In my first OpenU course we visited this topic. Coming from an Art and Humanities (in the USA) background that I found so much of what we study brand new. I had a hard time trying new things like Twitter and reluctantly tried blogging. (I don’t think the name ‘blog’ doesn’t help win fans 😉 ) I feel a bit grumpy about the antiquated modules; old content, broken links that show no one has looked after it and it affects my attitude about the activities themselves. I find sometimes I have to push myself past this inertia and get the best out of it.
So I made a commitment to try everything we were asked to do and eventually saw the merit in using social media for professional networking and learning. Fours years on and I now have the confidence to follow my heroes and am delighted when they follow me back. I have embraced LinkedIn more in the last year especially since it bought Lynda.com and rebranded it LinkedIn Learning. I am not thrilled about this ‘link’ I feel a little bit spied on and want privacy over my choices there!
The following represents my PLN in a bit more sophisticated format this time around. It isn’t complete but ‘a work in progress’ like we all are I suppose. Informed by my classmates, I included social groups, mentors and all my learning channels. I shared my original low tech attempt below that to show my progress – it was definitely was uncharted territory.
April 2020
This is made in xMind and it has a free trial which is installed on up to 5 Devices. One great feature with xMind is that you can export your map with notes and images into a Word document which helps you start writing your assignment. I haven’t figured out how to move the blobs (or myriad of shapes and colours) and one can waste hours playing with it rather than actual studying! It would have been nice to have the Twitter and Facebook icons – maybe I will update it some time.
I am trying to decide between this software and another called one called Lucidchart which may be more convenient as it is online, has lots of templates – even for teaching kids. It will create an outline but nowhere near as good as xMind.
Here are a couple good linked to a more elevated point of view:
http://tiny url.com/yfdwre6 blog Gavin Dudeney
This is my first attempt in 2016 when I first learned about mind maps, what a revelation!
I remember being in a rush at the time and just grabbed some coloured markers.
Below is the image Martin Weller shared of his PLE – it’s interesting to compare them over time and discover what your tutors use in real life.
denise mcdonough 