When thinking about the different risks and opportunities that Artificial Intelligence (AI) introduces for digital citizenship, I fear the many risks outweigh any potential benefits. The mass integration of AI into news, social media, and search engines has absolutely dismantled any sense of trust or authenticity online. The article by MediaSmarts backs this up, reporting that two thirds of Canadians were exposed to deepfakes online just last year, with one third reporting that they themselves had used Generative AI (MediaSmarts, 2025). These numbers have doubled from the year previous.
Reading these statistics made me think about the Dead Internet Theory, or the idea that so much of the web is made up by AI bots interacting with other AI bots, that there is no room for humans online. Or, as Compute View (2025) puts it: “The internet is dead and we killed it.”
It is more important than ever to have strong media literacy skills in order to continue navigating the internet and discerning which content is AI-generated, misinformation, or enforcing extremist narratives. MediaSmarts (2025) highlights the importance of going “Wait…What?” when reading something online, rather than just taking it at face value as the truth.
Generative AI can, will, and HAS harmed people and children. Canada’s new national “AI for All” strategy aims to encourage information around AI and develop AI literacy in students, teachers, and citizens alike. While I think this is a great idea, I still believe that we need more federal policies which LIMIT AI use. While it is important that Canadians have an understanding of how to critically evaluate what they read online, it’s more important to have legal limits on using AI for deepfakes/impersonations, spreading misinformation, or, most importantly, for using AI (and all of our fresh water!) for no reason at all.
There is still no way to turn off automatic-AI search results on school chromebooks. I would say that’s a Step One change for aiding with AI literacy in schools. In my experience, in a Grade 8 practicum, the moment technology was involved, all critical thinking went out the window. The easy-A of AI is too addictive. Even on a creative writing project (a single paragraph, mind you), half of the class used AI. It is time to switch to a pen-and-paper curriculum.
One of the absolutely most despising uses of AI targets female public figures online, generating non-consensual explicit videos. This happens everyday to women, to children. Security Hero (2023) reports that deepfake pornography makes up 98% of all deepfake videos online, with 99% of the targets being women, most commonly in the entertainment industry. Laura Bates (2025) explains that this is a “digital manifestation of a larger offline truth: men target women for gendered violence and abuse.”
One example of this happened to Nina Jankowicz, an author and Top 100 Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence (TIME, 2023). Although she is from the USA, this is a case that affects ALL women, especially those in the public eye. Jankowicz (2023) explains that this experience made her understand that “AI’s relationship with gender and women is adversarial” and that non-consensual deepfakes are used as a “strategic attack to denigrate, undermine, and embarrass women online.”
In 2023 and 2024, in Nova Scotia, a man was found taking photos of girls, using AI to take off their clothes, and share these online. He was acquitted because the AI images did not “meet the current legal definition of intimate images” (Rhodes, 2026). This definition was changed less than two months ago with the Protecting Victims Act. Many consider this change to be too little, too late, with Judge Bronwyn Duffy stating that “the law does not reflect the technology that exists today” (Hounsell, 2026).
While Canada’s AI for All strategy promises to “protect Canadians and children against the risks from AI and online harms” there are no actual ways to prevent non-consensual deepfake pornography from being created (Lopez Steven, 2026). With AI becoming more and more common, and no real protections being put in place, it is clear that women and children will continue to be harrassed through AI technology.
If I were to create a curriculum segment on media/AI literacy, I would call back to the MediaSmarts (2021) video: “What’s Real Online?” I would use the following three questions provided to teach students how to verify that something they read, see, or watch online is real:
Where did it come from?
Is it coming from a reliable source?
Has somebody debunked it already?
As a class, we would evaluate examples of both real and AI content in the form of both social media posts and websites online. I would do this sort of exercise every week, gradually increasing the difficulty and allowing students to work individually, in small groups, or as a class to determine whether or not something is AI.
Privacy Compliance
As an educator, I think that teaching data privacy comes hand-in-hand with AI literacy. With the boom of using chromebooks in the classroom, more students than ever are being used for data online. I think that Canada’s push for further AI education will help students and families understand the risks associated with using the internet, but as an educator, it is critical to do your own research on platforms students will be using in your classroom, rather than just blindly trusting them. I also wonder, do we really need so much technology in the classroom? Student data and privacy is safe on pen-and-paper. Why risk it?
While I fully intend to teach my future students about the risks of AI, I simply don’t see how using it (other than to teach AI literacy with) fits into the curriculum. It is not worth killing our planet. Don’t you love the Earth?
Against popular belief, school might actually be about more than just grades. The resource by Qualman this week showed me that a simple lesson we learned as kids may be one the most important social skills, the “Golden Rule”: treat others how you want to be treated. Just as it takes more work to frown than to smile, it takes more energy to intentionally hurt others than to be kind and positive. It is shocking how much hate exists in this world.
Digital Leader by Erik Qualman reminded me that networking online relies on intentionality as “we need to remember what we like and don’t like as followers” (Qualman, 2012, Chapter 16). Oftentimes people forget that those “big name” celebrities are humans too. It’s everybody’s first time living, and we ought to give some grace for that.
