PLE - Personal Learning Environments & Discipleship

A diagram of my personal learning environment

Last week we spoke about web2.0 tools. Essentially this means that we are no longer subject to what the media wants to tell us, or what our local library or book store has in stock for our learning and development needs. 

We can become curators of our own content, and of the tools that allow us to view, engage with, and shape that content. 

We become creators of our own digital landscapes, finding the tools that work for us. 

This what a personal learning environment is. It is a conscious look at how we aggregate the information that we receive - it is the "20" that we looked at in the 70:20:10 model. 

This covers the physical tools we use: PC's, laptops, tablets, smart phones, smart watches etc. - as well as the digital tools themselves: content, social sharing, creation etc.

As disciples, those who learn, I think that it is important for us to engage with and think about our own Personal Learning Environment. The internet has opened incredible learning opportunities and web2.0 give us the perfect tools to access these opportunities. 

If you have never thought intentionally about your personal learning environment, your digital landscape, I highly encourage you to. You may want to create a diagram like mine above, or just think about the tools that you currently use and ask if they are serving you, or if you are serving them. Are they useful to you?

Apps like YouVersions Bible helps us to make the bible a social experience again, and uses habit forming techniques to help us read. 

Reminders lists helps us to pray for people.

Organisational apps help us to make time for what matters and ensures that we have a practical aspect to our faith. 

Social media sites help us to explore our faith within the context of others and learn from each other. 

Creation apps help us to keep online journals and blogs and help us to share what we learn.

May we be intentional about our learning, may we explore the digital landscape that has become available to us, and may we be drawn deeper into our faith through this engagement.

If you would like to read more about this topic I highly recommend this great article.

This article on the different, specifically Christian apps has some apps to think about (although as you can see from my list, as long as an app is helpful to you it does not matter if it is "Christian" or not).

It is worth mentioning as a side note, that using digital tools to enhance our faith, and using physical tools to access those digital tools is a pointless exercise if the tools that we are using and investing in are built on the backs of exploitation and slavery - the very antithesis of the gospel that we proclaim. I highly recommend checking out more ethical ventures like FairPhone or buying second hand.

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