The Personal Learning Space

Learning is an active process which builds upon personal experience and requires motivation (Pew, 2007). The personal learning space (PLS) is dependent on our self-direction, dispositions, motivation and is constructed to suit our needs and desire to succeed (Smith, 1996). This desire is regarded as self-efficacy, one’s “belief in their ability to succeed in particular situations,” foregrounded in Bandura’s social-cognitive theory (Cherry, 2017). It determines the goals we decide to pursue, how we achieve them and how we reflect on our performance (Cherry, 2017).

Personalized Learning, LLC. (2016). Continuum of Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is strengthened by:

• Celebrating personal success
• Observing others
• Reflecting on personal strengths (Cherry, 2017).

Reflection is essential in the PLS to determine what propels us towards improvement. It helps shift self-doubt to self-belief, directing our focus on continually giving the best effort to achieve. 

Twitter. (2021). Self-Efficacy

“We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience”

– John Dewey

iPhys-Ed. (2015). Taxonomy of reflection

Personally, self-belief is crucial to my learning process. My self-efficacy is built on academic achievement where the more I succeed, the more confident I feel in my abilities and am willing to overcome presented challenges. Reflection on successful past experiences has greatly boosted my confidence in tackling new tasks. I am able to identify strengths and weaknesses in what I have achieved which enables me to plan future steps of improvement, motivating my self-direction (Pappas, 2010).

My PLS constitutes an organised, quiet environment with no distractions and I feel most productive when I work at a desk. I get overwhelmed easily by large tasks and prefer to break them into smaller, achievable goals. As such, I have everything mapped out in advance so I know what to expect in my studies and can organise my learning progression. 

(Mind map of my Personal Learning Space)

Therefore, it is crucial, as educators, to recognise that the PLS is different for each student as every individual learns in a unique way.

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References

Cherry, K. (2017). Self Efficacy: Why Believing in Yourself Matters. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-efficacy-2795954. 

iPhys-Ed. (2015). Taxonomy of reflection (image). https://www.iphys-ed.com/blog/taxonomy-reflection-reflecting-month-physed-sharing/. 

Pappas, P. (2010). The Reflective Student: A Taxonomy of Reflection (Part 2). http://peterpappas.com/2010/01/reflective-student-taxonomy-reflection-.html. 

Personalized Learning, LLC. (2016). Continuum of Self-Efficacy (image).  https://kathleenmcclaskey.com/self-efficacy/. 

Pew, S. (2007). Andragogy and Pedagogy as Foundational Theory for Student Motivation in Higher Education. Student Motivation, 2, 17-18. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ864274.pdf. 

Smith, M. (1996). Self-direction in learning. http://infed.org/mobi/self-direction-in-learning/. 

Twitter. (2021). Self-Efficacy (image).  https://mobile.twitter.com/Haypsych/status/1459174209234604048/photo/1.