For this week, everyone in class revised their PLN from earlier in the semester. In my first PLN, I just tried to lay out all of my connections in my map, but for this one, I focused on potential career paths according to my past experiences and interests. Some of the contacts listed are ones I already have connections with, while others are ones I may want to become connected to in the future.
I chose to use Text2MindMap again because I didn’t want to sign up to use Coggle, at least not now. I was actually trying to see if I could use Word Document’s SmartArt to create a visual that could better depict how each of my networks overlap instead of just being separate branches. However, I came across some trouble formatting and organizing in Word, so I went with Text2MindMap.
While I was making a new map, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could custom design some things, like the color, font, and the size of the connecting lines. I can’t remember if I saw these options during my first PLN draft, but I’m glad I’ve been able to change some things to my preference. For example, I made all the groupings relatively the same color, except for the main title. Since my career paths all seem to include writing in some way, I chose to keep those groups in blue, and the student affairs group is purple since it’s sort of the odd one out. The other design choice I did was to place the networks that I am already in contact with closest to the group title, like the UMN Press close to the Publishing title, and the organizations that I would perhaps want to become connected to are further away, like the MCPA of the Student Affairs group.
Connecting Creating Changing 
Hey Christina!
First, I love that you are considering student affairs. 🙂 But I think that your expanded PLN is awesome! I appreciate your evaluation of Text2Mind as well, because this was the second option I considered. I also like that each branch of yours seems similar in size to the others. This shows a good balance in your learning network and will really aid you as you continue on in the professional world!
Great work!
Collin
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Nice PLN! It’s interesting to see everyone’s different views on the assignment. I like that you restrained yourself in the color department so that the colors mean something, as well. I can tell that you put a lot of thought into every piece of your PLN. I also applaud your efforts in diddling with Word, even if they didn’t turn out.
-Marissa
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Nice PLN. It’s interesting that most of us considered using a different tool this time, but ended up using the same one that we used for the first draft.
It seems like our first drafts were no less useful than the second. There is no end to the ways we can approach a personal/professional learning network.
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