Monthly Archives: November 2015

Marketing, Media + Communication I: Personal Learning Environment

AAD610_PLE

For my personal learning environment, I chose to represent my needs and methods of learning through the use of infographics. Architecture school taught me how to rigorously organize, represent, and relate diagrammatic elements to one another, and I thought this assignment would be a good opportunity to do so and also have some fun. My learning has also emphasized the use of technology and graphic tools which is why I chose to produce my PLE in a digital environment rather than an analog environment. Each infographic is color-coded to represent a learning or entertainment category. The majority are educational or design software programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs, or social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Assignments and projects both in my past and present rely heavily on the use of digital tools, so I wanted to divide my PLE into 3 main categories classified by method of use. I mainly utilize my MacBook, my iPhone, and the television to gather and produce information and to entertain myself. When I am working on a project or an assignment I am very much in my own head, which is why I positioned the “user” at the center of the graphic. I added a “necessities” category in very close proximity to the user because I almost always need 3 things to be productive and focus. These are caffeine, music, and headphones.

The further away from the center of the infographic, the less common the software or app is used. I also represented this through size of the infographic itself. Learning is done on my computer the most often, which is why it posses 3 tiers of related categories, while my phone possesses 2 tiers, most of which are social media or audio applications. The 2 of these methods are connected by a solid arc, indicating the overlapping use of these items. The television has mostly been used for entertainment purposes during all-nighters when I am desperate for any active source to keep me awake while working, but this is not as common anymore. I also decided to include Harry Potter under the television category because it is the best and most frequent source of entertainment if I am working on an assignment or project. These movies subliminally make me happy but I can also tune it out at the same time since I’ve seen them 100+ times.

I decided to include a stray category deemed “rewards” connected by a dashed line, indicating that this is not a direct means of learning but rather a subconscious group of thoughts. I am used to counting down the hours until I have time to sleep, eat, or drink a celebratory beer, so these items are always in the back of my mind while I am working. I am frequently so focused on a project that I mentally require myself to finish a certain portion before I make dinner, and then I can take a break while I eat. I have always worked best in spurts and segments of high, concentrated energy, followed by a period of relaxation (usually involving food), and then I go back to working intensely.

Architecture school heavily influenced my learning environment since everything is very individualistic and rigorous. I developed a need for music and headphones in order to help myself tune out any possible surrounding movement or noise while sitting in a studio or lab of 10-15 other people, and a desperate need for caffeine while working for 24+ hours at a time. My personal learning environment has evolved slightly upon changing schools and majors but is still deeply rooted in my traditions of architecture school. I would be interested to compare and contrast my personal learning environment at this moment versus after my completion of graduate school because I imagine it will be more open and inclusive of others through group work, collaboration, and varied assignment types.