plns and ples, please

On the whole, I see my personal learning environment as a way to organize and strengthen my work assignments, learning objectives and social needs. Using a structured system can help me to take control of the process - by helping me to manage the content, set goals, and communicate with my peers and experts in the fields that interest me most. And I’ve learned quite a bit about the areas in my work and education that are lacking (maybe too much?), especially regarding my concept of social media.

A few months ago I was fairly dismissive of sites like Facebook and Twitter – but lately I’ve had to reassess my prejudice. Obviously, the sheer volume of information coming in doesn’t equate to value, nor is the sentiment often revealed on social networks necessarily shallow. When I look thoughtfully, or purposefully, I can see that these new tools can enhance my education as a student, and my career as a graphic artist.

I was struck by this quote recently, while searching about professional learning networks, regarding in the social nature of learning: “Learning becomes as much social as cognitive, as much concrete as abstract, and becomes intertwined with judgment and exploration.” I need to retrace my steps and find the source of that quote! By itself, technology isn’t going to dictate our success – but maybe it’s through our engagement of the social context (needs? aspirations?) into these technologies that does.

My head argues that all this information can only help; that using these new connections of information will impact my work, and my education, in a positive way. But I’m starting to feel like I’m losing my sense of self? Ironically, the more I use the aggregator tools to read and learn, the less connected I’m starting to feel. I get so excited about learning something new, but it fades quickly as I’m rushing off to the next task. Maybe it’s the frustration of trying to learn something new so quickly, without allowing myself the time to absorb it. Maybe I just need more chocolate.