PLEs - 2006

From JITT

This page and other PLE pages in this wiki (reach them from Personal Learning Environments) have been constructed and are maintained by Mark van Harmelen. Feedback and suggestions for additions are most welcome. Contact Mark as mark -a-t- cs . man . ac . uk


Sebastian Fiedler, What constitutes personal learning environments?, http://seblogging.cognitivearchitects.com/discuss/msgReader$1724 3 January 2006

'I treat personal learning environments more as a psychological perspective. What forms my "personal learning environment" at a given point in time, and for a particular purpose or goal (that drives a learning project), is largely determined by the range of resources that I am able to perceive, locate, link to, access, manage, and so forth.

In our conceptual work for iCamp, I try to use very generic terms to think about resources that I can treat as building blocks of a personal learning environment. So, far I am quite happy with, surprise, surprise,...people, objects and artifacts, locations, and time.

Why would I want to do this? Because then I can ask what, from an individual's point of view, one would like to do in relations to these resources. For example, artifacts I would like to search, locate, author, publish, filter, assemble,... archive, retrieve, and so forth. People, I would like to search and locate as well, converse with, question, co-author with... and so on.'

Somewhat Colloquia/PLEX-like in these concerns (if one reads 'activities' for the last quoted paragraph).

Provides a list of recentish (at that time) posts


Terry Anderson PLE’s versus LMS: Are PLEs ready for Prime time?, http://terrya.edublogs.org/2006/01/09/ples-versus-lms-are-ples-ready-for-prime-time/ 9 January 2006.

Anderson provides advantages of PLEs, grossly abstracted here as:

  • identity; PLEs integrate with life outside study
  • persistence
  • ease of use
  • ownership, control and responsibility
  • social presence
  • the speed of development of this "second generation network application" is fast

"Similarly, PLEs are nowhere near as easy to use to facilitate and support many of the educational functions that are trivial in modern LMS systems. I eagerly await the day when both formal and informal connected learning opportunities are a natural and spontaneous outgrowth of our personal computing environment – but I don’t think it is time to throw away the LMS just yet.

Nonetheless, the PLE future seems to be more secure than that of any monolithic LMS. ..."


James Farmer , The Inevitable Personal Learning Environment Post http://www.incsub.org/blog/2006/the-inevitable-personal-learning-environment-post 11 January 2006

Some quotes then a suggestion based around blogging, aggregation and other tools.

Pingbacks may be worth investigating.


Jeremy Hiebert, Personal Learning Environments, http://headspacej.blogspot.com/2006/01/personal-learning-environments.html 11 January 2006

Pulls together various posts, including some on e-portfolios and some of his own.


George Roberts, Personal Learning Environments and Virtual Learning Environments, http://my-world.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/01/personal_learni.html 11 January 2006


Tony Hirst, USB Study Stick, 13 Jan 2006.

In response to Google Pack, and carrying on OU CD-based tradition Tony proposes a small collection of usefull software on a USB memory stick: Open office, FireFox, a calendar, an RSS reader, and a podcast application end up being suggested.


Terry Anderson, Comparing Formal, Open and Self-directed Learning http://terrya.edublogs.org/2006/01/31/comparing-formal-open-and-self-directed-learning/ 31 Jan 2006


Jeremy Hiebert, Personal Learning Environment Model, http://headspacej.blogspot.com/2006/02/personal-learning-environment-model.html, 17 February 2006

Discusses the scheme in the image below (click on the image to enlarge; then, if need be, click on the second image to see it full-size)

Hibert_PLE_diagram_small.jpg

Comment by Steven Downes http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=33612


Tony Hirst, What is a PLE?, http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/005744.html 22 Feburary 2006


Graham Attwell, Next Generation Learning and Personal Learning Environments, http://www.theknownet.com/knownet/writing/weblogs/Graham_Attwell/entries/3984412244, 27 Feb 2006

Proposal for a symposium at Alt-2006.


