Abstract

The purpose of this post-intentional phenomenological research study was to better understand connectedness in personal learning networks. The study was situated within the context of the field of learning design and technologies, and more specifically in distance learning. The conceptual framework comprised of theories of motivation, learning, and identity. The philosophical commitments of this study adhered to a phenomenological philosophy of technology and a post-intentional phenomenological philosophy and methodology. The aim of this interpretivist inquiry was to explore the question, how might connectedness take shape in personal learning networks? Six doctoral students participated in three phases of data gathering that included written lived experience descriptions, think-aloud observations, and in-depth interviews. A post-intentional methodology that included a whole-parts-whole process, a post-reflexive journal, and a post-intentional data analysis technique of chasing lines of flight was used to analyze and interpret the data, as well as interrogate the tentative manifestations. The findings included connectedness as motivation, learning, and identity.