PLE Diagram and Reflection

Reflection Part 1: Self-Reflection

I built diagram, using the Collecting-Reflecting-Connecting-Publishing Model. When looking at my own PLE, I realized that I am connected to others in many ways. I honestly did not give much thought to how many different networks I was a part of. Something that I learned was it that I do not use these networks to educate myself as much as I should. I also learned that I need to contribute and add value to these networks as a contributor. The main thing I learned from creating this diagram was, by categorizing the communities, I can more clearly see how they can be used for learning.

As for the design of the diagram itself, I put the computer in the center because my PLE is an online environment. I used arrows to show the direction in which content moved between me and my connections. I grouped the communities by their function, based on the C-R-C-P model. There was some overlap with communities. For example, Blogger is a community for both publishing and reflecting. YouTube can be a community for collecting as well as connecting with others via comments. I wanted to keep my diagram neat and clean and so I used small icons and spread the four different categories across the map.

Reflection Part 2: Comparative Analysis

After I posted my own diagram, I took the time to compare my own PLE diagram a handful of my classmates' PLE diagrams (Mary C, Jasmine Q, Terry S, and my two PLN group members, Linda M, and Kristen T).

Differences:
The main difference that I noticed was that different models for the creation/organization of a PLE were used. I used the Collecting-Reflecting-Connecting-Publishing model. Others used an input and output model or Communicating, Creating, Collecting, and Connecting model.  In looking at others' PLE's, I did not think to add email to my diagram. I guess that means that I take email for granted in terms of it's usefulness as a learning tool. Other networks that people had in their PLE's that I did not include Flipboard for magazine articles, VoiceThread and Slideshare for publishing slideshows and Pinterest for sharing all kinds of ideas.

Similarities:
Although the models varied, there was a lot of overlap among all of us in terms of the social networks that we use to connect and share within our PLE's. For example, everyone had Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. Most people included an RSS feed for collecting, although there was a variety of RSS aggregation tools used. Other common tools were blogs, YouTube and Skype.