PLEs as Teaching and Learning Method

Personal Learning Environments as a Teaching and Learning Tool
Amanda McAndrew, Jacie Moriyama, & Aisha Jackson
Academic Technology Consultants
University of Colorado at Boulder
COLTT
University of Colorado at BoulderAugust 4, 2011

Objectives
Provide a theoretical foundation for Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) as a teaching and learning tool.
Define Personal Learning Environments (PLEs).
Explore ideas for implementation in your course

PLEs
Figure 1 Adapted from Continuum of Learning from Formal to Informal (OECD, 2010)

What are Personal Learning Environments?
An approach to learning directed by your own needs and interests
Facilitated by a collection of tools
(EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 2009)

Your own “Personal Web”

What’s in a PLE?

Management Autonomy  Empowerment  Access

Connectivism
The connections that enable us to learn are more important than our current state of knowing.
(Siemens, 2006)

Learning how to Learn
Forming a network to draw on for knowledge
Distinguishing between the important and unimportant
Being able to process various POVs
Deciding what to learn
Ability to make connections and recognize patterns
Understanding when knowledge is a game changer

Learning is situated.
Learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs.
Lave& Wenger (1990)

A community of practice is the situation.
Learning takes place in all different contexts and situations but in a community of practice you can gain and apply the knowledge in the same place.

Situated Learning and PLEs
Developing a PLE is placing yourself in a situation and building a community of learners where you can:
Receive information
Organize information
Reflect on the information
Contribute to the community
Collaborate with the community

Situated Learning, Connectivism and PLEs
Encourages learning after the class is over
Creates a continuous space to be active in a community of practice
Allows for a method of learning from multiple people, places, and communities.

Ideas for the Classroom

Benefits to Learners
Personal Learning Environments can change the “model in which students consume information through independent channels such as the library, a textbook, or an LMS, moving instead to a model where students draw connections from a growing matrix of resources that they select and organize.”
(Educause Learning Initiative, 2009)

Suggestions for Implementation
Set expectations and explain why
Provide guidance on topic choices for students
Review the technology options
Provide them with a couple of examples
Communicate assessment

Example activities
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/drexler.html
http://www.scoop.it/t/ple-on-ple

Assessment possibilities
Participation, Creation, Distribution
Develop a rubric based on information literacy (CARS)
Assignment that requires demonstration of content learned
Reflection pieces

Considerations

LMS and PLE
Software
Administered through an institution
Structured
Regularly backed up
Facilitates directed learning
Approach to Teaching and Learning
Personal Construct
Unstructured
Service dependent
Fosters self-directed learning

Be selective
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=2441&picture=tool-kit

Be your own filter

Changing Landscape
Situational
Transient
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=2435&picture=hammer-and-spanner

Information Literacy
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=1983&picture=old-typewriter

Questions & Discussion

Works Cited
The networked student model for construction of personal learning environments: Balancing teacher control and student autonomy by Wendy Drexler
Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation by J. Lave & E. Wenger
Personal Learning Environments: User-Centric Learning Spaces by Nancy Rubin
Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by George Siemans
Context and main concepts by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
7 Things you should know about Personal Learning Environments by EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative

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PLEs as Teaching and Learning Method

by Amanda McAndrew

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