As the name suggests, a Personal Learning Environment or PLE can help you take control of your learning in a personal way that suits you. A PLE is a system or set-up that allows you to gather useful software and Web 2.0 applications in one place, usually on a mobile device or on the desktop of a PC. These can include tools and services provided by the institution at which your are studying. Choosing the tools and applications that play a part in your learning, then organising them in a PLE can help you manage your own own learning better. Whether your own PLE is quite rudimentary or very developed, careful selection and organisation of useful applications in your PLE can help you manage your own learning better.
In these activities you will think about the skills you need to make effective use of a PLE. You can also listen to other students talking about how they manage their learning through a PLE and explore some possible tools for your own PLE.
Activity 1: What skills does a PLE require from you?
An effective PLE requires some development and management by its user - you. In this activity you are going to identify skills you need in order to get the most out of a PLE, and recognise some features of PLE design.
Instruction
Divide these considerations into two groups: personal skills that students need in order to get the most out of a PLE, and features that reflect PLE design. Drag and drop each item into the correct box. Then read the feedback.
Personal skills
Features of PLE design
Ability to organise
Ability to prioritise
Access to course resources
Calendar
Critical self reflection
Email
File storage
ICT competence
Learning awareness
Learning goal recognition
Mashup creation
Selection of widgets or apps
Social software for contact
Here are the items grouped according to personal skills and PLE design features: Personal skills: Ability to organise; Ability to prioritise; Critical self reflection; ICT competence; Learning awareness; Learning goal recognition Features of PLE design: Access to course resources; Calendar; Email; File storage; Mashup creation; Selection of widgets or apps; Social software for contact
Features of PLE design include: • basic digital tools needed for course-related study such as email and calendar • tools that serve a purpose in learning such as useful widgets or apps. • links to social networking tools allowing easy communication with other students
Skills that you need, as a student to create or operate a PLE effectively include: • metacognitive skills required for effective study practice • ability to recognise and/or set your own targets • ability to reflect on how you learn and how you can improve your learning
This will help you choose and match appropriate tools with your needs and add to these as you recognise change in your needs.
The level of ICT competence that you have will affect the extent to which you are able to create and/or customise a PLE. An ability to organise and prioritise when necessary will help you manage your time and tools more effectlvely.
Activity 2: How do others manage their learning through a PLE?
In this activity you can listen to some others students talking about how they manage their learning through a PLE.
Instruction
Listen to these students talking about how they manage their learning through a PLE. Make notes on their different approaches. Then read the feedback.
Here are the students' responses to the question ' how do you manage your personal learning environment': Speaker 1: manages and 'cleans up' his desktop regularly because it gets cluttered; would ideally like Dropbox,Facebook and Learning Environment hooked up in one personal virtual space including all his university stuff. Speaker 2: manages only through his computer (it doessn't work on any other device). Speaker 3: manages using a laptop; she is normally very organised and categorises everything. Speaker 4: manages through her laptop or occasionally from a library pc. Speaker 5: manages occasionally via his phone when on the move; mainly via his desktop computer; finds it quite easy to move things around. Speaker 6: manages mainly through computers but sometimes through tablet or on phone though there is no app for that to help.It's harder with tablet and phone as they are smaller.
Which of these is closest to your own approach?
Activity 3: Populating your own PLE or PLN
A framework for a PLE may be provided by your institution or simply be an 'environment' created by you on your laptop or smart phone to facilitate your course-related learning. The organisation of this personal space for learning will usually be a matter for you, including the choice of web applications that you use regularly in relation to your learning. Some of these may represent tools for communicating or collaborating with others, and can be seen as part of your Personal Learning Network (PLN). In this activity you are going to identify some of these useful free web services.
Instruction
Think about these types of web application and how you use them. Select the tick symbol next to any that you use in relation to your studies, and the cross symbol next to those you don't use. In the text areas next to the types of application you use, write the name of your preferred web application of that type. Consider whether any of them could be useful additions to your PLE. Then read the feedback.
Blog Google tools Image gallery Social bookmarking Instant messaging Networking File sharing Video sharing Microblog Feed readers Other
Some questions to consider when selecting applications for your own PLE are: • Which tools do you regularly use in relation to your study that are provided by your university or college? (e.g. online library catalogue; university or college email account) • Which tools do you regularly use for communicating with other students about course-related matters? (e.g. Facebook group? Skype?) • Which tools do you regularly use in relation to the work you do online by yourself? (e.g. Google Scholar or StumbleUpon - a tool for saving useful links you have found) • Which tools do you regularly use to share or collaborate with others on course work? (e.g. SlideShare; Google Docs) • Which course-related news providers do you regularly follow? (e.g. a subject-related RSS feed; a Twitter list)
Your institution may offer a ready-made framework for creating your PLE or PLN; alternatively, you could choose a web-based space such as iGoogle to start developing one which includes your own tool preferences.
