Welcome to the Wales Wide Web!!! Where we discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and other various aspects of PLEs (Personal Learning Environments). Though I must warn you that this article can be very mind numbing unless you’re taking a course on teaching. I had to read the bullet points multiple times to even begin to understand what Mr. Graham Attwell was talking about. That’s pretty bad considering that I already had a general idea what PLEs are all about. You see, a PLE is an environment where you can learn and apply what you want at your own pace. Do you remember having a friend in a free study course, or being in one yourself? If so, you would think it was a free hour unless the student in question was extremely disciplined or there was a really tough instructor breathing down everyone’s neck. Free study courses are the formal school systems’ way of trying to create a personal learning envrironment. It’s tough to get into when a school just goes “Here’s the internet!! Go learn!!” Not because you’re an idiot or something, but because you’re so use to a structured learning environment that the only way that you can smoothly transition into a PLE, is if you have a hobby that makes you want to research things yourself; very often I might add. These hobbies are what lead to “informal learning.” Informal learning is probably what leads to the full use of a PLE. It takes a great interest, or great discipline, or a combination of the two unlock the full potential of a PLE.
That’s the meat of the article up there (or at least what I could translate from it). Like web 2.0, the PLE is somewhat of an undefined concept. It tends to carry the same general connotations when used by various people, but it has no exact definition. While formal institutions may be interested in PLEs, they are hard pressed to create them due to the lack of a standard to go by. A PLE is basically a free learning environment to me. I can use what I want, how I want it, to learn what I need to know. That sounds good and simple, right? The problem with that being recreated by schools and companies is that it needs to be efficient. That means it has to be relatively quick and easy to use to its full potential. That leads to the question “How do I create a useful PLE?” Libraries take too long for their intended purposes (but that doesn’t completely rule them out when one has an excessive amount of time). That leaves *gasp* computer applications and the all knowing internet!!! But what would be the standard? There is no standard. That would take the personal out of the PLE. What people would need is an internet browser and a good idea of how to use it. After that, it’s completely up them on what to implement into their personal learning environment. Of course blogs, wikis, forums, various search engines, and a personal touch is recommended…strongly I might add.
Now that there’s a general idea on how to use a PLE (or better yet, what it is) I’d like to comment on the article. This article speaks of introducing people to certain matters at their own level. This was obviously high level teaching theory (well I can’t say for sure since I’ve never really dabbled in it) so I would recommend looking up some terminology. Not just for the article, but for all things encountered when looking at something in a personal learning environment. This way you will find a broader range of information and won’t have to pass up really good sources because you don’t own a dictionary for that specific field. A PLE isn’t presented to somebody, it’s created by that somebody. This article is too high of a level for somebody to just pick up and read, but it left me some hints on what to do for my personal learning environment by being at such a level. It let me know that I need to implement terminology as a specific part of my PLE. It’s a good start for when you first wander off into something. This is mine so I have to go get it and I have to go get it my way. PLE and Web 2.0 go hand in hand. They aren’t information just forced on you, they’re information that you go digging for. That’s what I happen to think for this. Good night.
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