• Community communications go beyond blogs and social media shares, how does a PLN help and hinder the development of thoughts and ideas in education discourse?

Personal learning networks (PLNs) play a vital role in educational discourses. Firstly, these networks facilitate interpersonal connections and nurture social relationships, which are critical ingredients for open and trusting conversations. Relationship building and healthy social media interactions are critical ingredients for harmonious coexistence within and outside school setups. Secondly, PLNs foster affiliation and affinity among learners from diverse backgrounds or communities. This exposes them to different perspectives that people outside their immediate communities and social circles hold. Thirdly, PLNs build social support systems for learners by encouraging respectful dialogue and promoting collaborative problem solving. At the same time, working with people from diverse geographical regions helps to support indigenous learners. It also expands their exposure to new knowledge, which entrenches open mindedness by enlightening them about other viewpoints and contexts. In addition, the diversity of contributors facilitates peace and reconciliation. Moreover, PLNs avert polarization, facilitate idea generation, and clarify or crystallize historical issues, previously misrepresented by mainstream media, by giving voice to authentic people. PLNs also help people to air multiple viewpoints and bears social-economic benefits by piquing peoples’ imagination to visit exotic places. Lastly, they expose diverse peoples’ vulnerability and facilitate problem resolution of otherwise difficult conversations.

  • How does the use of PLN raise awareness opportunities in education?

PLNs raise awareness opportunities in education because they act as platforms where learners meet and air problems, leading to their resolution. They also facilitate lifelong learning because people share knowledge and ideas. At the same time, they serve as avenues where people clarify and illuminate contentious issues. At the same time, they act as knowledge-sharing events where diverse people such as professionals in different areas share their skills and knowledge.

  • What is the role of social media in education?

Social media plays eclectic roles in education. Firstly, social networks facilitate seamless communications among learners. They also facilitate content sharing through print and audiovisual formats. In addition, social media avenues facilitate collaboration between geographically dispersed educators and learners. Further, these channels act as repertoires of historical knowledge. Ultimately, social media serves a conduit through which learners convey and receive knowledge seamlessly from a wide and diverse pool of information.

  • What are some problems with social media communications in education settings?

Social communications in educational settings can blur the boundaries between formal and informal learning. Social media channels are also unregulated and people can therefore use them to further falsehoods and propagate age-inappropriate content. In addition, content shared through social media networks can stem from malicious individuals who seek to mislead, manipulate, or misinform readers. Further, social communications often lack verification from authoritative people and therefore lack validity, credibility, and reliability. In addition, social media is often noisy and chaotic and therefore ends up distracting learners from focusing fully on the core learning activity. In short, social media has various downsides and may therefore end up contravening its envisaged objectives in educational setups.