Mark van Harmelen, Pesonal Learning Environments, http://octette.cs.man.ac.uk/~mark/docs/MvH_PLEs_ICALT.pdf, Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT'06) 0-7695-2632-2/06, IEEE, 5-7 July 06. (Submitted 28 Feburary 2006)

Provides several dimensions upon which to categorise PLEs. Written before I started thinking very strongly about Web2.0 and its influence on PLEs. None the less, still valid.


Bill Fitzgerald, Elgg, Drupal, and Moodle -- the components of an online learning environment, http://www.funnymonkey.com/together-at-last undated - first comment 3 March 2006

Provides a use scenario (figure below) for the future output of the Drupal, Elgg and Moodle integration being performed by funnymonkey.

(Click on the image to enlarge; then, if need be, click on the second image to see it full-size.)

DrupalElggMoodleIntegration_small.jpg

Also posted at http://elgg.net/bfitzgerald/weblog/8794.html 5 march 2006


Derek Wenmoth, Future Online Learning Environment, http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/archives/001073.html 18 March 2006

In connection with schools: "Following the influence of Scott Wilson from CETIS, I have been working on a model of the Future OLE (online learning environment) that illustrates this approach in the New Zealand context - as a means of engaging with principals and teachers about the thinking and understandings that will inform what these future learning environments may look like."

Plus associated paper.



Tony Hirst, Integrating Ad Hoc and Formal Communities, http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/005963.html 19 March 2006


Glen Davies, Personal Learning Space, http://www.interactlms.org/blogs/post/1/94 22 March 2006


Delta to Derek Wenmoth Future Online Learning Environment diagram, adding a community learning space, 18 March 2006


Graham Attwell, Social software and Personal Learning Environments, http://www.knownet.com/knownet/writing/weblogs/Graham_Attwell/entries/4196099926, 23 March 2006

Slides for talk on using web 2.0 interfaces to implement PLEs.


Derek Wenmoth, An OLE matrix, http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/archives/001082.html 30 March 2006

(click on the image to enlarge; then, if need be, click on the second image to see it full-size)

Wenmoth_oles_table_small.gif


D'Arcy Norman, University 2.0?, http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/04/10/university-20, 10 April 2006

Discusses what might happen when institutional boundaries become lessened by new technology, that students can start to pick and choose courses from different institutions. In response, playing devil's advocate, I might point to two phenomena:

  • HEIs are degree granting organisations. Without central intervention, or agreements between institutions, there may still be a strong influence to force students to take their courses from a single institution. As in "governments are defined by their ability to collect taxes", maybe universities are defined by their ability to collect fees / generate income. It will be interesting to see scenarios play out over the next five to fifteen years.
  • I notice that with my own MSc students there is a strong incentive to attend our School of Computer Science because of the School's reputation. In feedback surveyed the students show a strong desire to engage in conversation with staff members, and that these conversations are seen as a two way learning process. To what extent will new technology be able to supplant this face-to-face communication?


Graham Attwell Personal Learning Environments (Podcast) http://web.mac.com/graham10/iWeb/Site/Podcast/132F3EBD-E662-47EA-B597-79164A47F327.html 15 April 2006


George Siemens, Learning in Synch with Life: New Models, New Processes, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/google_whitepaper.pdf Google 2006 Training Summit: Learning in Synch with Life, 28 April 2006

"Intentions of this Whitepaper

  1. Evaluate diverse needs of learners today
  2. Detail shortcomings of courses/content and LMS' in meeting those needs
  3. Recast learning as a network formation process, occurring within the structure of organizational ecologies (connectivism)
  4. Detail implementation concerns and challenges"

Skip straight to learning ecologies...

(click on the images to enlarge; then, if need be, click on the second image to see it full-size)

Siemens_info_ecology_2006-small.jpg

This is very PLE-like, even though a learning ecology is a larger assemblage:

"Distributed tools and processes enable learners to experience learning as they experience life. Instead of static content presentation views of learning, a learning ecology attends to the high-pace of information, the ongoing challenge of contextualization, and the multiple elements of the learning process (sometimes knowledge transfer is needed, other times collaboration is required). Ecologies are complex, systemic, and adaptive – capable of reacting and adjusting to external pressures and internal developments."

