** My map is a PDF. It make take a moment to populate.
My visual network map identifies the various connections I have. I was surprised by how many connections I have. I was also surprised to see the mix of individuals, networks and groups, via
teams. I placed myself in the middle of my network map because I have control over how I interact with all platforms and with the various versions of community I have.
This map shows I have four main areas of attention; advocacy, professor, student, wellness.
On one side, mostly the left, are personal elements. Conversely, on the right are my professional elements. Each of the platforms can be used for any purpose in many ways,
however, I was surprised to see such a clear line regarding which platform I use for what purpose.
Facebook is to communicate with close friends and family. In my case FB only has true friends and family. When I look at their friends, most have many hundreds, one person has
1800. That indicates they most likely use FB as an actual social network while I use it privately.
LinkedIn is used industry related relationships and to browse through to see if there is anything worth reading or responding to.
Twitter is not for personal use the way facebook is for me; I am protective of my privacy so my account is locked down. I follow quite a few accounts, for news from around the
world or industry related information.
In their study around facebook use for education, Bicen & Uzunboylu worked with educators who had used facebook and those who had not. The results reported show that facebook is a valid
learning platform option for educators.
Could make learning more enjoyable; helps teachers and students to know each other better via the profile pages; could increase students’ motivation by allowing them to communicate with each
other; encourages colleagues to learn more; could increase students’ will to learn by sharing extra resources about their homework; helps students to find out what goes on in the world through daily
news; enables them to share information about scientific studies (Bicen & Uzunboylu 2013).
Keeping the possible academic uses for facebook in mind, there are a few questions worth further research: Do I want to extend the boundaries of the platforms I use? Do I want
to create professional public versions of the platforms I use? Should I research other platforms I may find useful? Are there components I could use for educational purposes? If I
want to continue to grow as an educator, perhaps I should consider a deeper look at my methods now and see if social networks could help me be more creative and engage
students in a positive way.
References
Bicen., N., & Uzunboylu., N (2013). Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 19, no. 5. The Use of Social Networking Sites in Education: A Case Study of Facebook.
Retrieved June 11, 2021 from http://www.jucs.org/jucs_19_5/the_use_of_social/jucs_19_05_0658_0671_bicen.pdf