Reflection

Prior to INF506, I had minimal experience in social networking from an information professional perspective. My social media experience in schools stemmed from a Twitter account used to document my Stage One class. However, after extensive research into the possibilities of social media in libraries, I feel more confident in implementing various social media platforms in a library context. Initially, my knowledge of social media platforms was restricted to the platforms I use in my personal life and how I interact with them in a personal sense such as Facebook and Instagram. After learning that social media platforms that have predominately personal accounts can also be used to create professional library social media accounts, such as my ThinkSpace blog post, Article Analysis – ‘Ephemeral Storytelling with Social Media: Snapchat and Instagram Stories at the Brooklyn Museum’, it has revealed many opportunities that could be translated to the primary school library such as visual and audio resources for students through Snapchat and Instagram. I have gained a deeper understanding of the complex aspects to social media implementation such as policy document development as well as measuring effectiveness through analytic tools. I believe the most resonating aspect of INF506 is becoming aware of the Library 2.0 ethos and how it has shifted my thinking from librarians providing most of the communication to building a reciprocal relationship with users through digital technologies.

The content within INF506 has been highly relevant to my professional life. In my professional life as a teacher librarian, the exploration of policy development is highly relevant although it was a new concept for me to consider. James (2019) highlights how important a comprehensive policy is to a social media operation and how it must be flexible and adaptable to any changes in the technology sphere. The consideration of online identity is also a relevant concept to my professional and personal life that was extended through INF506. In my personal social media use, I did have a consideration of how I was perceived on social media however I have come to realise that a professional identity is much more intricate than a personal identity on social media. The research conducted by Cho and Jimerson (2017) was especially relevant to my practice as a social networker as it made me consider the impression I make on the learning community and how much control I can exert over the identity that the learning community see. The challenge for my professional self looking forward is how to effectively translate my proficient personal social media skills into a professional setting.

 

Initially, the challenges in implementing social media seemed limited because I was proficient in using social media for a personal purpose. However, after engaging with anecdotal experiences of teacher librarians as well as the literature surrounding social media implementation in primary school libraries, it is evident there are a number of challenges that can arise from using social media in a school context including measuring engagement as well as monitoring privacy issues. In addition to changing my perception on the challenges that teacher librarians face, I believe I have fulfilled the learning goals that I set in Assignment 1 which included expanding knowledge of social networking sites which was achieved through becoming more familiar with Social News Sites and their use in schools, strategies to connect the community to social media account such as using pre-existing social media accounts and promoting with colleagues, embedding responsible technology use in teaching and learning programs through using external resources as well as having the opportunity to explore successful social media accounts that directly cater to users.

In order to reflect effectively on learning experiences throughout INF506, the Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, as outlined by the University of Edinburgh (2019), will be used as a framework to translate my understandings to my practice. The initial stage of reflection is a description of the learning that took place, which I have outlined above. The next stage of reflection involves how I felt throughout the learning process. Initially, I began INF506 with uncertainty concerning professional social networking however after the creation of a social media account for a school library, I feel more confident in applying the theory to my practice. After feelings, the next stage of reflection is evaluation and involves exploring what was positive and negative about the experience. A positive aspect that will have a great effect on my professional social networking is the understanding of how ‘tags’ and ‘hashtags’ can be used to further the reach of the account. A negative aspect to my learning experience was feeling unconnected during learning activities. Integrating all of the above information into an action plan is the final stage of reflection. The basis of my action plan will include consulting with my community to create a dynamic and responsive social network platform that is created with engagement levels as a focus. The social network account will be created collaboratively to ensure isolation doesn’t repeat in school.

 

References:

Cho, V., & Jimerson, J. (2017). Managing digital identity on Twitter: The case of school administrators. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, 45(5), 884-900. https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1177/1741143216659295

James, S. (2019). Social media ethics: Why you should have a policy. SC Blogs. https://www.streamcreative.com/blog/bid/52570/Social-Media-Ethics-Why-You-Should-Have-a-Policy

University of Edinburgh. (2019). Gibbs’ reflective cycle. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle

Walmsley, N. (2020, March 6). Article analysis – ‘Ephemeral storytelling with social media: Snapchat and Instagram stories at the Brooklyn Museum’. ThinkSpace. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/nicolawalmsleyblog/2020/03/06/article-analysis-ephemeral-storytelling-with-social-media-snapchat-and-instagram-stories-at-the-brooklyn-museum/

Walmsley, N. (2020, March 15). Social networking – Assignment 1 online learning journal. ThinkSpace. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/nicolawalmsleyblog/2020/03/15/social-networking-assignment-1-online-learning-journal/

Walmsley, N. (2020, March 26). Social news sites. ThinkSpace. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/nicolawalmsleyblog/2020/03/26/scoial-news-sites/