Networking
Learning Outcomes:
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Describe your professional identity
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Define a professional learning network
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Describe ways to reach out to people through social media
General Overview
Similar to curating your professional learning community (PLC), networking with individual people is just as important to professional development. Networking allows you to build personal relationships with professionals in similar or different fields, different work levels, and different industries. It can give you insight about the possibilities in which you can apply your LTEC degree.
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networking (verb)
interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts (Google definition)
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In this section, we will explore your professional identity, your professional goals and trajectory, and the advantages of creating a professional learning network.
Your Professional Identity
Before we discuss how to network with individual people in your community, it is important to look at the self.
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Thoughtful questions:
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What does my online presence look like to other people?
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What kind of information am I presenting and does it represent my professional identity?
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When it comes to social media, one concern is differentiating private and public life. This is especially challenging for academics when developing their online identity for certain audiences such as employers and professional colleagues, students, and family and friends (Carrigan, 2020). You can choose to utilize certain social media platforms to connect with certain people and determine what kind of information you want to provide for that network.
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In addition to your identity, your professional purpose can determine what information you want to provide and which social media platforms to use. Some purposes include:
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Learning about different industries (i.e. health, education, technology, journalism)
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Finding a mentor in a particular position (i.e. senior instructional designer, learning executives)
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Connecting with specific researchers
Activity - Define your professional identity
Without taking too much time, think about what is relevant to your professional life. The list below are suggestions out of Social Media for Academics, Second Edition (Carrigan, 2020):
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Your institutional affiliation (with institutional disclaimer stating that your social media is your own personal opinions, not representative of the institution)
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Your research interests
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Other accounts you're involved with (associations)
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Your personal interests
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Hashtags you contribute to
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An additional website
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You can also add your:
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Current workplace
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Prior work experience
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Educational degrees
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Publications
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Professional profile picture--especially if you have a common name--this way you are searchable and identifiable
Professional Learning Network
Similar to a professional learning community (PLC), a professional learning network (PLN) can help you get connected with professionals in LTEC-related fields. By building relationships with people in different fields and different job titles, you have the ability to gain insight, inspiration, share experiences and practices, and learn from your peers and mentors.
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Below is a 6-minute video of Natalie Perez, a third-year Ph.D. student in the LTEC Department, describing her experience developing a PLN.
"Many teachers on digital platforms start out as recipients of ideas and resources. As they begin to interact online and become comfortable doing so, they also begin sharing their own experience and resources, and before they know it, they’ve become an inspiration to others."
Activity - How do you reach out to professionals?
Without targeting a specific social media platform, you can develop your PLN by:
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reaching out to someone you know or met in-person
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connecting with a researcher or author of an interesting article
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messaging an LTEC alumni and learn about what they do and how they got to where they are
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following someone who presented at a conference​​
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reposting articles and posts
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tagging someone