Distributed because even if the PLEs are local implementations, the consensus vision is that they address collaboration in education. But I have my doubts about the last sentence here, except as a consequence of social interaction and social movement in part expressed through social systems.

Siemens_learning_ecology_small.jpg

  • George Siemens Connectivism Whitepaper, http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/65, blog post on this paper, 20 May 2006. Concludes "How do we implement new models of learning? Jay Cross tackles things from a stance of informal learning, Stephen Downes approaches it (partly) from the concept of elearning 2.0, and I approach it from connectivism. We are generally all saying similar things. But how will we move to implementation? How will we transform our learning spaces and structures? What needs to change with our technology?"
  • Connectivism: http://www.connectivism.ca/about
  • George Siemens, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm, 12 December 12 2004
  • See also John Concilus, Connectivism: Danger or Opportunity, http://www.teachers4schools.com/open/?p=5 5 June 2006


Mike Malloch, Some general links on web2.0 and personal learning environments, http://www.knownet.com/writing/elearning2.0/entries/links_for_ESRC_TEL_bid, 10 May 2006.

Collected del.icio.us links, and some text for a proposal to a UK funding body.


Martin Weller. Institution vs individual environments, http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/2006/05/institution_vs_.html 17 May 2006

Has doubts about PLEs -- work around of PLEs needs to address support, QA, suitability, negotiation of activity, and technological complexity. Mentions Pensky's Digital Natives, and in respect of PLEs and VLEs correctly identifies that "The tension here is between institutional and individual technologies."


Dave Tosh, Introducing learner controlled, personal space into Higher Education, 24 May 2006.

Discussion prompted by the University of Brighton's plans to use Elgg with Blackboard to provide student-controlled learning space. Mentions some interesting questions (raised by Stan Stanier from the UofB):

"

  1. How do we get students to use the system and get them off MySpace and Bebo (or should we not try)?
  2. What will the impact on our teaching staff be given we're introducing a very different control model with Elgg - moving from the tutor-controlled model of Blackboard to the "everyone has control" model of Elgg. Is this going to be a huge culture shock? Will it change the way we teach and learn? How will staff adapt etc
  3. How do we explain Elgg to people?
  4. How do we teach them how to use it and, perhaps more importantly, how do we explain the huge potential for teaching and learning?
  5. How do we protect ourselves from the freedom of speech issues (what is someone says something nasty about the university etc)?"


Derek Wenmoth, OLE - a school perspective http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/archives/001328.html (cross reference to 18 March 2006 above by same author) 25th May 2006


Paul Trafford, PLEs as Environments for Personal and Personalised, http://www.weblearn.ox.ac.uk/site/asuc/oucs/staff/pault/research/ramble/present/uploads/PaulT_Mini%20PLEPaper1.0.pdf PLE Position Paper, 26 May 2006


Mark van Harmelen, The world’s first integrated brower and server-based PLE?, 29 May 2005

Proposes a tagging service to link together diverse Web 2.0 servers making up a PLE. This tag linking mechanism is the (only) basis for the word "first", and alterntely I call this the "half hour PLE"


Terry Wassel, Implementing Elgg in HE, http://elgg.net/impelgg/weblog/ 30 May 2006

Low student uptake except in one module where "was a great success and produced some really useful work but a) there were marks at stake and b) none of this group has blogged since the end of the module." One might wonder if this is because of a traditional HE educational style that still permenates much of our institutions?



Mike Malloch, Patterns in the clouds: Some thoughts on not being completely wrong about PLEs, http://www.knownet.com/writing/elearning2.0/entries/ple_position_paper#_comment_6827335969 30 May 2006


Graham Attwell, Personal Learning Environments, http://www.knownet.com/writing/weblogs/Graham_Attwell/entries/6521819364 1 June 2006


Mike Seyfang, Imagine this AJAX Personal Learning Environment (PLE), http://mikese.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!A056EA628FAE2BFE!1370.entry 1 June 2006

Lateral thinker Mike Seyfang sees a PLE based on the features provided by http://www.xplanet.net/ "Forget the fact that it promotes the xmen thing and imagine how the functions (create profile, buddy list, self register, find cool dudes etc) could be leveraged for educational (in fact any type of) community building."

