Personal Learning Environment
Encyclopedia
Personal Learning Environments (PLE) are systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to:
Technically, the 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".
PLE puts the individual learner at the center, connecting him or her to both information and to communities to: "... 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" 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) and thereby achieve learning goals.
The concept of the PLEs has been taken up and developed further on within the European collaborative project ROLE (Responsive Open Learning Environments).
ROLE is exploring the psycho-pedagogical as well as the technical challenges 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 an open source system based on Web 2.0 technology. 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.
- set their own learning goals
- manage their learning, both content and process
- communicate with others in the process of learning
Technically, the PLE represents the integration of a number of "Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
" technologies like blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds, Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, 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".
PLE puts the individual learner at the center, connecting him or her to both information and to communities to: "... 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" 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) and thereby achieve learning goals.
The concept of the PLEs has been taken up and developed further on within the European collaborative project ROLE (Responsive Open Learning Environments).
ROLE is exploring the psycho-pedagogical as well as the technical challenges 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 an open source system based on Web 2.0 technology. 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.
See Also
- History of Personal Learning EnvironmentsHistory of personal learning environmentsPersonal Learning Environments are systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to* set their own learning goals* manage their learning; managing both content and process...
- Virtual Learning EnvironmentVirtual learning environmentDefined largely by usage, the term virtual learning environment has most, if not all, of the following salient properties:* It is Web-based* It uses Web 2.0 tools for rich 2-way interaction* It includes a content management system...
- A Collection of PLE diagrams