In today’s age, anyone can be an influencer. Or as Alfred Hermida (2015) puts it: “You dont need to be famous to be famous on social media.” People are naturally drawn to charisma, people who can connect with you in a moment. This quote made me think back to the TV survivalist show Dream Academy, where a group of judges were creating a new global pop star group. The judges weren’t looking for the best dancer or singer, but for star quality.
The final group: Katseye
This idea of being drawn in by charisma extends further than just pop groups, but also in digital networking. Communicating and collaborting in an authentic and confident way will allow you to reach more people and grow your PLN. Qualman gives many points for effective leadership (clear goal-setting, summarization, leaving no decisions up in the air), but his most important statement is how “you must network before you need the network” (Qualman, 2012). This rings true for me, reminding me that, as a young student in a hands-on program at UVic, I am probably in the best place to network right here, right now.
Reflecting on this course, my developing PLN, and my use of social media platforms, I have definitely grown in my thinking. Most of all, I have learned that a PLN is so much more than just LinkedIn or Instagram, but the community that shapes your education and growth. Through exploring course concepts, resources, and creating a Visitor & Resident Map (which challenged my thinking most of all), I have seen that my personal and professional identities overlap and together create my individual digital footprint.
I see the value of networking and the way that digital platforms, which I currently treat as “diaries,” can be used to collaborate and connect with diverse perspectives and create a community of lifelong learning. Nonetheless, I have become more aware of the ethical responsibilities of an online reputation, especially as a young woman going into education and working with children. Moving forward, my biggest takeaway from this course so far is the importance of media literacy and the opportunity and responsibility I have as an educator to prioritize teaching this skill in the digital age.
Your PLN and the Evolving Internet
It blows my mind how many people use generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their day-to-day life. I remember a few years ago, when ChatGPT was a lot newer than it is now, I was taking Calc I and was stuck on a homework question. I googled it to no avail, searched for YouTube videos of similar phrasing, but couldn’t find anything. I turned to ChatGPT and it…gave me an answer. A very wrong answer. One with impossible formulae, imagined out of thin air. It was at that moment I realized that I am smarter than an AI. It may have more knowledge and better memory, but it’s just not as intelligent as true, egotistical, first-born-child, HUMAN intelligence.
From that point on, it amazed me to see ChatGPT get so popular. Its summaries were worse than SparkNotes, its explanations were more convoluted than a YouTube video, and it had this annoying way of explaining things, like how it feels when someone “mansplains” something to you. Everyday it’s killing the environment, our home, our land, our animals, our oceans. Why is it so popular?
In the study by Estateyeh & Mindzak (2025), it did not surprise me to see that the amaze and shine of using AI wore off from the 2024 Teacher Candidates to the 2025 group. I reckon, if they were to do this study again for 2026, pre-service teachers would be even less inclined to use AI or feel like they benefit from it.
When I was in school, we had 45 minutes to plan and write an complete essay by hand. I have seen, through my own experiences teaching, students unable to write a single paragraph with a Chromebook, several class periods, and one-on-one aid. Estateyeh & Mindzak point out how AI may harm critical thinking and problem-solving skills, stating that “students may be less likely to engage in deeper cognitive processes necessary for meaningful learning” (p. 138). This turning-your-brain-to-much impact harms not only students, but teachers overrelying on AI too, as AI may “limit teacher decision-making abilities and autonomy”(Estateyeh & Mindzak, 2025, p. 137).
Basically, we are on track to end up like the humans from Wall-E:
The study mentions that AI can support equity and accessibility in the classroom through tools such as speech-to-text/text-to-speech, immediate responses to questions, and personalized adaptations. I argue that it’s 2026, we are running out of time to save our planet and reverse (or at least slow!!!!) climate change. I sincerely doubt that generative AI is the best way to be equitable and accessible. Teaching is perhaps the most human profession, and thus cannot be taken over by a robot.
My current PLN spans from online platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and WordPress to in-person peer groups, Education Students’ Association meetings/events/professional development workshops, and teacher connections from previous practica and volunteering. While my online presence is mostly used for personal use, I now see that these platforms can positively contribute to my PLN by allowing me to connect with educators from all around the world.
The article Empowering Older Adults’ Informal, Self-Directed Learning: Harnessing the Potential of Online Personal Learning Networks by Morrison & McCutheon shows that you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks. The authors argue that the development of online PLNs lead to lifelong learning, such as “self-directed knowledge acquisition, personal transformation, meaning-making, and contributions to facilitating healthy aging and community well-being” (Morrison & McCutheon, 2019, Introduction). This showed me a particularly valuable point of PLNs, because so many seniors end up isolated and lonely in their old age. Through the use of online PLNs, seniors were able to socialize and connect with others, create a community for similar interests, and, most important, “learn new things and learn from others” (Morrison & McCutheon, 2019, General Discussion). This showed me that PLNs are important beyond the classroom and beyond career goals.
Interacting with this resource also made me think about the strengths and weaknesses of my own PLN. The greatest strength of my PLN comes from growing up in the digital age: I inherently posess the skills to use social media and other digital platforms with ease, due to growing up learning with computers. Being able to use social media in my PLN allows for diverse perspectives and research/resources that would be unavailable without it, but also carries the risk of misinformation and the creation of my own echo chamber.
