↑ This is the song I will be playing as I drive away from the schoolhouse tomorrow.
Uplifting, hopeful and fun.
Uplifting, hopeful and fun.
I wanted to blog about the first article I chose for the week. It was the one all about how you should have this online presence, especially if you are hoping to find a new job with all this ISLT knowledge we are gaining. It was an interesting read and I learned a few things.
There was a big emphasis on "education technology professionals" to put themselves out there. Like, all the way out there. No, not the way your Facebook and Insta are (personal - at least mine are). More in a way that Dr. Dennen is encouraging us to do - this blog post for instance.
Here I am, so proud of myself for having a LinkedIn. I will admit, I struggle with being active on there, but, I did the work. All of my professional experience is on there - certificates, awards, and specific job experience. Surely I am doing "the thing", yeah? That's what you do, right? Well, sort of...…
According to Lowenthal, Dunlap and Stitson that is not enough. They agree that while LinkedIn is a great way to professionally participate with your peers, the world (wide web) is so much more, and you must do more to be "seen" or have a "presence". At one point, the authors suggest you "Google" yourself. So, of course I did. Wow. I am nonexistent. I have no digital footprint. Not to my LinkedIn, not to my Facebook (ok, that is on purpose) or to my Instagram. A couple of hits linked to my school's website, but that's it. I was left thinking that I did ALL that work curating my LinkedIn and it doesn't even show up!
The authors gave many options for "expanding your professional digital footprint".
- build a personal website - even go as far as purchasing a a domain name and then make your site a "one stop shop" for all things YOU. Links to your blog, LinkedIn, YouTube, and whatever else you use to self promote your professional accomplishments and experience. They also suggest a short bio or a philosophy statement. Here is Dr. Dennen's web page: https://vanessadennen.com/
- Remember when I blogged about who to follow on Twitter? The author's provided a curated list of "educational technology professionals". I was very thankful for that.
- In addition to who to follow on Twitter, they also included several groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to gather content and interact with others.
All in all I learned that just having a LinkedIn is not enough. If we want to be noticed, or dare I say, "relevant" when we a marching forward on this adventure we have to do the leg work to be seen. We have to be active participants in the creation of our professional selves.
Talk soon, going to join some groups. 😉
Lowenthal, P. R., Dunlap, J. C., & Stitson, P. (2016). Creating an intentional web presence: Strategies for every educational technology professional. TechTrends, 60(4), 320–329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0056-1
We are soul sisters. I chose to read the same article and came to the same conclusions. I too was so proud of my Linkedin account. But I need to do more. I think this class is benefiting me already. I am looking forward to the end of the school year but I am also looking forward to applying my newfound knowledge next year (I know its my teacher crazy).
ReplyDeleteOh - I hear you. I keep thinking about next year too. I was disappointed to see that my Google search landed me no where. lol I spent hours filling out my LinkedIn! I don't know about a website, at least for the moment. It does make sense to have a hub with all your links centralized. I once had a class website, like a separate one from the school provided one. No one ever checked it....so I felt like I did all this work each week and the parents just didn't go there to get information.
DeleteNow that I am typing this out......maybe next year I update my school site and whenever they ask a question, that I have answered and sent home multiple times, I could just send a link to my page? I need to write that down so I don't forget.