(Click on the image to see it larger)

Xmen_small.jpg

Also see Seyfang's previous post in the same blog....


Tom Franklin , Why Personal Learning Environments, http://franklin-consulting.co.uk/LinkedDocuments/PLE.doc 1 June 2006


Paul Trafford, 'PLEs' - what are they? Exploring possible concepts and meanings, http://ramble.oucs.ox.ac.uk/blog/pault/2006/06/03/1149374141340.html Preamble for the PLE Position Paper (blog entry) 3 June 2006


Derek Morrison, Whose PLE is it anyway?, http://www.bath.ac.uk/dacs/cdntl/pMachine/morriblog_more.php?id=519_0_4_0_M 2 June 2006.

Derek propounds on these topics:

  • Simplicity and synergy works
  • Think filling stations rather than life support units
  • personal learning environments already exist?
  • Whose PLE is it anyway - or - there is there more than one mother-ship?

And comes up with conclusions that:

  • Our conceptions of VLEs/MLEs need to change
  • We may make institutionally and techno-centric mistakes with PLEs as we have done with VLEs
  • PLEs occur in people's heads and educationalista and technologists have the role of feeding that kind of PLE


Bill Fitzgerald, The expense of a free service, and the closed nature of exposed APIs, http://www.funnymonkey.com/free-service-open-api undated with first comment 4 June, 2006

Makes points that:

  • Way to money for Google and other free web-based services is to sell advertisers advertising based on user tracking user activities. May expose users of elearning systems based on free 'commercial' services to targeted advertising and data miners for the services own profit.
  • No guarantee that APIs will continue to be offered (I doubt this, API access adds to popularity of a service, and competitive reasons mean that APIs will continue to be offered).

Concludes that open source software, however, provides transparency at all levels.


John Concilus, Connectivism: Danger or Opportunity, http://www.teachers4schools.com/open/?p=5 5 June 2006


Oleg Lieber, Towards Personal Learning Environments: Powerpoint presentation by Oleg Liber. CETIS PLE meeting, http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/pedagogy/files/PLEdocs/PLE_Liber.ppt, 7 June 2006


do http://del.icio.us/tag/PLE_Workshop_2006?setcount=100


Mark van Harmelen, Personal Learning Environments take a step forward, http://fm.schmoller.net/2006/06/personal_learni.html 8 June 2006

Post inpired by the CETIS PLE Meeting in Manchester 6 and 7 June 2006.


Scott Wilson, PLE workshop, http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blogview?entry=20060609211909 9 June 2006

Post inpired by the CETIS PLE Meeting in Manchester 6 and 7 June 2006.


Stephen Downes, E-Learning 2.0 - Platform, Not Medium, http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=34760, slides and audio, presentation to Microlearning 2006, 14 June 2006

Slide 22 references my PLE definition at the top of the contents page


Stephen Downes, Learning Networks and the Personal Learning Environment, http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=34761, slides and audio, Centre for Social Innovation in Vienna, 14 June 2006

Slide 37 my PLE definition at the top of the contents page


Steven Powell, Personal Learning Environments experts meeting, http://www.stephenp.net/~stephenp/blog/archives/001721.html, 14 June 2006

A short set of notes from this meeting.


Stephen Downes, The Students Own Education, http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=34792 Presentation at Open University 5 Jun 2006, posted 19 June 2006

Slide 9 references my PLE definition at the top of the contents page

"Video from my talk at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England, is now available; this is the link (I'll provide an audio MP3 file as soon as I can). You can view the slides right on the video, which uses a nifty two-screen display, or you can download the slides and follow along that way. Or, if you don't want to listen to two hours of audio and video, you can read Tony Hirst's excellent summary notes"


Scott Wilson, Web services/web 2.0 and e-learning, 21 June 2006

Slides from a talk at the University of Bolton, UK.