Another strength of my PLN is my wariness and disgust with generative AI, which makes a difference in ensuring that there is still an Earth to have a PLN on! This also makes sure that I am never falling into the trap of overrelying on AI or using it in a hurry without verifying facts/resources, leading to better critical thinking and better quality resources! Of course, my PLN is just beginning and has so much room to grow. Moving past this course, with the tools I’ve learned, I plan on branching out and exploring how I can use digital platforms to the fullest extent, taking after my peers and finally creating a LinkedIn account.
To echo Qualman (2012) one last time, treat others how you want to be treated. Treat the Earth well. It’s the only home we have.
When thinking about media literacy, the first thing that comes to mind is being told when I was younger to never trust Wikipedia. It’s not that Wikipedia was wrong per se, but the information (especially on smaller articles) was not necessarily verified. Teachers instilled in me to never cite it or trust its information without verifying through further research. Nowadays, I have seen students just google something for their essay and trust (dare I say copy) the AI search result. I think that media literacy is probably the most important skill of the digital age.
Media literacy is the ability to create and understand media effectively and through a critical lens (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). In a time where news spreads though social media, it is more important than ever for us to be developing and teaching media literacy skills and reducing the amount of people who trust content online without verifying if its true or not, using three questions that the MediaSmarts video provides:
Where did it come from?
Is it coming from a reliable source?
Has somebody debunked it already?
I learned a lot about media literacy when I was in school. From grade 6 to 8 we had a class called Data where we learned everything from proper (and timed) typing on a keyboard to how to properly research, cite, and understand the biases articles we read online. However, one thing it never prepared me for is the boom of AI image and video generation. The MediaSmarts video hammered this home: when trying to guess which animal picture was real and which was fake, I was completely lost.
With the explosion of social media, it’s clear that notable individuals no longer use social accounts as a digital diary. Celebrities and influencers no longer rely on television and thus tv networks, crews, and producers to get in the public eye. Now, they can simply create an Instagram account and blow up over a single reel.
The biggest point that stands out to me when I think about how celebrities are using social media is how they capitalize on a manipulable audience to sell a product. Usually, not their own product. Often, not a product they would ever use or recommend. When social media is a job, money becomes a priority, and it becomes difficult to distinguish authentic opinions from sponsored content.
Simultaneously, having an online platform reaps many benefits, allowing people to use social media for education and outreach. One stand out for me is Dr Mike Varshavski, a doctor who uses his online presence to educate and debunk health myths. My mom loves him.
A reliable PLN is cornerstone to working in the public eye. In her interview, Sophie Liu mentioned that, when first getting into the industry, she would reach out to and meet with older experts in her field to go out for coffee and pick their brain (Interview with Sophie Liu, 2026). An effective PLN would look like exposing yourself to diverse viewpoints, but promoting verifiable information supported by credible research. Oftentimes, people with low media literacy skills interpret the search for truth as a personal attack (flat earthers…anti-evolution…pro-billionaires…etc.) which leads to conflict as they associate their beliefs with their identity. This is why it is so important to have a PLN which values media literacy and puts it at the forefront of communication and learning.
The interview with Sophie Liu addressed both the risks and benefits of engaging with an audience online. She mentioned that, while social media has given her a “wider intellectual world,” it has also vastly increased the amount of anonymous hate she receives and the amount of people who experience her mess up (Interview with Sophie Liu). She mentions that, back in the age of cold calling and the Yellow Pages, viewers had to call in to complain, often calling her to complain about herself. Nowadays, hate speech is far too common online that she feels the need to distance herself from social platforms. Her point on social media making it so that a small mistake can travel the web reminded me of the classic DeeDee MegaDooDoo video, where even I have contributed to the virality of a mistake.
A quote that stood out to me from the interview with Sophie Liu is “How much am I willing to give to the public?” (In the Public Eye, 2026). This reminded me of just how accessible and personable public figures are expected to be today. Parasocial relationships are created and fed by both fans and celebrities alike. Think Taylor Swift, and the “Swifties” who may revolve their lives around her life because they feel connected to her on a personal level.
When public figures work in a position of trust, the stakes are raised again. When a workplace defines your digital identity, hobbies and events determine whether or not you’re good at your job. Even if the hobby has nothing to do with your job! For educators especially, they are expected to be modest and express a modest digital identity. In reality, teachers are in their 20s and at the bar and hitting up raves and posting content like that online attracts hate. It makes me think about the history of teaching, back less than 100 years ago when teachers were not allowed to be married or courting lest they lose their job. This same standard of incapability of teaching and having a life still exists today, especially among female teachers. For example, @hey_missteacher on instagram posts daily outfit checks, and hate comments are rampant in her comment section, praying for her to get fired over…liking fashion.
Personally, if I were to create a public account where I have an audience, I would choose to keep as much of myself out of it as possible. The less fans know, the less they can hate on, and the less information can be used against me. Think, Tame Impala:
PLN & Education
Rather than relying on professional development opportunities, educators all around the world can now create discourse through social media. From engaging in simple conversations to exchanging lessons and research, social media allows educators to broaden their PLN and stay in touch with those connections. Alec Couros outlines the strategies for developing a PLN (Couros, 2010):
Immerse yourself by using social media to grow an understanding of how it works and how it can be utilized in a variety of ways.
