Mapping My Learning Connections

While I was creating my mind map I did a great deal of reflection on how each network has become an avenue of learning for me.  Adult learners are not limited to learning in a classroom, but instead can derive learning opportunities from a wide variety of sources.  I have come up with the following networks as being my main sources for communication, support, and knowledge:    

Personal Network:  My personal network is made up of family, friends, and church (including my children’s Catholic school connections).  I engage in discussions regarding education, religion, parenting, finances, basically any and all issue or topic possible.  I am blessed to be surrounded by people who are thought provoking and discussion oriented which enables me to learn from their experience, as well as share my own thoughts.

Online-  Included in this category would be a variety of social network sites such as Facebook, Wiki, and Blogs.  It would also include online communications like email, sametime and instant messaging.  My online network gives me the opportunity to engage in conversation with individuals from all over the globe and individuals who have much different perspectives and experiences.  Through the Internet, search engines like google and Bing, I can obtain information at a click of the mouse that might have taken hours to research in the past.  

Walden University – My Walden online network is made up of my relationships with classmates and my discussion or classroom forums.  Through my Walden network I am able to engage in dialogue with highly educated people who share their knowledge and push me to think outside the box and broaden my own knowledge base.  Through my classroom forum I have access to a great deal of technology such as the Walden Tech Resources, Library, Writing Center, and of course the faculty and administrative resources.  

Work – My professional network includes my co-workers, project teams I am involved with, and the business partners I support with my training efforts.  Through meetings, sametime conversations, adobe connect sessions, webinars, sharepoint sites and virtual learning opportunities I stay connected and learn a great deal from my professional network.  I gain a great deal of knowledge about key performance indicators, returns on investment, and the state of our economy from my professional network.  My professional network also provides me access to massive amounts of technology I would not otherwise have access to.  This technology enables me to broaden my skills as an instructional designer and employee.  

Additional Points:

Which digital tools best facilitate learning for me – definitely the online classroom environment.  I learn a great deal from the conversations I have in the discussion forums, as well as the weekly reading and the tech resources made available to students.  The digital tools I learn the least from are definitely blogs!  I do not enjoy blogging, and I do not feel I gain greater knowledge from participating in blogs…just a personal opinion of mine.  

In what ways does my personal learning network support the ideas of connectivism? - Siemens explains, “Connectivism is presented as a learning theory that integrates technology, social networks, and information” (2011). The ability to incorporate multiple facets for learning (i.e. online, instructor led, systems based, etc) and the incorporation of self-directed learning, partnered with social networking enables me to become connected to my peers while at the same time being empowered to work at my own pace and identify how the learning will directly impact my life. This, in my opinion, is the basic framework for a successful learning situation.

References:

Siemens, G. (n.d.). Connectivism, Video resources Walden University