The Bamboo Project Blog: My Personal Learning Environment by Michele Martin
I came across this wonderful blog regarding personal learning environments! Michele Martin gives a helpful and simple explanation regarding her own PLE and what tools she uses to grow her space. I found a LOT of the information useful to use towards my own PLE. It is amazing to me how much knowledge we gain just by browsing the internet. Personally, I rarely used the internet for “learning” purposes unless I had an assignment that required me to do research. Even now, PLE’s are still new to me and I am still trying to grasp the importance of it in my daily life. One thing I found a bit confusing is her mindmap she created using Mindono. I understand each section within her mindmap but what is the purpose of the mindmap? Is it similar to a wireframe of a website? Why should I create a mindmap for my PLE? I will continue to play with my PLE, exploring some of the tools Michele mentions and determine what works best for me. One thing I do know is shaping your PLE is an ongoing learning process. As I begin to gather information, process that information and act on that information to learn, maybe I will begin to notice that this PLE is a part of me. Until then, I will continue to explore.
I’m glad you found the info on PLEs interesting and somewhat useful. RE: the mindmap–I used mindmapping primarily as a brainstorming tool to get all of the pieces together, but I also wanted to show the relationships between each of the pieces of my PLE. So much of PLE learning is about networks and connections and I wanted to try to represent those for myself.
As for what use a PLE has in your daily life? With today’s jobs, you MUST be learning constantly or else your skills and knowledge will be quickly outdated, putting you at risk for lay-offs, etc. If you start using the tools of your PLE on a daily basis, though, you can continue to learn and grow, often staying ahead of the curve and out in front of other people. Really a PLE is the best career insurance you can find–and for the most part it’s free!
First let me say I appreciate your response! I understand the process of brainstorming and organizing your thoughts and tools. I should also begin a process similar to that. What I have noticed regarding my own PLE is the lack of time to shape it the way I want it. Honestly, it can be overwhelming for a first time user. The fact that this will be useful to me in the long run, I want to take full advantage of the tools that are out there. But what if I am constantly feeling that this avenue of learning is not me? Is that a usual feeling for someone who hasn’t used a PLE before? Or is this something that I will overtime make a daily part of my life?
I don’t think it’s unusual at all to feel a little overwhelmed at the beginning! My PLE evolved over time–I started with blogging for personal reasons, then moved into doing it for professional learning. Then I learned about RSS feeds and started subscribing to blogs and spending much more time reading and commenting. I’ve added additional tools as I go along, but I’ve also stopped using certain tools.
At this point my main ones are my blog, wikis (which I use to organize projects for myself and to maintain an online portfolio), del.icio.us for bookmarking and Google Reader. I dabble in other tools as they seem to make sense and will also discard things that don’t work.
You have to find what works the best for you. I think everyone should have a blog to reflect on your learning, but it doesn’t have to be something you write. You can record audio and upload it or you could draw pictures and charts if that works better for you. I think you should also have RSS feeds and Google Alerts to follow trends and topics that interest you and I get a lot out of del.icio.us because I find people who always find good stuff and then I just read what they’re bookmarking.
Bottom line–you have to be willing to experiment and to try to incorporate new tools into your learning, but you have to find the right mix that will work for you. I hope this helps!
One more question–what makes you say that this avenue of learning isn’t for you? What is it about a PLE that doesn’t appeal to you? I’m really curious because part of what I do is help people use these tools and I like to know about what people do and don’t like about this stuff.
I started this blog because of school. I plan to begin a career in Interactive media and just as you stated, our teacher expressed the importance of life-long learning. I am currently using Google reader, which is still a little difficult to read and sort though. I have about 10 feeds that I am subscribed to. I am still trying out del.icio.us and wikis. All of these were provided by my instructor for exploring.
But when I say I feel this avenue of learning isn’t me, I guess I feel that I can’t trust myself to teach myself. If that makes sense. I feel secure when I am in a classroom and receiving the information directly from an instructor. So when I am told to reach out and learn through interaction within communities, I feel skeptical and unsure.
Of course I realize that the time I do spend on the internet, I am learning. It may not pertain directly to my field but learning to work Google reader or del.icio.us is still a process.
OK–now I understand what you mean about this mode of learning. So if you did trust yourself to be able to learn on your own, then you might be more comfortable with some of this?
I’m guessing that right now, because you’ve been in school, it seems a little strange to imagine learning on your own. But the reality is that all you have to do is be curious about something and then start learning. In the “real world” no one will be giving you a test or asking you to write a paper. It will be trial and error and experimentation. It’s what I do all the time–sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. It’s all OK though.
You’re right that learning these things is a process. And if Google Reader feels too confusing for you, then you might want to try some other tools for managing RSS feeds. Netvibes and Pageflakes are nice because you can create tabs and drag the feeds to where you want them to be. Visually, I find it to be a more structured experience.
I’ve been using Netvibes for over a year and have just begun to transition to Google Reader for some other reasons. I didn’t do it earlier because I had a hard time finding my way around all the posts. I still don’t always like it. So if you can, see if you can use Netvibes instead–or at least give it a try. It might be easier for you to navigate.