Blog#3 – PLN

After reading the assigned materials for this week, I began to reflect even further on the ways in which my personal learning network is made up directly contribute to matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion in my professional and educational experiences. When looking at my networks involved in my workplace setting as well as school, I have found come to find that my PLNs are both diverse in some ways while simultaneously fairly uniform in others. While I tend to associate myself with individuals from all kinds of backgrounds, cultures, social standings, economic levels, or religions in my personal life, this same sense of transparency is not something—on closer examination—that exists in other areas of my life. For example, at work, there is a tendency for business leaders, supervisors, or higher-up business administrators to typically be male, with a greater proportion of these men being white than any other ethnicity. While this is not as prevalent in my academic personal learning network, the diversity in the people actively contributing to the network is still far from as equitable and diverse as it could be.

       In both of these contexts, I find myself learning most often from a variety of voices, as I do not personally feel capable or able of being the one to voice my own opinions or expertise as freely. This is something that is difficult to admit, especially in regard to my work or academic environments where I have worked hard to get where I am and sacrificed to achieve all that I have in these roles. As far as these specific personal learning networks go, I feel that this lack of diversity—or the infrequency in which those who may be termed as the “other” or the minority may actively speak within the context of the group—is in large part due to the lack of diversity. This undoubtedly causes the creation of a siloed outlook when it comes to information sharing. I actively engage with those who I know have shared experiences or shared backgrounds to myself. As such, this prevents the full interconnection of what would otherwise be a much broader PLN, even if I were to have similar interests, experiences, or opinions as those who do not closely reflect myself within these constructs.

       I feel that I, as well as anyone else who is interested, can absolutely use a diverse personal learning network to broaden views of inclusion. With the acceptance of others and the willingness to let others who may be different from us actively contribute to the PLN as a whole, everyone benefits from a broader contextual understanding of any given topic. Having a personal learning network where differences are celebrated and encouraged rather than stigmatized results in a greater sense of awareness in the individual—whether cultural or experiential. In my academic and professional learning networks, I would say that there is definitely room for improvement for this ideal of inclusion. Though not actively against such inclusion, these networks do, intentionally or not, maintain the traditional status quo in many ways—allowing those who have traditionally been in roles of power or influence to continue on in those dominant positions, possibly at the expense of others who are part of the PLN but less acknowledged overall. The learning outcome I hope to further encourage within my PLN is that of personalizing my learning experience. By actively choosing who to actively listen or engage with, what technologies that are inherently equitable to use, or tailor topics of study by consensus or by what is applicable to the greatest number of people within the network, I feel that I can ensure my exposure to diversity and inclusion in this setting. In all, I would say I have been greatly impacted by the concept of inclusion within personal learning networks after reviewing the videos and readings this week. This is something I have subtly always been aware of, but am not actively noticing.