Collaborative Reflection
I have chosen to audit Neena Robertson’s blog this week, as I find her posts insightful and enjoyable to read and collaborate with! The creative name of her blog also really stood out to me at first!
Neena’s Blog Post #1 – Personal Learning Networks and Digital Identity
For her first post, Neena laid a strong foundation by exploring the concept of digital identity through both a personal and professional approach. I really liked how she used her own background as an artist and a photographer to explain how she separated her personal Instagram from her professional art account. This was a great real world example of actively managing a digital footprint and navigating a visitor vs. resident dynamic online. She did a thorough job breaking down the motivations behind participating in networked publics by weighing the rewards, such as building community and economic opportunities, against the risks, like cyberbullying and long-term digital footprints. I also loved how she touched on the accessibility for disabled creators!
Her discussion about how online platforms might change how we prove our existence and handle personal identity really caught my attention. It naturally ties into broader ideas around data privacy, surveillance, and data sovereignty, which are concepts that become central in national politics, like Canada’s AI for All strategy. Reading her perspective made me want to dive deeper into how algorithms selectively amplify certain personal identities over others. It also left me with a question to consider: As AI tools make it easier than ever to fabricate online personas, how will the ways we establish genuine trust and professional credibility online have to evolve?
Neena’s Blog Post #2 – Digital Identity and Inclusive Networks
What immediately stands out to me in Neena’s second blog post is her honesty about completely skipping the visual map, especially since I did the same, and instead questioning what counts as a scholar today. I love her point about finding academic journals painfully dry and relying on Substack writers or her own peers to translate hard concepts. It’s such a relatable look into how informal PLNs act as an accessibility tool, especially for neurodivergent learners, rather than just a professional networking exercise. Her take on using this blog as a living document that she actually enjoys writing also highlights how authentic digital ownership happens when we move away from robotic and academic jargon.
Her reflection on keeping her personal social media strictly private while using a school Instagram to build student community was a really smart distinction. It captures the exact balance that future educators have to understand, which is leveraging social media for inclusive engagement without overlapping their personal values in institutional policies. Overall, her perspective on how her unfiltered voice may lose her some jobs but gain her the right ones was refreshing, and a realistic take on navigating digital identity without losing yourself.
Neena’s Blog Post #3 – Media Literacy
Neena’s blog #3 really hits an important note about being a public educator. She points out how putting yourself out there online comes with dangerous risks, especially for women and marginalized folks who face a total double standard when it comes to backlash online. Her analysis of the interview with news anchor Sophie Lui was brought up a genuine dilemma; if you get targeted online as a teacher, do you speak up to defend yourself, or do you just stay quiet and wait for them to move on? Without clear protection from the school board or union, teachers are basically left on their own to figure this out.
Her take on media literacy for vulnerable groups also stood out to me. She pointed out that just banning tech or hiding people away out of panic doesn’t actually protect anyone, it just leaves them unprepared. Teaching real life digital skills builds way more safety than strict rules ever will. Plus, her focus on old school, face to face interactions over online fame was a great reminder that real trust is built in person and not through an algorithm.
Blog #4
Neena’s fourth posts is very relatable as she opens up about burn-out and losing motivation near the end of the course, which makes the reflection feel very grounded. What really stood out to me was her realization that personal learning networks aren’t just made up of online learning communities, but her algorithm on Tiktok, Youtube, and Instagram are actively shaping what we learn too. Linking that to the concept of connectivism was great too. It shows how modern learning isn’t just about old school ways, but navigating a very complex internet of both human relationships and curated content.
I also really appreciated her take on AI. Calling it out as a cheat code that feels unfair rather than an even level playing field is a relatable reaction to how fast technology is advancing. Then referencing the study on teacher candidates and AI literacy bridges the gap between being resistant towards AI and taking responsibility as an educator. She makes the point that students are almost always going to be a step ahead of us with new technology, so as educators, they cannot afford to just ignore it. We have to understand algorithms and their biases, privacy risks, and AI’s use of our data so we can teach kids how to evaluate what’s going on instead of blindly trusting their feed. Neena’s blog left me thinking about how technology is going to keep advancing no matter what, so building a strong, human-centered PLN is what keeps us critically thinking and grounded.
Looking back on Neena’s blog entries, she really captures one of the core takeaways of this entire course, that digital citizenship for educators isn’t about maintaining a perfect online image or running away from technology, but about learning how to navigate it with intention, empathy, and critical digital awareness. From her early posts on curating a professional identity to her later reflections on algorithmic feeds, AI literacy, and the real risks of being a public online teacher, she continually pushes back against the idea that strict bans work. Instead, she highlights the human side of technology, showing how PLNs can act as lifeline accessibility tools, why authentic face to face trust still matters, and how crucial it is for teachers to understand digital threats so we can actually protect and guide our students. Ultimately, her entries tie together the big picture of modern education, which is that technology is constantly shaping our world, but grounding our teaching in strong human connections, privacy awareness, and media literacy is what keeps learning meaningful and safe.
I was also lucky enough to do my group project with Neena, so I got to experience first hand how we collaborated and worked together online to get it done!
Check out her blog here!: https://neenmachine.opened.ca/