Hello everyone,
Week 2 of my ADED 1P32 course has come to an end. I’m
finding that it’s getting easier to navigate through the various sites (like
blogger) that we are required to use. The major theme of session two dealt with
personal learning environments and the importance of having one. PLE is not a term I was familiar with prior
to this session so I was excited to learn more about the topic.
I watched a YouTube video called "What is a PLE & Why do you need one?". From this I learnt that a PLE is a set of digital tools
that we use to support our own learning. Others have defined it as a system
that helps learners take control of their own learning (Wikipedia, 2012). PLE’s
put an emphasis on a self-directed learning approach. This type of learning can
be desirable for students today as it allows for more flexibility. We know that
not everybody learns best by sitting in a classroom and listening to a
professor lecture. This allows students to take control of their learning and
really focus on their own personal goals.
Through developing our own PLE we in turn create a Personal
Learning Network (PLN), which can be thought of as a network of people you
connect with for the specific purpose of learning (Tobin, 1998). Social media
tools such as Facebook and twitter allow us to interact with people from all
around the world.
In this session we were asked to create a diagram of our own
PLE. I learnt that there is no right or wrong way to do this, as it is unique
and different for each individual. To create an effective PLE it should be
personal as well as considering your learning, environment and habits.
In 5-10 years time I hope to have a successful career as
some sort of counselor. In order to reach this goal I need to stay on top of my
learning and schoolwork. Some of the tools that will help me be successful are
the database PsycINFO as well as Google. This will help me continually learn
about new research and accomplishments in the field of Psychology. Learning
does not stop when you graduate; it is a life long process. Through social
media tools I can shape my online environment in a way that I can interact with
others who are in the same line of work. It is a great way to stay connected
and share ideas. I also added a health category, as I believe fitness is a
great way to relieve stress. You always need to take time out of your day to
focus on yourself. It is important to develop good habits while your young as they will likely stick with you later on in life! I look forward to expanding my PLE.
Lastly we were asked to make a word cloud, which is a tool
that allows you to represent text visually. My word cloud involves text from my
first blog post. I made mine on a website called Wordle. It’s free to
use and I thought it was a pretty neat idea! One of the most important things I
learnt from session one was about digital footprints and that seems to be the
biggest text in my own word cloud!
This concludes what I’ve learnt this week. Bye for
now!
Emily
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