Colin Milligan, What is a PLE? The future or just another buzz word?, http://www.elearning.ac.uk/news_folder/ple%20event, 30 June 2006

Review of CETIS PLE Event, with a summary of day two discussion thus:

quote: "

  • There were opposing views on current institutional systems, from those who thought they were straightjackets, stifling learning, to those who realised their value in facilitating large scale online provision of learning materials.
  • There was some concern that the introduction of PLEs would be highly disruptive – highlighting a key challenge: that there should be a gradual and managed transition between current and future learning environments. Recent moves by BlackBoard and other VLE providers to open up their systems and adopt a more Service based approach are seen as essential to the long term prospects of learning systems more closely matched to learners needs.
  • There was an acknowledgement that the Web 2.0 tools and services (blogs, wikis, chats, shared workspaces) which form the basis of the PLE concept would be an inevitable component of education in the future, given that students will arrive at college or university with considerable experience of these tools through their use of MySpace, Bebo and other social networking sites. Failure to utilise these tools would alienate students and institutions would risk becoming technology ghettoes.
  • There was some debate as to whether the technology really matters at all. Inherent in the concept of a PLE is a move away from large-scale high-stakes assessment towards assessment by portfolio and generating evidence of competency. Is such a shift ever likely to occur, and if so, to what timescale?"


Mark Harrison, E-Learning in 2012, http://www.kineo.co.uk/ideas/e-learning-in-2012.html presentation slides with audio, unknown date June 2006.

From the Kino web site: "What will e-learning look like in 2012? Well, the future is already here - informally. Mark Harrison brings back a message from the future in this Breeze presentation."

Concentrates on informal learning, and mentions some technologies of interest to readers of this page. Dismisses wikis and blogs and falls on the corporately sucessfuly and predictable side of things; ignores the role of social software. None the less, I enjoyed the presentation.


Derek Morrison, Further reflections on the Personal Learning Environment, http://www.bath.ac.uk/dacs/cdntl/pMachine/morriblog_more.php?id=521_0_4_0_M 3 July 2006

Re-iterates that users should control their data (and by extension learning materials), and that we need to concept shift away from institutions owning learning resourses, portfolios, etc.


David Tosh,Stephen Downes and the OLDaily, http://edufilter.org/?p=5 18 August 2006

Longer interview about much, but under new technologies to watch banner Downes has this to say:

"Personal Learning Environment: several are already in development and we should see a number of of these launch in the next few months. They won’t all be called PLE’s and they will resemble RSS_Writr much more than they resemble Plex. By this time next year people will be asking whether PLEs can be integrated into university tracking and grading services without compromising privacy. PLEs will also tap into distributed identity services and will also tap into both commercial and open content networks."

Why different from Plex? Personally I think that there will be space for a variety of different 'shapes' of PLEs.


Sebastian Fiedler, Some remarks on the LMSs vs. small, simple, and personal tools discussion http://seblogging.cognitivearchitects.com/2006/08/23#a1785 23 August 2006

Amusingly notes that "I yet have to hear a story about a young professional who felt the terrible need to install and run his own LMS platfrom to support his or her personal change project. But I know loads who use an array of small, simple and (increasingly networked) personal tools to their advantage. And guess what? It is usually a pretty messy sight... no integrated interfaces, no single-sign-on mechanisms, no careful workflow management."

Concludes: "How about you showing me that the use of LMSs, and other systems of that kind, help anyone to acquire socio-technological practices, attitudes and values, and so forth, that prove to be viable and appropriate beyond formal educational environments with their specific requirements and routines?"

Indeed, LMSs can be viable and appropriate for formal educational requirments. However, they don't make the transition beyond the institutional setting, nor do they generally encourage the formation of active learning comunities.


Elisabeth Kaliva, Einsatz von Personal Learning Environments in der Hochschullehre, http://zettelkasten.sabeth.org/2006/08/28/einsatz-von-ple-in-der-hochschulehre/ 28 August 2006.

Survey in German. Includes browser-based alternatives and desktops. Manchester Framework, Elgg (and Elgg integration projects - Moodle, Drupal, Mediawiki), PLEX, Sakai mentioned.


Graham Attwell, Personal Learning Environments, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4152559760003745761 09-Sep-2006

A watchable screencast presentation from ALT-C 2006, 7.5 mins. At the web-based and small-loosely-connected-pieces end of the PLE spectrum.


