Who are you, and what do you like to learn about? (academically, professionally, and/or personally)

I am a high school English teacher who is looking to segue into the Instructional Design field via the IDT Masters program at GMU. I have been in the field of education for over 10 years. Professionally, I like learning about new trends in education, best practices, and diverse learners. Academically, I am a huge fan of literature and always appreciate a good lecture on texts. Personally, I love nonfiction– from personal development to history to hobbies such as baking and cooking.

What hardware do you use to learn? (Eg. smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop)

I use my laptop and my smartphone to access learning material.

What software do you use to learn? (Eg. search engines, mobile apps, social networks, eBooks, digital libraries, wikis, blogs, videos, podcasts)

I use search engines, blogs, websites, social networks such as LinkedIn, and videos. I am one of the few people I know who doesn’t listen to Podcasts frequently, but I am not disposed auditory learning nor do I often have the quiet time to do so.

What digital tools do you wish you had access to for learning? (Eg. any graphic organizers, mind-mapping tools, resource management tools, progress tracking tools, design tools, etc.) Why?

I like tools that help me document what I have learned and covered. For example, I use the mobile app GoodReads to keep track of what I have read, what I want to read, what I am currently reading, and how I rank them. GoodReads allows me to easily keep my information accessible and recall, at a moment’s notice, information that I would not normally be able to document. I think being able to stay organized with an easy-to-us app is key to learning.

What might your ideal Personal Learning Environment (PLE) look like?

I would like one that is able to be utilized on a laptop/desktop and via mobile app on a phone. It would be clear, easy-to-us, have collaborative abilities, and present information in a succinct, organized manner. It would be multimodal in presentation and feedback. It would provide resources for betterment and also be connectable through social network platforms such as LinkedIn.

Michelle Kimberlin

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