Strengthen PLN connections through both sharing content/resources and commenting on the content shared by others.
Get to know the people within your PLN, their backgrounds, skills, and expertise.
However, the speed of which things travel on social media can limit the effectiveness of digital platforms. I remember when there was a trend of having “minimalist classrooms,” where everything was beige. What kind of 5 year old wants to spend everyday in a completely beige room? Social media favours virality, creating an environment where best practice can be tossed out the window in favour of a fad.
I think social media definitely gets a bad reputation from an educational perspective. For example, social media propagates slang more than anything else I’ve seen. Harry Dyer mentions in his TEDTalk that social media is often looked at as something causing a downword trend in language, with slang like lowkirkuinely (lowkey+charlie kirk+genuinely) being used widely in social spheres (Dyer, 2016). While some educators look at this as “brainrot,” I see it as people online using language to its fullest extent, both creatively and critically. As society changes and progresses, “language survives and thrives and evolves” (Dyer, 2016).
Unfortunately, vulnerable people are taken advantage of on social media. Too many elders get scammed online and, with the boom of AI, this is only going to get worse. It is so important that we not only educate our students, but also our grandparents and older members of the community. They never got the chance to learn about the internet or digital identities or social media, so it is our job to share our knowledge and help out the older people around us, even if it’s as simple as helping someone figure out how to use a loyalty card (I used to be a “Scene Plus Ambassador” and that was basically my whole job).
In sum, a PLN is about participating in spaces that increase your learning. Being media-literate encourages life-long learning and ensures we won’t get stuck in an echo chamber where untrue beliefs about the world become tied to our identity as people. Media literacy is not a surplus skill, but something that needs to be taught not only in school, but in community gatherings and spaces where vulnerable people live and visit.
This week I explored Visitor and Resident (V&R) Mappin. V&R Mapping was first introduced by White and Le Cornu in First Monday (2011) and is a way to “make our online lives and motivations visible in a form which can be reflected upon” (White & Le Cornu, 2017, 4.2 Significance). These maps use a cartesian plane to visualize the familiarity and intention behind an individual’s use of an online platform. The x-axis goes from Visitor (using the platform to complete a task) to Resident (“living in” and creating on the platform) and the y-axis represents Personal (used for hobbies/connecting with friends) to Institutional (used for work/school) (White & Le Cornu, 2017). Creating my own V&R Map allowed me to reflect deeply on which online platforms I use, and how I use them.
Unsurprisingly, most of the digital platforms I use fall into the Personal-Resident category. What can I say, I love to critique movies, make ultra-specific curated playlists, and use YouTube to (privately) store every video I’ve ever taken. As for Personal-Visitor platforms, I really only use Pinterest to look for painted nail inspiration and Duolingo to learn Spanish. Lastly, for the Institution-Resident quarter, I put Google Docs and WordPress, as I use those for school, and (maybe surprising) Facebook, as I only use it for the Red Robin Shift Changes group!
Using a V&N Map allows me to take a step back from the platforms I call home and look at my digital identity from a different perspective. Looking at my map, I realize that I have a strong online presence, from common social medias like Instagram to more niche platforms like Letterboxd and Twitch. However, my digital identity is tied mostly to the Personal-Resident quarter, leaving room for future professional connections. While platforms like YouTube and Discord can definitely be used to cultivate a professional learning network, the truth is that I’m just not using them for that purpose. I use YouTube to upload my montages and Discord to call with my friends while we play Minecraft…
I have not intentionally created a professional learning network online. Luckily, the platforms I do use offer this opportunity for connecting with other educators/resources (especially on Instagram) and researching different teaching practices/lessons (especially on YouTube). I think that if a future employer assessed my social media presence, with me providing opportunity to view my profiles online, they would see a creative person with many passionate hobbies…but little information about my teaching philosophies, practices, or experience. However, if an employer were to just search my name up online, they would find very little, if anything at all, about me. Everything I post online is private and I never use my full name… This is important because the digitalization of our world “has modified professional roles and is changing the nature of learning and employment” for us all (White & Le Cornu, 2017, 4.2 Significance).
My personal Instagram account
Growing up, my parents were very on me to be conscious about my online presence, always telling me that social media is for the people you already know, so they don’t need your last name. This stuck with me for ever, from using candy-themed usernames back in middle school to my current use of “emmakailyn” on most/all platforms instead of my full name. I think having data privacy and security hammered into me from a young age made me more intentional with what information I share online and how I use content to represent myself. However, I feel like this anxiety of oversharing online may have limited potential connections outside of my friendsphere, especially more professional connections. Platforms where professional connections are at the forefront (like LinkedIn) allow individuals to create a digital reputation, shaped by their posts, on a site used by many employers. Maybe it is time to finally sign up for a LinkedIn account…
While these online platforms allow for professionals to collaborate with one another and share and consume resources/research, Regan and Jesse (2019) warn that the online algorithms can lead to echo chambers where students are “subtly tracked into learning paths that machine learning algorithms, rather than teachers or parents, decide are best for them” (Regen & Jesse, 2019, p. 178). This reminds me, as a future educator, that building a Personal Learning Network (PLN) online is more than just connecting with and learning from the people we surround ourselves with, but also about being critical when consuming content online and, as an educator, ensuring I provide students with the right tools to be a critical thinker in a digital landscape.
