PLE, PLN, PKM --- I get it, it's about the P, it's personal.

I don't really think in terms of personal learning environments and personal learning networks but more in terms of personal knowledge management plan, which I see as more action oriented and focused. To implement my personal knowledge management plan, I use a number of tools and techniques (my Personal Learning Environment) and I draw upon the people within my network (Personal Learning Network).

I'm still trying to figure this out but I don't want to spend too much time on terminology. It's personal in the sense that it is uniquely my creation and my responsibility.  It's what works for me and what works for me is continually changing so I'd rather go with the flow rather than spent too much time defining what it is right now or what it has been in the past.  The problem is with this approach is that it's difficult to have a conversation with other people - especially a conversation with 1000+ people- if we're all using similar terms to mean completely different things.

I'm repeating myself.  I've blogged about this in the past (in February 2009).  I probably said something different at the time. 

Personal Learning Plan - July/August 2009

I don't update my learning plan on a very strict schedule and I don't worry too much if I haven't exactly done everything I planned to do. Just thinking through where I want to focus in the next couple of months is useful. Every other month or so a need to refocus emerges but most of the map is stable. Click on the image for a larger version.
The new areas of focus are all related to the didactic novel, Learning Log. I don't want it to languish in never-ending revisions. I want to keep the momentum going.

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Personal Knowledge Management Plan

How are "Personal Knowledge Management" and "Personal Learning Environment" related?
A while ago I created a diagram representing what I consider to be my Personal Learning Environment (PLE). It essentially consisted of a visual representation (a map) of all the tools I use to keep track of information resources (notes, books, electronic resources, social networks, work documents, etc...) that are essential to my work/learning. The diagram also attempted to show how all these tools were connected and allowed the identification of some key inefficiencies related to the lack of synchronization and duplication of tools/methods at the office (fixed infrastructure) and at home (a more mobile set of tools). The initial impetus for creating this PLE map had been the frustration I was encountering with my mix of paper/electronic tools.
Initial Personal Knowledge Management Plan
Today I created a Personal Knowledge Management Plan. To make it relatively simple as a first attempt, I am limiting myself to short term needs and developing a plan for March 2009. I am also using the framework defined by Kirby Wright in his "Personal Knowledge Management Planning Guide." The guide offers two possible formats for a personal knowledge management plan, a graphical format and a table format. My initial attempt, below, is an adaptation of the graphical format. I must admit that I am having some difficulty differentiating the Learning Dimension and the Analytical Dimension of Kirby Wright's framework. Click on the image to view the details.

Ideally, I would review the plan on a monthly basis and adjust it as needed. I probably need to be more specific about the KM/learning goals embedded in this map but as a first monthly map, it will serve its purpose.
Getting back to the initial question of how the PKM plan and the PLE are related, the PKM plan answers a "what" question (what do I want to focus my learning on?) and the PLE is more focused on the "how", and "where" questions and on information/content management issues. I suspect my thinking about this will evolve over time. It doesn't feel very mature at this point. Let's call it emergent thinking.