Personal Learning Environment Diagram

While reflecting on my personal learning environment I am reminded of its value as an aid to learning. Many of my peers had developed diagrams that used different types of cycles. Kristin Castello used circular arrows to connect four elements of her PLN. I love that Kim Johnson used a baseball diamond to give new meaning to hitting for the cycle. Kayden Tague's diagram can also be viewed in a circular manner.

I have related some of my earlier work to water and decided to continue with that trend. My diagram is based on the water cycle. I have a number of social networks where I can expand on my thoughts and take in the ideas of others to connect new ideas. With those new ideas they can be refined and made sense of through collaboration with others. That new understanding puts me in a place where I can develop learning resources that will permit me to share with others while continuing to add to my new understanding. Finally, with a certain level of expertise I can reflect with a blog to try and express a deeper understanding of this new content. That of coarse is fed back out to the social networks where the cycle continues. Life long learning is at our fingertips.

Comparisons:

• Kristen Castello impressed me with her willingness to get out of her comfort zone and find new communities. She also had four elements to her cycle, but her network is broader than my own.
• Kim Johnson posted her cyclical baseball diagram. She also had four elements that related to the 4-Cs. She has a very wide network that will serve her well in her instructional design role.
• Kayden Tague had another cyclical diagram that broke the elements of her PLN into four parts also. Her elements were also inspired by the 4-Cs. Rather than putting her tools into specific groups, her elements were between the groups. I thought that was an interesting way of looking at it.
• Josh Haines had four elements as part of his PLN as many others had. He, however, choose not to try and fit each element neatly into it's place. His diagram looks a bit chaotic as you try to follow it, but is actually closer to how I view the use of these tools in practice.
• Joanna Lieberman used cloud imagery to illustrate three elements for her PLN. She had many of the same tools as others, but included VoiceThread. That is a great tool I did not see anyone else list.
• Lindsay Hoyt used her Michigan roots to develop a diagram using five elements around the Great Lakes. She had many of the same apps as others. With an extra element, though, she divided tools in a way that provides a bit extra meaning.