My PLE Diagram and Reflection

This week for Module 5 we were asked to create a Personal Learning Network (PLE) diagram to show our connections to various online communities and resources that we frequent. I used a new platform for me called, Draw.io. However, it works almost identically to Gliffy. I will say that I used the benefit of other students’ diagrams to help craft my own. I certainly made it easy not to be the very first one to submit.

I think that in this world we are sometimes overly connected. However, I have come to revise my thinking on this subject. According to Clay Shirkey, we are not suffering ever from a information overload, rather a failure to filter. In a similar way, I do not think we are ever overly connected, but we do not make the best use of our connections. I often find myself lurking in the shadows and not making an contributions to online communities. This week has been a wonderful lesson in becoming  a participant. I look forward to using this skill more in the future.

I reviewed the diagrams of Allison Pengilley, Amanda Hensley, Kimmy Davis and Megan Apgar. I noticed a lot of continuity between the content of each diagram. I also noticed a lot of variety and creativity in the my fellow students’ means for capturing their PLE diagram. I especially liked Amanda Hensley’s connectivity plate. By showing each connection as a serving on a plate, she creatively indicated which network is most important to her and, on which, she spends to the most time developing connections. Allison Pengilley’s was the most inspiring to me because it was the cleanest and one of the most visually attractive. I tried to emulate that level of cleanliness and took advantage of the tools available in the Draw.io software. I, also, noticed that Allison’s diagram included a couple resources that I use, but would have neglected to include, such as, Pinterest and Google Drive. So, I made sure to include them in my diagram. Thank you all for your great efforts and being an inspiration to me in my EdTech networking journey!