Personal learning environment

Personal Learning Environments (PLE) are systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning.[1] This includes providing support for learners to:

A PLE represents the integration of a number of "Web 2.0" technologies like blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, etc. around the independent learner. Using the term "e-learning 2.0", Stephen Downes describes the PLE as: "... one node in a web of content, connected to other nodes and content creation services used by other students. It becomes, not an institutional or corporate application, but a personal learning center, where content is reused and remixed according to the student's own needs and interests. It becomes, indeed, not a single application, but a collection of interoperating applications—an environment rather than a system".[2]

A PLE puts the individual learner at the center, connecting him or her to information and communities that: "... provide personal spaces, which belong to and are controlled by the user, [and also provide] a social context by offering means to connect with other personal spaces for effective knowledge sharing and collaborative knowledge creation" [3] Using the term "Social Learning 2.0," Anderson and Dron reinforce this emphasis on community, conceptualizing it in terms of "groups," "networks" and "collectives" (2007)[4] and thereby achieve learning goals.

Examples of PLE systems are CLIX, Moodle, and iGoogle. A learner may add widgets (e.g. from the ROLE Widget Store Chrome Web Store or Google Apps Marketplace) to manage content. The concept of the PLEs has been taken up and developed further within the European collaborative project Responsive Open Learning Environments. ROLE is exploring the psycho-pedagogical [5] as well as the technical challenges [6] presented by a PLE solution and is charged with overcoming them. The underpinning ethos of ROLE is openness and responsiveness.

ROLE supports openness by designing a ROLE Reference implementation - infrastructure that supports assembled widget bundles with communication channels, authentication and authorization mechanisms, services for activity tracking and analysis and access to psycho-pedagogical user profiles. Users are free to access, join, develop and extend the system. This system is interoperable across software systems and technology. Responsiveness to learners’ needs is ensured, quick and individual (e.g. answer, recommendation, individually adapted content, elements or tools) and relates to the learner’s individual needs, preferences, and wishes.

An independent group in the US has created a preliminary consortium for the PLE and is currently looking for a group of motivated representatives to create a panel to better define standards and procedures of implementing a PLE.

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External links

References

  1. ↑ Van Harmelen, H., "Design trajectories: four experiments in PLE implementation", Interactive Learning Environments, 1744-5191, Volume 16, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 36 – 46
  2. ↑ Downes, S. "E-learning 2.0", National Research Council of Canada, October 17, 2005.
  3. ↑ Cahtti, A, "Personal Environments Loosely Joined", Mohamed Amine Chatti's ongoing research on Technology Enhanced Learning blog, 2 Jan 2007, inspected on 10 Oct 2010
  4. ↑ Anderson, T, "On Groups, Networks and Collectives", Virtual Canuck Blog, April 30, 2007, inspected on October 10, 2010
  5. ↑ more about in: Fruhmann, K; Nussbaumer, A; Albert D. (2010): A Psycho-Pedagogical Framework for Self-Regulated Learning in a Responsive Open Learning Environment. In Proceedings of the International Conference eLearning Baltics Science (eLBa Science 2010), 1–2 July 2010, Rostock, Germany.
  6. ↑ more about in: Nussbaumer,A; Albert,D; Kirschermann, U (2010). Technology-mediated Support for Self-regulated Learning in Open Responsive Learning Environments. Proceedings of the EDUCON Conference 2011. Jordan, 2011.