A giant leap into a digital adventure!: Weekly Report and Reflection Post #2

Well it is hard to believe that another week has flown by and I am already posting my second weekly reflection! It has again been a very educational and fun weekly experience! So over the past few days I have learned that we each have our own Personal Learning Environment (PLE), a Personal Learning Network (PLN), and the advantage of having access to the "Web 2.0" to build on them. Additionally, which was my most favourite activity of the session was using the programs Wordle and Popplet. No joke... now I understand the warning about spending to much time on them! It was so much fun I showed my little sister. I thought why not pass on some of my new personal learning tools and help her build and increase her PLE! Below is a copy of the Word Cloud I made from my first weekly reflection blog. I believe it really communicates and portrays the message of a digital footprint for the reasons of both shape and font size of certain words used. This will definitely be an instrument that will be added to my personal toolbox.

Word Cloud

So what in fact are our PLE and PLN defined as? Well... I have recently learned there are quite a few definitions for both of these terms. However, the one's that seemed clearest to me stated that a PLE is a set of digital tools we use to aid and control our learning experience (Lalonde, 2012). Furthermore, our PLN is defined as a community of learners you select to connect, interact, and communicate with (Lalonde, 2012). Now when I first started to think about my personal tools and networks, I will confess I got a little nervous. Nonetheless as I started to write down the tools I have used, or am currently still using, I realized maybe my "Mind Map" might not be that empty! In fact I had several tools to include in my PLE chart, some of which were just recently learned thanks to our course in the last couple of weeks. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned we are just at the start line, so I have ample time to add to my PLE and PLN over the next ten weeks. I currently organized my mind map with four subtitles. These included connecting, research, socializing, and creating. I additionally discovered that I use many of these tools on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. One tool that is quite important to me on a social basis is Skype. I use this Web 2.0 digital technology to talk to my best friend who is currently going to school in Ireland. This tool is definitely beneficial for us both socially.
I also watched an interesting video this week called Welcome to My PLE! This YouTube video explained how a 7th grade student was utilizing her personal learning tools and networks in a class environment. One tool that stood out to me that I probably should consider adding to my PLE is a tool that helps bookmark and organize websites in one location. An additional tool I felt would be beneficial to me was the note taking program. It helps store information, notes, and web addresses that you collect up or may need for future projects. I like the idea of everything being in one location!

I have come up with a formula that makes sense to me so far...not that I'm an expert in math by any means. This may need editing along the way J

PLE (Web 2.0 + PLN )= Effective Digital Citizen

Mind Map of my PLE

Now I would like to briefly reflect on my personal, learning, environment and habits in order to create an effective PLE! Personally in the next five to ten years I would like to have a full time job which I really enjoy, however one that also consists of some challenges. I know you may be thinking to yourself why would I want that... it is because I don't like being bored. I would also hope to be well on my way to being engaged or getting married, and possibly have my own home! This is much different to how I am living now because I am still in school, only have a part time job, and I'm not married. As for learning, I would definitely hope to have completed my degree, created better study habits, and become more charismatic about learning. Sometimes I find it hard to enjoy school and the learning aspect of it due to the pressures and workload involved. I believe one of the best ways to change my learning environment would be to join study groups. I actually think that this course is somewhat like a study group. Just a little larger with all of us sharing our experiences and learning from each other. Well that's all for now everyone.

Take care all!

Alex