PLN – Inclusion and Community Engagement
I think that the question of “how diverse is your PLN?” is a hard one to answer. I think my PLN is becoming more diverse each day, as I learn from new people, new experiences, old friends with new experiences, old friends recalling old experiences… and so on and so forth. My PLN is expanding and diversifying every day, and yet, in the grand scheme of things, it is probably too homogenous, too similar.
Cinque Terre, Italy. Photo credit: Emma Turner
Something that has expanding my personal learning network more than ever is my privilege and love of travelling. Once I graduated high school, I began working full time as a cashier to bank my funds and travel the world. It was through this experience that I really felt I grew up, into not only an adult but the person I am today. Travelling showed me just how big the world really is, and allowed me to experience new languages and cultures I would never have had the opportunity to connect with if I had stayed in Canada. Throughout my travels, I have been able to chat with and learn from people all over the world.
Of course, my PLN is diversified as well due to my online friends, as they share with me perspectives and experiences that are so completely unique to their lives. For instance, a couple of years ago my friend Nae, who lives in Indonesia, texted me because there was a camel in the parkade she was in. I thought she was joking. Lo and behold: the camel in the parkade.
These kind of experiences taught me to approach the unknown with curiosity and the want to learn more, rather than assumptions based on my lived experiences. So my PLN exposes me to diverse voices, but I think there are so many more voices missing. Sure I have friends from the other side of the world, but we still listen to the exact same music, speak English, exist in the same community of queer women…we are more similar than we are different. All the ocean does is separate us physically. As Dr Shelley Moore reminds me, “inclusion is finding the balance between belonging in communities of identity and communities of diversity” (Moore, 2025, “Inclusion is Not Assimilation”).
So I think my answer to how diverse my PLN is, is going to be “not very much.” I am drawn to my current connections through comfort in identity and commonalities, but am lacking in the diversity department, and therefore lacking in the opportunity to further learn from others.
2026-2027 EdSA Executive team (I’m the bottom right)! Photo credit: @UVicEdSA on Instagram
A learning outcome of my PLN is to learn from others around me to become a better educator. I want to be inclusive, kind, passionate, and a good teacher. However, as Dr Shelley Moore reminds me, the want to be inclusive is not enough, as she notes that she has “never stepped into a school whose mission statement values segregation and exclusion, [but has] seen, in many schools, students experiencing all of exclusion, segregation, integration, and inclusion depending on the day, time, teacher, support staff, subject area, and grade” (Moore, 2016, p. 17). This reminds me that inclusion is an active task, where “100% of the time we are striving to be more inclusive” (Moore, 2016, p. 33).
One of the greatest way I expand my PLN to meet this goal is through my work at UVic’s Education Student Association (EdSA) where I have been an executive member for three years. Working on EdSA has allowed me to connect with faculty, students, and teachers/psychologists in the local community to further build my pedagogical knowledge. As Dr Shelley Moore notes that her understanding of inclusion is continously expanding, I remind myself that diversifying my PLN is a lifelong task that will allow me to create inclusive learning environments for my future students (Moore, 2025, “Inclusion is Not Assimilation”).
Evolution of Thinking; re: Inclusion and PLN
After reading, watching, and reflecting on the material this week, I have come to see my PLN as less of a collection of people I know, and more of the values and philosophies I reflect, showing what biases may impact my future teaching. The use of social media and digital platforms have transformed the way educators all across the world can share resources, lesson plans, and learn from people they would have never had the opportunity to connect with otherwise. Whether this happens through Instagram reels, LinkedIn, or Discord, it allows for collaboration, and therefore further opportunities to challenge one’s previous biases, supporting inclusion and equity in the classroom.
Simultaneously, social media challenges communications due to the capitalistic greed of social algorithms, designed to keep you engaged and doom-scrolling forever. Developers want to keep you on their app, and they’ll do whatever it takes: even if that means changing your algorithm to encompass only extreme takes and controversial content. Marginalized voices and smaller creators are tossed to the side in favour of viral videos.
From an objective standpoint, social media is designed to be inclusive: it connects people from all walks of life, all around the world, allowing everyone to use the internet how they prefer. However, with anonymity comes negativity, with users often turning to harrassment like racism, sexism, and homophobia on any post that’s not by a cis white man. So, subjectively, I think social media is rather exclusive, favouring the oppressors, and lacking the necessary tools to ensure users cannot be terrible people just because they’re behind a screen. While employers look for and expect their employees to be respectful online, the truth is that hateful people will be hateful, and too many users have fake, no-profile picture accounts to disconnect themselves from their real life online.
Before this, I have never really considered whether or not the people I surround myself by and learn from amplifies the view of others. I think of myself more like a sponge, absorbing information from every facet around me, but never quite creating content to amplify marginalized voices. For example, I am passionately anti-genocide and occupation (as you’d assume everyone would be…) and thus am very pro-Palestine, from spending time researching Palestinian culture and circumstances to attending Palestine protests in both Victoria and Quebec. However, I have never used online platforms to share my research, protest information, or anything pro-Palestine. I write this off as my use of social media being a collage of my life, but I think, moving forward, I could be a lot more intentional with amplifying voices.
