Week 3 Reflection

This week’s readings helped me think more deeply about the difference between simply using social media and actually participating in an online community or Personal/Professional Learning Network (PLN). In previous weeks, I focused more on social media platforms and the idea of networked individuals. This week, I began to think more carefully about what makes an online space meaningful for learning. A platform alone does not automatically create a community; shared interests, repeated interaction, norms, trust, and a sense of relationship among members can create a real community.

One idea that stood out to me is that online learning often happens across the boundary between formal and informal learning. Greenhow and Lewin (2016) argue that social media challenges the traditional separation between school-based learning and everyday learning. This made me reflect on how much of my own learning happens outside of formal course spaces. For example, YouTube videos are not traditional classrooms, but they have shaped how I understand many concepts through the videos themselves and their comments. Through these platforms, students can learn from alumni, employers, peers, and professionals. This kind of learning is informal, but it can still be very important for students’ academic and professional development.

This week also helped me understand PLNs as intentional learning systems. Dabbagh and Kitsantas (2012) explain that Personal Learning Environments can support self-regulated learning by helping students connect formal and informal learning through social media tools. This connects strongly to my own interest in social media tools and higher education. Students do not only learn from instructors; they also learn by building networks, following professional conversations, asking questions, and collecting resources. However, I also realized that building a PLN is not automatic. Students may know how to use social media personally, but they may still need guidance on using it professionally or academically.

The discussion about online communities also made me think about lurking. I used to see lurking as passive or less valuable than active participation. However, this week helped me see lurking as part of the learning process. New members often need time to observe community norms before they feel comfortable contributing. Dennen (2026) frames this movement as a shift from “lurkers” to “networkers,” suggesting that lurking need not be the endpoint. It can be an early stage of participation. This connects to my plan for the community assignment, where I want to observe an international student community on Reddit as a lurker while participating more actively in a LinkedIn community. I expect these two experiences to feel very different because Reddit offers greater anonymity, while LinkedIn requires a more visible professional identity.

Overall, Week 3 helped me understand that online communities and PLNs are not just collections of people or tools. A hashtag, LinkedIn group, Facebook group, or Reddit forum is not, in and of itself, a community. It becomes more community-like when members interact over time, recognize shared goals, and create value for one another. As an educator, I think this means we should not simply ask students to “go online” or “participate.” Instead, we need to help students understand how to evaluate online spaces, protect their privacy, observe community norms, and gradually move from consuming information to contributing meaningfully. This week helped me see social media not only as a set of tools but also as a set of potential learning communities that require intentional design and thoughtful participation.

References

Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 3–8.

Dennen, V. P. (2026). From lurkers to networkers: Cultural and epistemic dimensions of developing professional learning networks in online graduate education. Proceedings of the International Conference on Networked Learning, 15.

Greenhow, C., & Lewin, C. (2016). Social media and education: Reconceptualizing the boundaries of formal and informal learning. Learning, Media and Technology, 41(1), 6–30.