This will continue to grow, in my opinion, because we are trying to prepare students for jobs that haven't even been created yet. Therefore, I see students that will build their own degrees for jobs that they want to create once they move into the workforce. Exciting!

I notice that the faculty I work with default to subject-matter specific professional development rather than education-related professional development. I know a lot of our faculty have taken pretty significant pay cuts to transition from industry to the "easier world" of teaching. It is a struggle with the faculty have to also maintain an industry license to teach the courses. So, they feel overwhelmed with how many hours are required for their industry license, and then we pile even more on them by asking them to take professional development from us. I'm not sure how to bridge this gap. Any advice is appreciated.

I am current tasked with having to redesign our online educator professional development pathway, and I'm very interested to check this out. I want it to be transformative, not just "click here, don't do this, oh, and don't forget to put this here."

Hear, hear! I'm alone at my institution! But, with pedago.me, I'm less alone and empowered!

I wanted to comment that what you are demonstrating in this autoethnography is so important to me as an educator and instructional designer.

When we communicate laterally within our institutions, we are fearful of being completely honest in most situations. Having a PLN of individuals not affiliated with one's institution is powerful. I can ask hard questions, get the opinions of others in the field, and rely on the information I've received to make appropriate decisions. Many of the decisions made in higher education happens in silos, as we all know. It behooves all educators to break free of the silos and form PLNs to gain a more accurate understanding of the global "picture."

Thank you for demonstrating the interweaving of your PLNs with your day-to-day work. It was empowering and helps to remind me that I'm on the right track and feeds by educational philosophy when my day-to-day work may not.

Excellent point. I'm in charge of credentialing conference attendance, and I know that I'm having to give credit for times where people may not actually be at the conference, but rather back in their hotel room or seeing the city. I'd venture to say I'd feel more comfortable with credentialing a conference that has a "digital timestamp" than the way I am having to do it now!

I would also argue, though, that it is a better option than the alternative, which is not attending a conference if you have any of the limitations that prevent your f2f attendance.

Good to know I'm not alone in this observation!

And, perhaps, also highlights digital inequality within the students they teach. Some level of empathy has to occur when instructors participate in a "student" role.

This reminds me of the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) Model of technology integration. #DigPINS certainly sounds like it falls under the "redefinition" category.

I show this video to my undergraduate Instructional Technology students, if interested. https://youtu.be/OBce25r8vto

I think this is a particularly important note. I think a lot of us in the field are looking for something that will just bring all of the faculty skipping down the hall to work with us. Aspirations are aspirations, and sometimes it is okay to say "This is an aspiration I have, and the work I'm doing today to move toward that aspiration is good work that is worthy of my recognition."

As change agents, we see so much of what it "could be" that we lose sight of the growth we've actually achieved.

When I read this, it was like I was struck by lightning. I can't believe I never thought of this before!

And, I argue that transformative learning is what most of us strive for when working with our faculty and students. After all, if what we are teaching doesn't transform our "students," what's the point?

As someone that A) lives in a rural state, B) has a chronic health condition that flares intermittently that prevents travel at times, I appreciate these points. We live in a powerful age of nearly limitless information upon a few keystrokes, but we still require people to "come to us" so frequently in the world of education. If we truly want to provide equity in education, we must model equitable behaviors.

What about faculty developers that have tried to express this point but are meeting resistance from administration that the one-size-fits-all isn't working?

Personal translation for myself: Initiative fatigue!

I'm so happy that I was invited to pedagome! I'm literally all alone in my pursuit of faculty development, and pedagome has quickly become my favorite part of teaching and learning!

I had always seen PLNs called "Professional Learning Networks." I think I like the "Personal" better.

Absolutely true. In fact, it wasn't until I read this that I actually went "That's why what we (our faculty development team) hasn't felt right. We aren't practicing what we preach!".

I agree with this completely. I'm currently working on a framework for working with educators that focuses on the whole person based upon the Foundational Student Coaching methodologies provided by InsideTrack. Although proprietary, what I learned from InsideTrack can help me focus on the whole person while advising educators.

Absolutely thrilled to see Mezirow and transformative learning theory in the spotlight. Transformative learning theory happens to be my favorite educational theory.