Connectivism



The mindmap lays out the resources I use for my learning processes. The items in red are learning resources related to my work.  The blue items are my personal life (which appears to be lacking). The green items are for school. 

• How has your network changed the way you learn?
• My network in the last few years as changed my learning quite a bit.  The expansion of it has allowed me to be introduced to new topics, new processes, and new methods of execution.  I was a typical “I know so much” (never it all) person.  But joining my new team and being exposed to so many new people and their experiences have taught me an incredible amount. I also find I have a wide pool of people I can now call on for consultation and mentoring.  I respect their knowledge base and they are open to share it with me.  I usually introduce myself as a homegrown ID professional, but with my networks influence and feel myself turning a corner and becoming a trained ID professional which adds a nice layer of affirmation.   
• Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?
• For my work learning the best digital tool is the preproduction sites that allow me to play and practice on my own as I learn the applications I will then write about.  These environments also provide me a physical place where I can screen shot to provide a visual element to the text I am writing.
• For my personal life I would have to say my only digital learning is Walden and these classes and discussions.  Beyond that, the only real digital aspect of my life is the infrequent visits to social networking sites for gossip and friend updates which do not garner me much in the way of life-long learning. My personal life is dominated by toddler children and their learning needs, not mine at the moment.      
• How do you gain new knowledge when you have questions?
• When I need new knowledge in my work life, I exhaust all my network contacts.  Which is pretty cool since I usually pick-up one or two additional contacts along the search.  I use documentation that support the projects I am involved in and also other education documents supporting the application.
• In what ways does your personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism?
• I think my professional learning network supports the tenets of connectivism since my circle is constantly growing and reaching across geographical borders. We use technology to share information and provide references for all involved if needed. The environment also supports connectivism since people learn from those in the group and take past experiences to build a better present.  Experiences are not forgotten but intertwined (good and bad). 
• I think my personal learning does not support connectivism since this process has showed me my personal learning is shrinking and I am losing the connections I once had.  I think more than anything to move back to connectivism I have to realize my desire to learn is equal to my desire for my children to learn.  But the again, as I teach my kids, I expand an area of learning that I did not explore on the mindmap…the learning of how to teach my kids and how to learn what their emotional fluctuations mean to them and me and how I can be sure they will be happy young people and adults.  So thinking like this, I guess I should have included on my mindmap items such as: webmd, parenting.com, friends who are parents, teachers, and my family members who are also parents.