In sum, a diverse and inclusive PLN ensures that we are continously learning, instead of hitting a stalemate echo chamber where everyone around us shares the same thought process. As a future educator, connecting with others within the teaching community allows me to learn from a variety of teaching styles, philosophies, and cultures, creating a more inclusive and equitable environment for my students, and making me a better teacher!
Growing up in the digital generation, most of my life has been memorialized on social media. My mom (like most women in their mid 40s) is an avid Facebook user who has been posting on the platform since 2007. As a result, my life is documented via pictures and stories on her profile. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree either, as I love using Instagram as a digital diary, Letterboxd to critique films, and YouTube to privately post an abundance of videos and montages to look back on. It’s rare to find someone completely disconnected from social media. As Karl Spracklen notes in “Identity-Making and Social Media,” the internet has become a space where people form community and find a sense of belonging. Social media, to me, is a time capsule, scrapbook, and diary all in one.
My most recent Letterboxd review…
On the other hand, I think social media fuels self-obsession, or, at the very least, self-facination. I know I am guilty of this. I will perfectly curate an Instagram story, fitted with the perfect 10-second sample of my newest song obsession, and once I post it, I will rewatch that story a handful of times. It’s not like I’m checking who watched it or who liked it; it’s not like I forgot what I posted. Instead, it’s my own self-facination, my digital ego. In creating that story, I became my target audience. The chosen song is my favourite song, the picture is my favourite picture. In sum, I have created the perfect story, that I enjoy watching… so I watch it… again… and again… and again… And it seems like many people do the same, cue the following Instagram reel:
What I’m trying to say with all of this is that I tend to think of my digital identity as a portfolio of my creativity, my curated posts, my lived experiences. What I fail to recognize is that this portfolio is not fully authentic, but curated for an audience, even if I think that audience is me. My presence online has been in the works since 2007 and is a collection of the playlists I’ve made, the reels I’ve liked, the movie reviews I’ve commented on, and more. It extends past myself as an individual, and into how my engagement on the internet intersects with others. Interesting to note, Jawed, Mahboob, and Yasmeen found in “Dear Internet! Who Am I?” that this interaction actually reduces interpersonal communication skills, rather than providing a space to develop and strengthen them.
It is incredible how you can form connections with people on the other side of the world through social media. When the world shut down in 2021, I was cooped up inside everyday and started talking to a group of girls from Calgary, India, Indonesia, and California on Discord because we all had the same favourite band. Now, five years later, I still talk to those same girls every day. (And I’ve even met one of them!)
Photo credit: Emma Turner (me, in Toronto, seeing that very band last year!)
You can now build connections anywhere, at any time, and with anyone around the globe. It’s powerful and scary and beautiful all at the same time. Jane Hart defines this communicatory network as the “trusted connections with whom an individual interacts (and learns from) on a regular basis” (as quoted in “What are Personal Learning Networks”). Danah Boyd reiterates this idea, claiming that we are solely “the product of the people we know.” Engagement on the web may seem insignificant or minute in the grand scheme of things, but it’s clear that every like/comment/post impacts both yourself and the people within your network.
I enjoy a good Reel scroll in my free time and often come across professional social media accounts. Gone are the days of cold calling, and now instead, real estate agents make edits of houses on the market. Social media gives these professionals the opportunity to broaden their skills through discussions with experts and access to online courses, workshops, and conferences, turning social media into a learning environment. But can those same professionals fully disconnect themselves from their personal identity online? I don’t think, in this age, you can fully, 100% separate your professional presence with your personal one. A professional social media can lead employers to hire you, based off of the content you post, but this can also lead to personal social media ending careers, re: cancel culture.
While the idea of “cancelling” someone can definitely seem just, I’ve seen it used to define who is allowed to make mistakes and who deserves to lose their career. I’ve found that women are far more criticized than men in the public eye, and public criticism is warped by power influences in society: intersectionality plays a crude role in who is allowed to combine the personal and professional. Take, for instance, the idea that Donald Trump can post any AI-generated racist video he wants, Chris Brown is still selling out arenas after abusing women, but Chappell Roan was “cancelled” for having security detail keep children away from her at a hotel.
So while social media provides a number of opportunities to connect with brands, find customers, share ideas, and connect with other like-minded people, it can also sweep the rug out from under your feet. In the spotlight of online, where everyone can be anonymous, it is the users vs you. Misunderstandings and previous bias from societal power influences can make or break a public image.
Everything you post, interact with, and consume adds to your digital identity. There is no longer a separation between the professional and the personal, and there is no deleting something once it’s out on the internet. As Danah Boyd states in the 2012 “Networked Privacy:” “the future is only going to be more networked [and] more interwoven.” The future is now.
So it’s important to reiterate Jawed, Mahboob, and Yasmeen (2019)’s point on how it is critical to incorporate the concept of digital identity and internet safety into the curriculum. Students must be armed with knowledge on what it truly means to put your life online, and how your digital identity can affect those around you. Your digital identity is the communities you engage with and the ideas you reinforce, encompassing your entire life. The internet is no longer separate from “real life,” and should be treated as a part of our society and a part of our education system.
