As part of an activity for LRTN 521, students were asked to create a visual network map. Admittedly, I am a few days late to the game. Life got in the way last week of my studies, but with a few personal items off the deck and readings well on the way, I felt like I could tackle the challenge. I looked at what others have produced and the varying rationale for approaches to the task or medium they chose and pondered over my pathway for the task. Based on what people were reporting, I felt Kumu would suffice because it was quick to learn and conveyed the details I wanted to represent in my map in an easy to read format.
I had considered downloading my content from LinkedIn, similar to what was depicted in Veletsianos (2016). However, I did not feel that was a complete representation of what I wanted to map. I also looked at adding social media or pathways that I communicate on but then felt that overlapped the previous digital mapping task. After some consideration, I decided to consider the concepts of community, group, and network (Dron & Anderson, 2014) as well as “activity-driven and interest-driven” (Veletsianos, 2016, p. 244) to create my visual network map because they seemed like a fit for the process and how I envision my network and its interconnectedness.
I thought about those I am connected to and why we are connected. Groups of family and friends were obvious choices. I thought about the organisations I am a part of and whom I am connected to within those groups, and what groups overlap. The organisations were all placed on the left of the visual map, and then the people to the right; this was to lengthen the connections and create a divide visually. The organisations and groups of people are either networks (activity or interest-driven) or communities.
What you may note in the center is “Personal Gill,” “RRU student Gill,” “RRU Instructor Gill,” and “Restaurant Worker Gill.” This division represents the varying groups, communities, and networks I reside in. “Restaurant Worker Gill” is a past life that no longer defines me. I barely identify with that person anymore, but I recognise that I have an extensive network and community from that life. As an instructor, I call on them as guest speakers and informants for research, which is why they are linked in that respect. Also, this former self informs my teaching practice in terms of the content I teach.
The roles of both the student and instructor at RRU are different identities and connected differently because how I network, the tools I use and how I connect with groups are not the same. However, at the same time, because they are in the same organisation, group members are connected to many of the same people. It’s a work in progress, but I welcome feedback and questions.
References
Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching Crowds. AU Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781927356807.01
Veletsianos, G. (2016). Digital learning environments. In Handbook of learning technologies (N. Rushby & D. Surry ed., pp. 242–260). UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Gill – I found the distinction between different “selves” fascinating. It reminded me of the conversation we all had the week before last about whether a person can collaborate with themselves.
It would be interesting to complete a network map like this specifically designed to show all the interconnections between our various “selves” across both time and roles. For example, how do the people I am networked with in my current stage of life overlap (or not) with those from my elementary school self? This opens up an interesting question about where one self ends and another begins – and how fuzzy the lines are between various roles and selves.
Hi Russ. Thanks for popping in!
The differentiation of selves is derived from that conversation. Because I create very distinct lines in my digital presence, the notion of the selves helped me decipher where myself and others reside on the digital map based on the tools we use to connect. For example, many professional people are through RRU platforms or LinkedIn. As such, when I went to approach my visual network map, I felt it warranted to think in the realm of communities, networks and groups (Dron & Anderson, 2014) and why I am connected to them because I have a lot of distinct people or groups that don’t intermingle. Even when it comes to dinner parties, I’d rather have three different dinners catering to varying groups of friends than trying to bring people together. I compartmentalise my people. 🙂
It would be interesting to do a map where I use contacts in APPs for professional vs personal and see where those lines intersect. Often what I choose to connect on is related to the “self.” But if I did it by a specific person it would be cool to see what fuzziness starts to unravel. I think in my restaurant world there would be a lot of crossovers, but when I delved into the world of academics, it was a conscious decision to keep the “selves” divided.
Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching Crowds. AU Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781927356807.01
Reminds me of Goffman’s “presentations of self” that was described in the article, Digital learning environments by Veletsianos, G. (2016). Goffman is a familiar name in the sociology field, I will need to review his theories again but when I read your blog and then the Russ’ comments I didn’t know if this crossed anyone else’s mind.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on where those connections happen for you, thanks for sharing.