN is inclusive you must consider the principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The UDL principles support inclusivity in digital spaces by providing us with diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. “Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn” (Udloncampus, 2015). The UDL principles do this by 

• Multiple Means of Engagement: Multiple means of engagement refers to the “why” of learning. This principle provides options for how learners engage with the content and how they remain motivated.

• Multiple Means of Representation: Multiple means of representation refers to the “what” of learning. This provides learners with different ways to present information so that everyone can understand it.

• Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Multiple means of Action and Expression refers to the “how” of learning. It allows learners to use their knowledge and skills in diverse ways. 

These principles design learning environments that are inclusive and cater to all types of learners, with the goal of creating “learners who are: purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal-directed” (Udloncampus, 2015). With these principles, you can ensure that your PLN is inclusive.

Sources

https://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_about

https://personalizedlearningnetwork.ca/category/module-3-feb-3rd-feb-16th/

Having an online presence comes with different aspects that need to be balanced to ensure a positive and safe online presence. Considering your personal and professional digital identities can be substantial for your future. That comes with watching your digital footprint and maintaining privacy. In this blog post, I want to explore the ideas of digital identities, online visitors vs. online residents, and privacy.  

Personal and Professional Digital Identity 

Your digital identity is how the people who see you only online perceive your personality. Maintaining a professional look online can be extremely beneficial for future career aspirations. In the article “Digital Professional Identity: Dear Internet! Who am I?” by Jawed, Mahboob, and Yasmeen (2019) they define your digital professional identity or DPI as a “professional identity that develops through internet‑based social interactions by utilizing online platforms and communication tools” (Jawed et al., 2019) while personal digital identity relates more to “your presence online” (Stroller, 2016) encompassing everything you do. By definition, personal and professional DIs (digital identities) seem to be fairly similar. So how can we differentiate between the two? It is not an easy task as your professional DI is directly linked to your personal DI through how you behave digitally. While you can build a professional look through online social media platforms such as LinkedIn or Instagram what you do outside those spaces directly affects your professional look. So how can we keep these separate and ensure that our personal DI does not impact our professional DI? If we look at David White’s framework of visitors and residents we can use it as a guide for our online usage.  You see White’s framework  “is a simple way of describing a wide range, or continuum of, modes of online engagement.” (White, 2014). In visitor mode, you “do not leave any trace online” (White, 2014) meaning you do what you need to do without linking it to your DI. In resident mode, however, engagement is socially visible, meaning what you do will be directly associated with your DI. With this in mind, we can use visitor mode to separate our personal DI from our professional DI. Keeping these separate will allow you to have the freedom to be yourself in both Identities. It is the same as your identity in the real world. You have your personal life and your professional life for which you behave differently in both. Maintaining that healthy balance is key to navigating through life.  

Privacy and Digital Footprint

With your DI, you need to consider your digital footprint, privacy, and surveillance. Everything you do online can be tracked. You are constantly being monitored online. For example, when you visit a website that uses cookies, these cookies often are tracking cookies that embed themselves into your computer to monitor your habits and online activities. “Internet privacy is important because it gives you control over your identity and personal information.” (Bitdefender, n.d.). Without protecting your online data, your online identity can be twisted by anyone who is willing to do so. Being aware of your privacy and digital footprint is beneficial to the way the people around you are influenced by your online presence. When reflecting on my own online presence I am cautious about what I interact with and comment on and I usually interact with stuff that will have a positive benefit to my digital footprint. When considering privacy most of my online profiles are set to public which was a conscious decision I made so people have an easier way of seeing the type of person I am online. However, doing this is not beneficial to my online privacy but by being aware of this fact I use caution before I post anything. Practicing good habits such as being wary of what you interact with, comment on, post, and setting your online profiles to private rather than public, these habits can ensure that your DI remains safe and respectful.

Being proactive and conscious of your presence online and understanding the differences between your personal and professional digital identities is vital for navigating the complex digital landscape. Practicing good online habits with an emphasis on privacy and knowing when to use visitor or resident mode can help you maintain a safe, positive, and respectful digital presence.

Sources

Jawed et al. (2019). Digital professional identity: Dear internet, who am I? Journal of Education in the Health Professions, 32(1).

White, D. O. (2014). Vandr. Daveo White.

TEDx Talks. (2016, February 29). How to filter your life [Video]. YouTube.

Bitdefender. (n.d.). What is online privacy? Bitdefender Cyberpedia.

Social Media and Its Role in Education

Growing up as a Gen Z has allowed me to witness the evolution of social media throughout its, in my opinion, largest developmental years. I remember when Facebook started it took over the social media world and built the foundations for the major platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. In the early days of social media, it was mainly seen as something just for entertainment and connection, but social media has now evolved into a space where you can practically learn anything you want. It allows you to expand your knowledge in a way you can tailor to your learning style, which I believe is one of the major benefits of online learning. You can also connect with people you would normally not be able to. For example, if you were trying to learn a new language you can easily find people to chat with in that language to practice with. Without social media, this would not be as easy or accessible to do. Learning through social media does have its fair share of challenges, as you cannot blindly trust everything you see.

Personalized Learning and Digital Literacies

Personalized Learning is extremely beneficial to education. It allows people the freedom to learn how they want to and at a pace that they feel is comfortable. Personally, this has allowed me to stay engaged with the material and helped me retain the information more than I would learning in a “normal” setting. Personalized learning also fosters you to develop digital literacies which is an extremely important skill in today’s world, as almost everything we do involves something digital. For example, we saw a major digital shift in learning and education after the Covid pandemic. Since everyone was isolating at home, education had to shift to online and in that time, this was a very new concept for many. I was in grade 12 during the lockdown and it was very noticeable which Teachers were not digitally literate and how much their digital literacy impacted my learning.

Digital Identity and Online Presence

Your digital identity and footprint are extremely important in identifying the kind of person you are. The stuff you post, interact with, and view all shape your digital identity and how people, who have only seen you online, view you as a person. You need to be mindful about what you post, like, share and who can see that information. Schools and employers will look at your online presence to get a sense of the type of person you are, if they don’t like what they see this could bar you from major opportunities. This ties into the next point which is using online platforms ethically. Having a respectful presence online and being mindful of what you share can show people that you exhibit positive personal traits in your day-to-day life.