Hello! I’m Emma, a fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Education programme at UVic, concurrently working on my Information Technology Certificate, although I do plan on getting my Master of Education as well. I’m a 21 year-old rockstar, born, raised, and currently living in beautiful Victoria BC. Objectively, I speak only English, but in my heart I speak many more languages.
Photo credit: Emma Turner
I seldom have free time, between school, working, dancing, and spending time with friends/family. I am a proud executive member of the Education Students’ Association, where I coordinate events and opportunities for all Education students at UVic! I love to travel, and most recently spent time in England and France, then backpacked Italy and Quebec. I also love camping, gaming, reading, and critiquing movies, and I personally consider “goofing around” and “having a good time” two very important hobbies in my life.
My dream is to own lakefront property, where I drive a boat to school to teach everyday. I would be exactly like the teacher from School of Rock and my 4/5 students would be the new-and-improved Pink Floyd. Lastly, I’m a math fiend and will do anything I can to get my hands on some math. I most recently took two extra courses outside of our program, Logic and Foundations and Calculus I, just to expand my horizons a little. It was awesome and I can’t wait to take more.
For my EDCI 335 Interactive Learning Resource, I created a Social Studies 8 unit that delves into life in the Late Middle Ages of Europe, hosted on Google Classroom!
Hi Sasha! I really loved how you emphasized how important the shift away from “one-size-fits-all” is when you broke down the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Your point about agency is so valuable: UDL is not just about accessibility, but about empowering students to take ownership of their learning.
It’s interesting that you prefer synchronous online classes, I’m the exact opposite. I think this goes to show how important it is to have options, so learners can choose what sort of class works best for them. I really like your suggestion of blending the two approaches to focus on flexibility AND connection, and I think that would be a strong idea that benefits all parties.
Your ideas for increasing interaction when teaching online were fantastic. Collaborative and playful elements like Kahoot not only help with learning, but also build community, which is something that online spaces tend to lack. In sum, your blog post really highlighted why inclusive design matters: not only to support students with barriers, but to create a better learning environment for everyone!
Hi Max! I love how you broke down the three UDL principles and connected them to your own educational experiences. Your tutoring example really shows how Multiple Means of Representation can transform a students confidence and comprehension. I absolutely loved your story about the wig too. It showed that inclusion doesn’t always have to be elaborate and small moments can have the most meaningful impact.
Your breakdown of synchronous vs asynchronous learning was super clear, and I enjoyed reading about the hybrid model you had in your EPHE course. It goes to show how these two approaches can support each other, providing structure with flexibility, designed with accessibility in mind.
In sum, your blog post highlighted the idea that UDL is more than just a framework, but a mindset too, preaching belonging and inclusivity.
Hi Sophia! I really loved the way you weaved together UDL, Inclusive Learning Design, and Synchronous vs Asynchronous learning. I especially liked how you acknowledged the global evolution of UDL, illustrating how this idea grows beyond a western context. As a dancer myself, I absolutely loved the tortoise vs hare dance and I think this was a fantastic contribution to your talking points.
It’s so true than many of us only recognized the strength of asynchronous formats once we were immersed in them during the Covid-19 pandemic. I loved hearing how anonymous collaboration increased student voice in your Psychology class. This really demonstrates how digital tools can make learning feel safer in a non-judgmental environment. Overall, this post really highlighted how, when educators design with inclusion in mind, every student becomes more likely to succeed.
As hit alt-rock band, Twenty One Pilots, says, “Intentions are everything.”
This line has its place in the classroom, as effective learning design stems from intentionality. The best learning spaces are built with diverse learners in mind from the start, instead of continuously retrofitting design with each student. This idea of intentionality sits at the forefront of inclusive, engaging, and effective design in educational practice.
Universal Design for Learning is a concept that has come up in every single education class I have taken at UVic. UDL is the idea that learner diversity is the norm, rather than the exception. Every student comes into the classroom with a unique set of skills, needs, experiences, and worldview, so designing with this in mind from the very beginning ensures that no one is left behind.
UDL has three principles:
Multiple Means of Engagement – WHY
Options for: recruiting interest, sustaining effort and persistence, and self-regulation
Multiple Means of Representation – WHAT
Options for: perception, language and symbols, and comprehension
Multiple Means of Action and Expression – HOW
Options for: physical action, expression and communication, and executive functions
One way I’ve used UDL is in my Link2Practice. I was in a Grade 4/5 class and we had two students who struggled with writing. When planning for English Language Arts assignments, I used UDL principles to value their diverse ways of showcasing their understanding. For one student, he struggled with the actual printing part of writing, so I had him type up assignments for ELA. The second student struggled with the connection between her thoughts and forming sentences, so I had her say her ideas orally while I scribed for her. By allowing learners to feel seen in how they can demonstrate their learning, they are far more likely to feel motivated and succeed.
Inclusive Learning Design
Inclusive Learning Design builds off of the concepts of UDL by recognizing that inclusion is not just about accessibility, but also representation. The importance of representation is something I heard about a lot while I was growing up, but what that actually means didn’t click until I was much older. When I was younger, I remember watching TV shows and movies because they had a singular, non-main character who was queer. I would watch this media for that background character, for that semblance of queerness. When I reflected on this as a teenager, the importance of representation clicked for me. I was a queer person looking for other queer people in the media I was watching, craving that relatability that every other white girl had.
