As I mapped out my technology use, I wasn’t overly surprised that I was heavily on the resident side. I have been developing my digital presence for a while. It actually started after “meeting” a couple of Royal Roads Alumni Chad Flinn and Tim Carson on Twitter, of all places. After that I started to use social media like Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn a lot more.
I began to use social media actively both for personal and professional growth. It was through these channels that I created my own community of practices with trades professors, post secondary professors and just educators in general. By doing this. It has allowed me to grow as a teacher, learning from so many like minded individuals. That led to me doing a live video over YouTube on Trades Education and creating my own podcast called Trades Educator Podcast.
Creating my own podcast on education has been my little baby. I have always said, “it’s my free education”. I have grown by interviewing not just trades educators but educators all across post-secondary. With my podcast and all my social media accounts, I have also tried to give back to the trades. I have done this by promoting Trades Education as an equally great educational pathway alongside college and university. It is because of all this time spent over the internet, that my presence has greatly increased.
My digital presence has now grown to a level that when I meet people for the first time, they say, “I know you. You are very active on Twitter” or” I heard your podcast”. When they share their stories it makes me feel good and reinforces why I do it. It helps me to continuously learn more and grow as an educator and a person.
Hi Edward,
Great post! Guess what – you were the first person from our program with whom I connected on Twitter! I’ve also been developing my online presence over the last few years, and I’ve discovered that Twitter and LinkedIn in particular are excellent platforms for networking and connecting with a larger community.
It’s also fantastic how you’re promoting trades education through social media and your podcast! I believe that trades education has not received the attention it deserves as a viable option for post-secondary education. I believe that initiatives such as yours can help increase awareness of this postsecondary option for students.
Best,
Shazia
Shazia thanks for your comment on my post. Since the pandemic started, using to Twitter to network and brainstorm new ideas for my work has been amazing! It can open so many doors. You can find like minded people to connect with and learn/grow. I have even made some great friends but we still haven’t met in person
Thanks for sharing your experiences with technology, particularly with social media. They have inspired me to expand my professional presence beyond LinkedIn, a platform I don’t particularly like. How would you recommend getting started on Twitter? I have an account but find it cumbersome to navigate. I would love to begin some kind of Twitter group for new immigrant students, particularly from Asia. Finally, how do you juggle your personal life and keeping up with Twitter and your podcasts? Cheers!
Hi Marion, thanks for your comments. Social media can have both positive and negatives effects. I have found it easier to focus on my professional side while using most of them. It helps to make the experience most positive. I started my network on Twitter by following like minded individual in the education space. First I started to connect with trades educators like myself and slowly started connecting with other amazing educators from K-12 to post-secondary. You can use Twitter for groups by creating hashtags the your group can follow, share and stay connected.
Juggling my work, social media, podcasts, presenting at workshops and family has been very hard. I had to learn to carve out pieces for each. My work and family got the biggest pieces of course. Since the new year I have stopped my podcast. I took it off my plate to put the masters on instead. Cheers!
Interesting post – I appreciate the reflection on the roots of your increased “Resident” status.
This makes me wonder if deep engagement in online participatory culture requires something of a purposeful, strategic approach for many people. I am going to have a look at the literature to see what has been studied on the topic.