Reflections on Mind Mapping

In the mind map, I’ve focused on the three areas I consider important in my “learning” right now: career advising (current full-time job), instructional design (where I want to go), and teaching English as a second language (part-time job).

When I was younger, and a full-time student, my network was mostly my graduate cohort of students. We learned from our instructors and from each other. But things have changed in the 10 years since I finished that program. Not being in an in-person program changes how I interact with others, and what the content of that interaction entails. Many of my networks now are online, or at least mostly online. Given that I also work entirely online, most of what I learn happens in short bursts. I try to spread out my learning in order to not spend my entire day in front of a computer. This helps me stay motivated and gives my mind a break to help it absorb more information.

I enjoy webinars and videos for learning. However, if it is a video with no interaction, I prefer them to be short, or able to be broken up into segments. Webinars or videos that are too long without any engagement tend to have my mind trying to multitask, which results in no learning whatsoever. But webinars that include plenty of engagement encourage me to stay with it and practice new skills or take notes. Another tool that works for me is social media groups, such as Facebook groups. I know that sounds strange right now, but I consider myself a “lurker” on a variety of groups. They keep me updated on what’s happening in my various learning areas and also provide ways for me to check my learning if I have questions. Some people in those groups have reached out on LinkedIn for more of a connection, so I know that when I have a question that I can’t find an answer to, I have someone that I can reach out to.

Essentially, I believe that my personal learning network supports the tenets of connectivism. Some of the tenets put forth by Davis, Edmunds, and Kelly-Batement (2008) include a diversity of thought, currency, and the ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape. While I love reading in order to learn, reading an article or a book that was written ten years ago does not meet those tenets. Seeing the problems and issues facing instructional designers or people in the career advising realm (especially in this new COVID-19 life), and how those issues are being handled, provides that currency of knowledge that I cannot get from a book.

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008) Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives

on learning, teaching and technology. Retrieved from http://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf