Envisioning My Future
When I look ahead 5-10 years in my future in regards to who and where I will be I can not help but see myself taking one of the two paths I believe to be unfolding before me. After graduating Brock I see myself working with my dad which I consider my first path; I have worked for him in the past and quite enjoyed it, especially the aspect that I could have a lifelong career. On the other hand, my education is leading me in the direction of my second path of law enforcement. Sociology fascinates me and from what I have learned I want to be part of the solution to many problems and help anyone that I can. Being in law enforcement with my own discretion would allow me to help people who need assistance. I want to be someone who is known to help people and who has only good intentions for anyone who needs assistance. Both of these paths are appealing and I believe I will be taking one of these directions in the future.
Where I Am Now
As of now I am in third year Sociology with a concentration in Criminology at Brock University. I have found with this year I have become more vested into my program and am absolutely fascinated by what I am learning. I concentrate most of my time on school while enjoying my hobbies in my spare time. I enjoy a somewhat carefree lifestyle and am able to focus on my educational career more than my work career. I find the main difference between myself now and how I envision the future is that now I am very education oriented and extremely focused on my schooling while in the future education is not be as important as finding a successful career. In order to get from where I am now to where I want to be I will need to learn skills and knowledge relative to my future career. What I am learning in school is precisely what I need for either path I hope to take. The tools I utilize such as the library, textbooks, lectures, and internet tools such as Google and Youtube all assist and support what I am and need to learn.
Learning Environment
When focusing on my schooling I need to adapt my surroundings to better suit my learning needs. When I begin to do assignments or study I change my environment by finding a place with no distractions and with complete silence. This helps with my learning as I am distracted easily and as a result the less distractions I have around me the better. I have a terrible habit of looking at my phone when studying which (as studies have proven) lowers the amount of information that one attains. This will be the first bad habit I attempt to break by ensuring it is not near when I study for the next 30 days.
But What Did I Learn About A PLE And WordCloud?
From the resources and readings provided, I learned what a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is and just how beneficial it can be to an individuals learning. A PLE is a system that consists of tools and personal connections utilized by an individual to assist in creating a personalized learning environment suited to them. I discovered that it is very personalized, everyone learns differently and through different tools which are suited to their learning; anyone can create this environment and thrive within it. While creating my PLE using Popplet, I found that it contained few tools pertinent to my education and furthering my learning. It has the obvious tools such as Google, Youtube, and Facebook but nothing more along the lines of education and career. With realizing this, as I continue on in this class I hope to add tools that are useful and that I can utilize for my education and my future career. Additionally, I created a Wordcloud which I completed using the website Wordle. I used my first reflection and put it into Wordle to see the language that is dominant throughout it. It helped with viewing my vocabulary and seeing the type of language I used when discussing the digital footprint. I found that I use clear writing and I repeat words from the articles I read in order to present what I am attempting to explain.
My Current PLE
When looking to my PLE, I notice that many of my tools are associated to the two groups I am apart of according to Josh Bernoff. Looking to Josh's Social Technographic Ladder, I am a part of the joiners and spectators rung on the ladder. In relation to my PLE, many of my tools fall into these two groups. Additionally, as said by Graham Attwell in his article Personal Learning Environmentts- the future of Elearning? (2007) "PLEs offer considerable potential for knowledge development and sharing and what has been called organisational learning" and I find this to be true with my PLE. I am beginning to organize my tools into sections that I will be able to utilize to enhance my learning development and which will allow me to share with my fellow peers during our class together.
Cheers!
Jason Wilson
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