Terry Anderson, PLE’s from Alt-C Conference in Edinburgh, http://terrya.edublogs.org/2006/09/13/ples-from-alt-c-conference-in-edinburgh/ 13 September 2006

Add diagrams


Scot Wilson, Oleg Liber, Phillip Beauvoir, Colin Milligan, Mark Johnson, Paul Sharples, Personal Learning Environments: Challenging the dominant design of educational systems, blog posting about PLE paper for ECTEL obtainable via supplied link to a DSpace system, http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blogview?entry=20060919105503 19 September 2005.

Abstract: "Current systems used in education follow a consistent design pattern, one that is not supportive of lifelong learning or personalization, is asymmetric in terms of user capability, and which is disconnected from the global ecology of Internet services. In this paper we propose an alternative design pattern for educational systems that emphasizes symmetric connections with a range of services both in formal and informal learning, work, and leisure, and identify strategies for implementation and experimentation."


Scott Wilson, Pushing the boundaries of the VLE, blog posting of talk at a SURF conference in Utrecht, http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blogview?entry=20060929120045 29 September 2005.

Or http://slideshare.net/openwebschool/persoonlijke-leeromgevingen


Josie Fraser, More PLE questions, http://fraser.typepad.com/edtechuk/2006/10/more_ple_questi.html 8 October 2006

A few interesting points about educatinal trends, then:

"... a PLE could be described as basically a mechanism, process or interface through which a wide spread of data, conversations, ideas etc are able to be constructed, organised, accessed and presented.

This might suggest that the current state of web 2.0 is great, that all we need to do is work out some way of feeding our flickr account and a bunch of blog posts and comments into a CMS so that it can be evaluated and/or repackaged into a CV/research bid/presentation friendly format. I don’t think this is the case though – I think that we’re currently limited in articulating what a potential PLE might be like by a lack of diverse examples. We also need a wider range of organisations involved – for example, the exam boards – in order to continue to check the formal and institutional limits of what’s possible."

Hmm, in my opinion the 'current state of web2.0 is' at least massively encouraging, but its a bit retro to think of repackaging this stuff into a CMS (or whatever) to evaluate it or repackage it. Where the advantage comes is, in Fraser's words, from a 'wide spread of data, conversations, ideas etc are able to be constructed, organised, accessed and presented' with learning ocuring in the process (or with a social constructivist slant, emphasis on the 'conversations' as a means for knowledge construction and validation).

I must agree with this though: "The thing that most excites me about the PLE at the moment that it isn’t fixed or settled, that it’s fundamentally a conversation across the edtech community about what learners need, what institutions might be providing, which PLE methods might be most useful. I see it as a practical attempt to get beyond the current dichotomy between closed CMS’s vs the small pieces approaches, by pushing innovators and institutions to develop and explore tools and platforms where communities and individuals can themselves determine boundaries, permeability and connections."


Stephen Downes, Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge, http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=36031 10 October 2006

pdf html 16 Oct 2006

This has link to ppt, word and audio too.

"This paper represents my latest effort to ground learning networks in a connective epistemology, and while there are still lose bits and questionable areas I think this is as close as I've come yet. For me, this is a major paper. I hope you enjoy it."

Abstract: "The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the thinking behind new e-learning technology, including e-portfolios and personal learning environments. Part of this thinking is centered around the theory of connectivism, which asserts that knowledge - and therefore the learning of knowledge - is distributive, that is, not located in any given place (and therefore not 'transferred' or 'transacted' per se) but rather consists of the network of connections formed from experience and interactions with a knowing community. And another part of this thinking is centered around the new, and the newly empowered, learner, the member of the net generation, who is thinking and interacting in new ways. These trends combine to form what is sometimes called 'e-learning 2.0' - an approach to learning that is based on conversation and interaction, on sharing, creation and participation, on learning not as a separate activity, but rather, as embedded in meaningful activities such as games or workflows."



Clarence Fisher, Small Pieces versus Moodle, http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/remote_access/2006/10/small_pieces_ve.html 12 October 2006.

