Diversity in Ithaca: FaceBook as a Professional Learning Network (PLN)

What's Your Connection Strategy? Diversity or Conformity? Wide or Narrow?

I use FaceBook as a Professional Learning Network (PLN). It evolved that way, without any conscious effort on my part. I am connected with people who share my interests.

The picture above was created by TouchGraph on Facebook. It shows all 841 of my connections. Without exception, what we all have in common is the love of teaching English. We are all teachers.

Now, looking at the picture, if I revert back to my days in the military, all of the people are tightly bunched together. Indeed, on a rifle range, this would be called a “tight shot group”, and my rifle would be considered, “calibrated”. To hit the target, one must connect with what one aims at.

Sergeant Thomas Baker - Age 20

I honestly could not have done any better even if I had purposely set out to achieve such a result as shown in the picture above. Now here’s the question: Is it beneficial to have such a lack of variety in my PLN? I will answer that question before I say goodbye to you, my friend, but for the moment, let me hold you in suspense a while longer.

I discovered an appropriate quote, quite by accident, while reading a blog of a teacher of English, after being referred to the blog. There on the blog, another friend had read the blog, and left the quote behind in his reflections. So, a friend of a friend of a friend made me aware of the exisence of the blog of Anna Varna. Here’s the quote:

Hermann Hesse – as quoted by Eric Roth – “a career is always a tragedy” (end of quote) – because we restrict our imagination and risk becoming too one-dimensional… (quote found at Anna Varna’s great blog, “In your hands”. I recommend checking it out highly…

The word, one-dimensional, seems to fit my connection profile as shown in the picture above. As a matter of fact, that conclusion seems almost inescapable. So, let me look at that picture a bit closer.

Now, I appeal to my background as a nurse, and would like to consider the picture as representing a human, me. So, this would be the Anatomy of my connections, it’s humanness.

Love springs forth from the heart, and indeed, this is the Heart of the matter...

I am at the center of the picture, at its heart. Why not at its head, where the brain is located? Well, the heart is metaphorical for my emotions, because over the course of my entire life, I have made decisions based on how I felt, for the quantity and quality of my true self that was invested.

Why not reason and logic? Why not be guided by the laws of science, of evidence, of the concrete, of the here and now? To be honest, I don’t think I would have had any fun in life. There would have been no adventure, no great travels, and even worse, the rainy day when for the first time my eyes met the lovely eyes of my wife, in Chile, that day would have been denied me.

My beloved Gaby, the love of my life...She completes me...

Destiny. Everything that has made my life what it is today, would never have happened. There would be no Gaby, no students of English would discover the marvelous world of the English language with me.

I would never have felt the pride of my adopted nation, Chile, as it resiliently met the adversity of an 8.8 earthquake, rescued 33 miners from the very gates of Hell, and shed the tears of grief as a fire took the lives of people worthy of rehabilitation, yet must now seek redemption in heaven.

Achieving the impossible, the unthinkable, the extraordinary, that is the Hallmark of the nation that has so generously adopted my adventurous spirit…

So, you see, the Heart is the center of my Anatomy in the picture.

The Head, when one looks closely, is populated profusely by people with a common bond, educational technology. Technology allows me to connect with others like me, to be efficient, effective, and productive, in my efforts as a teacher of English.

In reality, the logic and reason that fulfills “Edtech”, is fulfilled for me by my lovely wife, Gaby. Where I am emotional, she is logical. The logic of my connection to people from the educational technology world mirrors the complementary function that Gaby does for me, her input is crucial for me in balancing the heart and the head, emotion and logic, bringing harmony to both competing interests.

English Summer Town 2008

The Body of this “Connection Anatomy” is represented by TESOL. I have dedicated myself to helping any and all teachers of English in Chile, in any way that I could, for the past 6 years. One of the greatest joys I can have is to find myself in the company of a teacher of English, sharing common concerns, understanding the motives and motivations of the other. Given the choice of spending a day with a movie star, a Prime Minister, an Olympic gold medalist, or a teacher of English, guess which one I would choose – every time?

Osorno Province English Network - OPEN

You guessed it. I never tire of the company of teachers. Teachers of English are extraordinarily special people. They give me energy, motivate me, inspire me, and push me forward in my never-ending quest to be the one who makes a difference in a child’s life. The power of one person, the teacher, to affect eternity, makes being a teacher the greatest possible profession on Earth, hands down…

Finally, in this Anatomy, you will notice on the outside, looking in as it were, what will be the arms and legs. They are moving towards the center, to join with the body. How so?

These are students of English Pedagogy. Not yet fully formed teachers, in a process of development, becoming independent, yet needing the nurture of the body of teachers to complete its transformation. The future teachers of English, observing the body of teachers, wanting to be like us, some with doubts if they will ever be able to meet the daily challenges they see us dealing with.

That they will surpass even their wildest dreams is not yet evident to them. Yet each new generation of teachers has met the challenges of its day and time. They will prove more than adequate when their moment arrives.

I know this. I have talked with them, shared my story with them, and my resources, just as all of my educational technology and TESOL friends have also done. Yes, they will be just fine…

I promised to answer a question, didn’t I? Is my use of Facebook, as shown in the picture above, too one-dimensional? Is this too much of a “family affair”?

My Family -from L to R- Kathy, Charlie, Linda, me, Bernice, (Mom seated)

A detached, well-reasoned, logical answer would be, “Yes”. There seems to be a lack of diversity from other fields of endeavour. The doctor, the lawyer, the engineer, the bus driver, the investment banker, the chef, the fireman, the soldier, the nurse, they are all missing. How then, is this supposed to be an example of Connectivism and Connected learning?

I may be using Facebook as a PLN, but it lacks diversity. I stand guilty as charged, without recourse but to diversify, it would appear.

Any last words?

No, no words of my own, but if I may invoke the mystique of the Gods that some say once were, although others claim these Gods never were, never existed, were mere fantasy…

I invoke “Ithica” in my defense:

Constantine P. Cavafy’s poem ‘Ithaca’, recited by Sir Sean Connery and with music specially composed by Vangelis.

ITHACA [1910, 1911]
As you set out for Ithaca
hope that your journey is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare sensation
touches your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope that your journey is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and learn again from those who know.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so that you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would have not set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.

*** A final word, ladies and gentlemen. If you have understood Ithaca, then you must know that I consider my FaceBook PLN to be as rich and diverse as any other filled with doctors, lawyers, engineers, singers, dancers, and shoemakers. Yes, there are those who would disagree, having a different vantage point from which to look, yet give me the FaceBook PLN that I have, and none other:

“Give me Ithica!”

Best regards,
Tom