Hi Chad, thank you for your well-rounded post! Your explanation of the approach you take to protecting your online information is very detailed and thorough, which I appreciate. I especially liked how you moved beyond technical safeguards to emphasize the ethical dimensions of digital behaviour, such as verifying sources and engaging respectfully during disagreements. This connection between privacy and integrity felt especially relevant in today’s climate of misinformation. I wonder how your strong focus on digital ethics has influenced your expectations of others in online discussions, and more specifically how you respond when others don’t meet those expectations (e.g. if encounter misinformation or you see someone promoting disrespectful dialogue).

Hi Bailey, thank you for your reflective post! You did an awesome job tying your personal and professional growth to your PLN use for outfit inspiration—look good feel good do good! You also listed some great actionable tips when it comes to digital privacy and ethical behaviour online. Cropping out something as small as a house number is something I had never thought about before but will definitely start doing. Also, your reference to O’Reilly et al. and how there is a lack of empathy in digital spaces really stood out to me. I’ve noticed it seems like people online are desensitized to seeing events of mass casualties or tragedies because whenever I check the comment sections on posts, I always see people making jokes or not acknowledging the severity of the situation. The most recent example that comes to mind is the unfortunate shooting that took place in a business building in New York. I saw a lot of people were making jokes about how to victims deserved it because they worked for a large investment company, but that’s insane to be saying because at the end of the day a life was lost, and that was someone’s child. I think along with the absence of social cues affecting empathetic responses, people also seem to feel an inflated sense of anonymity and confidence typing behind their screens, and they don’t think before they speak. Overall, your post does a great job demonstrating how digital safety, empathy, and responsibility all go hand-in-hand in creating a respectful environment for everyone online.

https://bvillares.opened.ca/digital-spaces-for-all-udls-diversity-and-inclusivity

Hi Ben, thank you for your detailed post! I liked how you explained the roles that LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube have in your PLN. I especially appreciated how you listed the specific subreddits you like to frequent. I’m also in the HINF program and those look like really awesome resources, I’ll definitely it make a point to check them out! Your tips on data privacy and ethics are also very strong as well and I find them practical and easy to follow. Additionally, your point about confirming resources before sharing is so important. In an era of rampant misinformation online, it’s imperative that we make sure we aren’t contributing to the spread of misinformation. I wonder if you could further add on to your post by explaining your approach to building a PLN through social media, specifically what criteria do you have when deciding if an online space is trustworthy/valuable/worthwhile? Overall, you do a great job of touching on all the prompts and blending together your own personal tips, reflections, and real-world applications. Great work!

Hi Bailey, thank you for your thoughtfully written post! I’ve definitely noticed how when I click on one ad I start to see it everywhere. Also, I’ve noticed that when I search one thing up (either on Google or TikTok), I start to get recommendations for it everywhere as well and it feels like I can’t escape it. It’s crazy to think about how much of our data is harvested to tailor our search feeds to exactly what we want to see.

The study you linked by Regan and Jesse also brings up an interesting point as I can see why there’s difficulties in definitively saying who owns the data collected by the EdTech companies. Something as small as how long a student takes to answer a question is something I never considered as data that could be collected to predict student learning patterns. It really does show much data we unknowingly give away and how it can be used to shape our educational experiences. I wonder if you could expand on what role schools and educators should play in making students more aware of these practices?

Your list of recommendations at the end was also super helpful and I will definitely be more mindful of what privacy measures I take to protect my personal information online after reading your post.

https://bvillares.opened.ca/navigating-my-digital-identity-reflecting-on-my-online-learning-experience

Hi Ben! Thank you for your thoughtful reflection on your personal learning experience and how you’ve navigated managing your own digital identity. The tips you shared to protect your personal privacy online are very helpful and are steps that I also try to follow in my own digital privacy routine. If I were to add another step to your routine when using new social media websites, I would suggest managing cookie preferences as well by not accepting optional cookies and only allowing strictly necessary cookies. This can limit the amount of data that platforms collect on you for advertising or other purposes.

I also like the way your website is organized and how you mention the various hobbies you’re interested in on your “About Me” page. Additionally, you make great use of different types of multimedia in your blog posts and I found that the videos you linked greatly contributed to my understanding of what the differences between personal and professional digital identity are.

Hi Bailey, I really enjoyed reading your post! I like your point about the role social media has in an educational space as I’ve also used Instagram to connect with my group members before. I find it much more convenient than waiting for a response back from an email or coordinating with everyone’s schedules to discuss in-person. I also find the point you make about separating your personal and professional identity very smart! Having your personal accounts set to private is a good way of filtering who you want viewing your posts, and having a public professional profile on LinkedIn is a great way to control exactly what you want future employers seeing. Your blog post is already great as is but one thing to possibly consider would be to add different multimedia like photos or videos to further strengthen the points you want to make!

Hi Carson! Thank you for your well-written post on how social media and technology have reshaped our shopping habits and how we consume media online. The point you make about Gen Z is interesting to think about as we’ve grown up not really knowing a world without these technological advancements, compared to the previous generations. I really liked how you mentioned COVID-19 as a key contributing factor that has affected online sales/engagement. Personally, when COVID-19 hit, I remember I was spending an insane amount on food delivery services and online shopping out of pure boredom. I also remember spending an ungodly amount of time on my phone, my screen time had to have been at least 15 hours a day at times. I wonder if you could further build upon the point you make on online sales becoming more popular and normal. One factor I think that greatly contributes to this is the rise of online influencers who are constantly posting “hauls” about items they’ve bought, which encourage consumers to purchase the same items as well.

https://bvillares.opened.ca/the-uprising-of-the-digital-age-my-experience-in-an-educational-setting

Hi Ben, thank you for your post on your experience with social media in education! I appreciate how you addressed both the benefits as well as the challenges that come with using social media in education as it can be a tricky area to navigate. While social media definitely can be distracting, I agree that it can be very useful when communicating with peers about course work. I also found your discussion about misinformation online really important as that’s something I touched on in my blog post as well. Misinformation spreads especially fast on social media platforms when people parrot things they’ve seen/heard without verifying it first. Especially with the advancements in AI, it can be really hard to distinguish what’s real and what’s fabricated. I wonder if you could also discuss another strategy that students can use to evaluate the credibility of sources they find online, beyond just looking for sources that utilization citations. Overall, great job! I can tell you have very strong writing skills.