Fisher worries about too many small pieces joined together, and the load for students. Parallels the discussion at Connected Learning Community which argues for simple toolsets that are used in a sustainable community that does not need an administrator to provide technical support for jump pages etc. Indeed my worry on seeing Graham Atwell's presentation from ALT-C 2006 (see above, Nov 06), this world of pieces I pick and choose from is necessary to satisfy my differing educational needs at different times, and OK for us techies, but not for the everyday student.


George Siemens, Knowing Knowledge, http://www.knowingknowledge.com/blog/index.php 14 October 2006

The above URL is for the blog, the book entry may sink some way down the posts over time. Seems no way to identify a specific post.

Colour images for the book at http://flickr.com/photos/36241654@N00/sets/72157594323366162/ , and there is an associated wiki for book related changes.


Derek Wenmoth, PLEs and MLEs, http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/2006/10/ples_and_mles.html 22 October 2006

Includes diagram with a PLE and a school-based MLE.


Quentin D'Souza, 100+ Web 2.0 Ideas for Educators: A Guide to RSS and More, http://www.teachinghacks.com/2006/10/26/100-web-20-ideas-for-educators-an-intro-to-rss-and-more 26 October 2006

This has a secion on PLEs, amidst RSS, wikis etc. Takes forever to download.


Tony Hirst, Are PLEs Actually Social or Collaborative Learning Environments?, http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/008748.html 21 Nov 2006

Short but valuable section on if PLEs are social and/or individual learning tools. This in the context of the OU's StrinGLE. I think both social and individual, but of course generally more valuable as social.


Ethan Bodnar, Future of Learning, http://www.ethanbodnar.com/2006/11/22/future-of-learning 22 November 2006

A post by a sixteen year old:

"Teaching of Information and Methods
This is what you think of when you think of school. Textbooks, sitting behind desks, taking notes, and being sent home to memorize the information, only to come back and take a test. This is necessary for the next two parts.
Thinking, Discussing, and Re-working
Talking about what you learned. Focusing on current events and news. And looking to the future. This part could have a little unconference feel to it.
Producing Content and Spreading your Knowledge to others.
This is the part that the internet enables. Creating videos, podcasts, blog posts is at the heart of this part of the class. Being able to publish books through LuLu. This allows students to spread knowledge that was learned in the first part and the new ideas that were generated in the second part."

Which is pretty good vision, and you can read between the lines as to what Ethan thinks of tests. I'm not sure that they are necessary, but somehow my students seem to do more work on what I consider vital topics if I give them a test. Alas. But you can see the potentiality for Web2.0-baed PLEs; throw in a dash of PLE gluing the internet things together and wayhey!

But more seriously, this post shows a familarity with things web2.0 for a particular sixteen year old. And intimates a strand touching on education; it must change if we are to engage our coming web-familar student cohorts. This is something I have been trying to push in our university context for a while - the writing is on the wall!


Arthus, The Future of Learning, http://myfla.ws/blog/2006/11/23/future-of-learning, 23 November 2006

check date

And another student voice, this time a thirteen year old, and this time about the possibilites of networking for learning.


ckew (who is this?). The TENCompetence “Personal Competence Manager”: what it is, and why is it important, http://www.tencompetence.org/node/96 24 November 2006


Graham Atwell, Social Software, Personal Learning Environments and Lifelong Competence Development, http://www.knownet.com/writing/weblogs/Graham_Attwell/entries/6665854266 11 Dec 2006

For TENCompetence Workshop manchester Jan 2007


Stephen Downes, Web 2.0, E-Learning 2.0 and Personal Learning Environments, http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=37229 14 December 2006.


Ron Lubensky, The present and future of Personal Learning Environments (PLE), http://members.optusnet.com.au/rlubensky/2006/12/present-and-future-of-personal-learning.html 18 December 2006

Addendum 18 December 2006 at http://members.optusnet.com.au/rlubensky/2006/12/ples-continued.html


To do http://socialsoftware.blogsome.com/category/ple/ and http://socialsoftware.blogsome.com/2006/11/03/lectures-on-educational-engineering-in-zurich-switzerland/

http://internettime.acrobat.com/informl

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