I think I’ve seen Glee (it its entirety) more times than I have fingers
The idea of representation in the classroom is so important, and can be integrated to allow students to feel valid in their identities and like they belong, by:
Using diverse media/authors
Offer culturally-responsive examples
Ensure students see themselves in the materials provided
Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning
Both synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (not-real-time) learning have their own benefits. Synchronous classes build opportunity for connection and a chance to correct misconceptions immediately, while asynchronous classes offer a more accessible learning space and time for reflection. To reap the benefits, educators can combine these, enhancing inclusion for students with busy schedules and differing learning speeds by offering multiple ways to participate.
My experience with asynchronous learning began alongside many others, during the Covid-19 Pandemic. My classes went fully online when I was in Grade 10, and I found that I procrastinated all of my work until the very last two days, when I spent 48 hours doing a semester worth of assignments. In High School, I figured asynchronous learning worked better for me because it had hard deadlines.
What I spent my time doing in 2020, instead of my classes
In University, I began commuting to school, 1.5h each way. With set 8:30am classes each morning and no flexibility, I found that synchronous classes were my downfall. I work every night, so at most I get about 6 hours of sleep, because all my time goes into commuting rather that learning. Asynchronous classes work so much better for me, because I can put time into learning, doing the work, and being engaged (rather than overtired, but in class) over just commuting back and forth.
So we get this interesting sort of juxtaposition between my experiences with asynchronous classes. When looking back, what I think it really boils down to is design. My Covid classes were designed to be synchronous, so they felt unengaging and unmotivating when taken asynchronously, while my University classes were asynchronous by design, and thus feel educating and significant
Principles of Effective Online Education
In order for online learning to be meaningful and effective, it must be clear, consistent, and connective. Well-designed online environments should be just as structured as they are flexible, by aligning assignments and assessments clearly with learning outcomes. By having criteria and goals accessible, students can focus on learning rather than unveiling expectations.
Including accessible features like captioned videos and multimodal instructions makes learning more accessible for everyone. One of my biggest grievances with assigned videos in classes is when they lack captions. I find that I remember topics much better when I’m reading captions rather than just listening to a video, because I have to more actively participate in my own learning. As well, in asynchronous courses, it’s much easier to screenshot captions for later than rewriting everything currently being said.
Benefits of captions:
Assist hearing-impaired
Benefit learners multimodally
Support ESL students
This goes to show the impact of inclusive education, and the reason that there is no “average student,” because accessibility benefits everyone.
When educating online, presence is everything and interaction is priceless. This can be seen as having instructors who are actively engaged in the learning experience, whether it’s responding to discussions, returning work with feedback in a timely manner, or sharing lived experiences. This presence isn’t about availability, but rather being intentional with connection.
Even when asynchronous, educators can design an engaging learning space by ensuring it includes all three modes of interaction:
Student-Content (connecting with material)
Student-Student (collaboration)
Student-Teacher (guidance and feedback)
Most important when learning asynchronously (and often shoved on the backburner) is the collaborative practices of learning. By having students peer review, discuss together, and work in group projects, learning becomes a community experience.
Meaningful presence and interaction foster trust in the learning process. Trust invites risk-taking, pushing past comfort zones, and growing. Through this, we get an authentic and significant learning experience.
Conclusion
Teaching is not about having a perfect plan, but it is about having a responsive one. Learning design is a circular process which must be continuously revisited and refined. Through processes like UDL and Inclusive Learning Design, we can make intentional and meaningful educational spaces, whether that means coming together in the classroom or working independently in an online space.
Hi Sasha! I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on this module and your explanation of Backward Design and Understanding by Design, especially how you connected it to Jennifer Gonzalez’s Cult of Pedagogy podcast! You really hammered in that teaching is most effective when we start with the why and plan with a purpose.
I loved reading your reflection on inquiry-based and project-based learning. Hearing that, while you didn’t connect with the class novel, you really got into the novel-based trivia game is so awesome and goes to show that the design methods we are learning really make a difference when put into practice. I would’ve loved for you to go deeper into what assessment looks like for inquiry and project-based learning. While a class-made rubric is great for summative assessment, I wonder how self-reflection and formative assessment can be incorporated.
This blog post was engaging, succinct, and does a great job outlining different design methods and how they are interconnected. I can’t wait to read your next one!
Hi Max! I really enjoyed reading your blog post, especially how reflective and personal your thoughts on these design theories were! Connecting the Understanding by Design model with your lived experience this term really captures the key point of design models like this, and how it allows both teachers and learners alike to plan with intention.
Your example of the carnival game you and your out-of-school-care kids created is such a fun and authentic use of Design Thinking in action. I loved how you laid out your process, walking us (as in the readers) through the stages, showing how this framework really works in teaching. It’s great to see how empathy can lead to more meaningful engagement and, sometimes, even new carnival games!
Your learning-by-doing mountain biking example was such a great anecdote for experiential learning. It ties in so well with the theme of your post and really shows that true growth comes from curiosity and reflection, not rote memorization.
