That first Assignment....

I feel like the numbers went all weird when I copy and pasted it ... hmm 

Webquest on a Personal Learning Network

1. To keep the concept simple, a personal learning network could be defined as “the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information usually online”¹   

1. To be a good PLN there are a number of things or elements that are necessary or at least recommended.  However personally there are three key aspects that must be met if my PLN is to be affective.  

a) Connectivity is the biggest aspect for me,  without having the my phone to check Social networking sites or my laptop to check blogs, wiki’s etc I wouldn’t stay updated in my personal learning network.  

1. Along with connectivity there must be a genuine reason and interest to want to learn.  For me to learn I would need a genuine interest (or reason leaving me no option) in the knowledge or I wouldn’t learn.  This is the same concept as alcoholics going to rehab;  until they have a problem with their lifestyle they wont change.  
2. Relevant information.  Obviously a PLN about shakespeare won’t help me with my workout intensity.  UNLESS you’re name’s Mr. Chesser, but he’s weird.

1. Post Secondary I’m applying for my HBA at Ivey.  It’s going to be a very competitive learning environment and even the slightest advantage could be the difference in a future career.  Having knowledge on topics such as various stock market trends,  up and coming technologies and renewable energy sources would give me that edge on my classmates in two ways.  The first advantage being the knowledge of those topics that my classmates won’t have.  The second advantage however may be even more useful than the knowledge itself.  Having experience accessing different personal learning networks on various topics sets me ahead because now I can use my time more efficiently than my fellow classmate who is unfamiliar with a PLN

1. Employers are already starting to make the change from the traditional paper portfolio’s to online portfolio’s.   Obviously there are managers who prefer the classic method however the majority now prefer the online method for multiple reasons. 

1. one of these reasons for online portfolio’s is that whoever controls the application process can check these applications from there own home.  Essentially it’s just easy, everyone likes easy, so do modern employers!
2. Online documents are much easier to scan for copyright’s.  In certain industries such as media copyrighted files could be a huge threat.  The old style of paper portfolio’s wouldn’t have the same ability.  (Ex.  Photographer prints off a picture, now there are no records of it’s source.  However if the photograph was submitted online, software could be used to scan the internet for replicas)  
3. Organization.  Online software will organize the employers file’s so much better than a filing cabinet ever could.  The search function is a great tool to filter out certain applicants.  Above all else online portfolio’s eliminate the need for the ugly cabinet in the first place!

1. To be honest my online portfolio is not employer friendly, especially if I was going to be applying to any professional career.  Generally my post’s are okay but their are certain picture’s that I wouldn’t like my employer seeing.  Some method’s could include, locking my facebook profile, changing my twitter name or restricting followers.  However other good privacy measures include not signing up for too many sites, keeping virus software up to date, using secure passwords and reading the T&C’s (the things that no one ever reads because obviously they agree.....)