PLE & Narrative

 

 

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melissaple-8 melissaple-7 melissaple-6 melissaple-5 melissaple-4 melissaple-3 melissaple-2 melissaple-1 melissapleThe series of images I created represents my Personal Learning Environment in a variety of ways. To begin, it’s most natural and thorough for me to learn kinesthetically, visually, and verbally. My comic symbolizes all three of these, using drawn, frame by frame images to imply movement, and speech bubbles to imply a discussion.

I begin the series with the act of questioning, which is a nod to my ever shrinking fear of asking questions and looking “stupid” within a learning environment. Throughout my pre-graduate level schooling, this fear of asking questions and of admitting to my lack of understanding prevented me from growing as a student, and I consistently make it my goal to be braver in this respect during my time in AAD.

In the comic, I discuss my abundant use of Google apps as a learning tool. This marks a recent and significant shift in the way I function in an academic setting. Before this year, I never used a laptop at school, and instead relied solely on handwritten notes and physical sheets of paper. I’ve always preferred to write things myself, as it allows me to process information more completely, and allows me greater control over the aesthetic and structure of my notes, which is very important in my learning. This comic is meant to represent the dissonance between my need for organizing my information through hand-drawn images, and my love of “cloud” efficiency.

I learn most efficiently when I’ve visually mapped out my tasks and goals. Completing this assignment helped me to realize that as I’m becoming increasingly comfortable with digital arts tools, and with my ability to control the aesthetic layout of my online resources, the more willing I am to work through technological platforms as a part of my learning environment. 

Finally, I’ve begun to notice how mobile, flexible, and constant my Personal Learning Environment is. Really, my phone is the largest contributor to these traits. My ability to carry internet access, my email, google drive, etc., around in my pocket has led to valuable and overwhelming changes in my ability to learn. I feel that the greatest challenge of learning in the digital age is finding ways to filter, compartmentalize, and streamline my digital information– to take all of that noise and turn it into something personally tailored to my needs and interests.