BLOG 7 My PLN, AI and the Changing Internet

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For me, the two most commonly used PLNs in reality are YouTube and Reddit. I use YouTube to review and preview CSC226 course videos, and the biggest advantage is that I can pause, replay, and repeat the same point, as well as watch the comment section below the video. Some content is not enough for me to listen to once, I have to listen to it two or three times to truly understand. Then I will go to Reddit to read course questions, question analysis, and practice discussion, because many people will break down their problem-solving ideas and remind common mistakes. I will also compare different people’s opinions to see which one is more reasonable. Sometimes I find that my original thinking was too intuitive or missed the conditions. Although I also use WordPress/Most to post blogs and interact on EDCI 338, the part where I truly ‘learned the most’ is indeed on more real-time learning networks like YouTube and Reddit.

Of course, the benefits of PLN are obvious: abundant resources, fast speed, less likely to get stuck, and I won’t feel lonely while studying. AI tools can also help, such as explaining concepts faster, organizing key points, or helping me check my thinking. Of course, risks still exist and are inevitable. YouTube recommendations can easily push me towards similar content, and over time, they may become trapped in an information cocoon, like being ignored. And I have discovered a terrifying fact. The high-like answers on Reddit may not necessarily be correct, and some of the analysis may be outdated or imprecise, which can cause me to lose my score in the exam. After AI is added, it becomes more complex. Estaiteyeh&Mindzak’s Canadian research suggests that many teacher candidates feel that GenAI is almost inevitable in education, but are unsure about how to use it, how to handle ethics and evaluation, and are concerned that its abuse may lead to plagiarism, shallow learning, and a decline in critical thinking. At the same time, they hope to use AI for practical support (such as design evaluation and auxiliary grading) (Estaiteyeh&Mindzak, 2025). As a student, I also feel the same way. AI sometimes makes me feel like I understand quickly, but if I don’t verify or do my own exercises, it can lead to a bad situation.

In order to make my PLN more responsible, rather than just being led by recommendation algorithms, I think it is necessary to incorporate resources from the Canadian context. For example, the PLDN of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation emphasizes support for teachers’ professional learning and sharing of resources (Canadian Teachers’ Federation, 2018), and Canadian media literacy resources such as MediaSmarts remind me to verify sources and reduce the impact of low-quality content (MediaSmarts, n.d.). Despite the drawbacks, I may not give up on YouTube and Reddit in the future because they do help me learn CSC226 and do exercises, but I will seek verification from the teacher and use AI as an aid rather than an answer. This way, I can develop in the long term, rather than just completing the questions faster.