This section draws on the theory described by Allenna Leonard (2009), in which she described the Personal Viable Systems Model. I use the label adjusting as the chief activity for online learners new to online environments. Leonard asks the question to determine what constituted a system 1: “The test is ‘is the activity an exchange in the environment that produces something that the environment recognizes and rewards?’ If so, it is a System One” (Leonard, 2009).

This describes the decisions made by students to adjust and adapt within a specific online learning setting. Each group setting has different types of leadership, implied roles for students, different rules for interaction, different goals and different expectations for commitment to engage others in mutual reciprocity. Adjusting is a crucial aspect of student conduct, without which they will not be successful. Because each setting has its own specific method for knowledge building and sharing, student bloggers need to master these learning skills to work effectively with group resources. The extent to which they are successful with finding group resources and tools plays a large role in the level of satisfaction. A lack of success will lead to feelings of frustration, ambivalence, and avoidance or abandonment.

In my case, adjusting activity during semester one was demonstrated through an introductory blog post which explored my learning expectations and goals, and identified how I intended to use the Me2U blog as a part of my personal learning network.

System 2 activity involves coordinating between conflicting demands of a number of system 1 environments. This personal learning system describes how a student interacts within more than one learning setting, which involves juggling the responsibilities of self-regulated blogging: blogging as an autonomous learner and building one’s own blog, sustaining an instructional dialogue with the instructor, participating within a group blog led by the instructor, and interacting with other peers.

Coordinating activity during semester one was demonstrated by me through an introductory blog post which identified how I intended to use the Me2U blog as a part of my personal learning network, as well as how the new WordPress site would be used along with the activity within Me2U:

 ‘To focus my diverse but related development efforts, I have created a personal learning space called webskills.ca, to aggregate and showcase my progress towards a number of personal learning objectives’ (Groulx, 2009, Me2U blog post).

As a system 3 activity, monitoring is a personal learning system that describes how a student engages in self-monitoring of their own personal blogging activities in the expanding number of learning settings. Online monitoring strategies include checking visitor activity. 

Monitoring strategies did not become an important focus for my learning till semester three, once the learning network expanded beyond Me2U. I required a tool to analyze data, and aid me in revisiting archived content for re-use. However, I recognized the importance of selecting monitoring tools. I composed a post during semester one in which I explored a variety of options. I wrote about measuring performance and quality of courses, yet I recognized, too, the potential for the use of such tools for self-assessment of my own learning:

“Web Trends data analyzes site visitor activities. Technorati data analyzes blogging activity. But how do you measure learner success and instructional quality? (for example, Webtrends tracks online activities, but does not measure the learning experiences that result from them). How about pings and trackbacks? monthly traffic volume to view edublog, as indicated in Technorati? Is this data more descriptive, more valid? What about a perfomance measure tracking the number and type of comments or feedback inquiries from a feedback form? Would these be more meaningful measures of instructional quality?” (Groulx, 2009, Me2U blog post).

Self-Steering

This personal learning system describes how a student engages in activities to find balance between past, present and future goals and intentions. It also involved clarifying self-definition – who the learner thinks he/she is, and who he/she wants to become. The aim of this system involves creating and maintaining a coherent system.

I was using blogging to manage this self-steering control system from the first post in September 2008, and identified a number of objectives which, in retrospect, were not realized as stated for a number of reasons, some of which I described in subsequent posts over time.

In my last reflective post of the first semester, I engaged in introspection to explore my emerging online identity, and how I behaved during the course, and gave some insights for the motivations behind my actions. I discussed the challenges that I faced while working with the content and completing assignments, and explained why I “…felt that my own musings would best be covered as individual blog posts for the MDDE group, and set the reading restrictions to only the MDDE605 cohort” (Groulx, 2008, Me2U blog post). I also described my motivations for taking a more passive role during this course. I also explained that my confidence level was lowered because I could not draw on more of my previous experiences to formulate my replies than in previous courses.

I composed a post to create an investigative framework for the MDDE663 independent study course using a set of questions that aided me with a cognitive schema to aid subsequent posting activity:

“I have some questions:

Has the use of edublogs evolved to offer unique learning experiences different from other technologies?

Does edublogging better support specific learning and teaching activities?

Is there a place for edublogging in education?

Are there specific compelling reasons to choose blogging over other technologies?”

(Groulx, 2009, Me2U blog post).

Self-Delivery

This personal learning system describes how a student engages in activities to build a set of tools for self-assessment, for capturing and structuring knowledge, and for messaging, searching, and browsing.

During the first semester of blogging, I identified specific blogging activities I would engage in future to aid me with self-talk, process capture and knowledge construction, which would involve the “…the exploration and sharing of ideas about technologies and strategies that encourage community-building and leaving an enduring legacy for future generations: collaborative journaling, digital story-telling, scrapbooking, path-making, meme creation and propagation, and many other related ideas” (Groulx, 2009, Me2U blog post).

Self-Development

This personal learning system describes how a student engages in activities to identify future learning possibilities, to reflect and build up on a rich model of self, and to work more systematically with identity and profile management tools. Self-development involves more attention paid to personal reflection, strategizing, planning, and goal-making. In addition, there is greater attention paid to skills development for developing routines for more systematic searching and discovery tools.

During the first semester, I published a blog post in which I explored the concept of personal branding, and the role of strategizing.

“The management and planning over one's own "Brand name" involves careful selection of the types of discussions one engages in, and the cultivating of a network of social contacts, and decisions about when and what to blog/post for maximum effect to accomplish goals” (Groulx, 2008, Me2U blog post).

I also drafted a professional vision statement, an important element in self-development and planning. I then modified it further in light of instructor feedback. I considered the implications of working within a widened network, not restricted to work within the classroom.

“I also agree that the need for mentors, critics, and techno-gurus is in high demand, and will be greater in future, and this is certainly an area I would like to explore further. Acting consistently with my vision, I aim to set up and run my own showcase classroom in which I try out various technologies and test various teaching strategies, and then publish my ideas through a blog, and share my ideas with educators” (Groulx, 2008, Me2U blog post).