Erin Empey
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Personal Learning Environment
My personal learning environment consists of three concentrated areas. Most elements of my life can fit within these three topics, but there is in fact cross-over between categories. The three topic headings are: Physical, Virtual, and Personal.
The design of this Personal Learning Environment was chosen to show the symbolism of knowledge. I have invested much of my life, and therefore much of my personal learning, in formal education, and chose to represent this formal education with a book. I love books themselves and the physical grappling with knowledge. I enjoy the way the binding creaks on a freshly printed book, and engaging with a physical item that I can hold, and have accessible whenever I choose. I also love collecting old books, and enjoy their musty smell and the stories they have to tell through their ownership. I grew up in a home that was surrounded by books and bookshelves and am now constructing my home in the same manner. Education and knowledge are part of my core being.
The physical, virtual and personal environments are listed in the table of contents in this book of life. Each subject holds the elements that are categorized within their subject heading. Each item listed also correlates to a page number, representative of how much time these specific items occupy in my life. Some of this relates to their relevancy in my life, but I find that my time, or lack thereof, dictates relevancy for me as a student right now, and that it’s not strictly by choice. The page number differences vary from 1-5; 1 being the learning method that takes the least amount of time, and 5 being the method that takes the most amount of time. For example, if an item is found on page 5, and the following item is found on page 10, then the first item occupies 5 pages (the maximum of this scale) and constitutes a large percentage of my time. I chose to represent my environment in this way because I found it interesting that when I was listing pieces of my environment, I wanted certain items to be more of an influence then they currently are, and realized that time was prohibiting the way I was learning and engaging in my environment. There are always constricts of how and where we learn, but it was interesting to reflect on this in my own life.