Presented in a workshop for the SupSys project at the Laboratory of Distance Education and eLearning [LE@D], Universidade Aberta, Portugal, on September 2011.

1. PLE- Personal Learning Environments
José Mota
LEaD – Univ. Aberta
@josemota on Twitter
josecmota@gmail.com
http://orfeu.org (Blog)

2. Web 2.0 – Read/Write Web
Information abundance
Nature of knowledge
authority
Participating and sharing validity
production
Identity and socialization
cooperation
Social bookmarking
collaboration
Social networking
Communities
prosumers

3. Web 2.0 tools & services
• Blog • Blogger; Wordpress
• Wiki • Wikispaces; PBworks
• Productivity • Google Docs
• Podcasting • Audacity; Podbean
• File Sharing • Dropbox, BoxNet
• Slide sharing • Slideshare
• Photo sharing • Flickr; Picasa
• Social Tagging • Delicious, Diigo
• Video sharing • Youtube; Vimeo
• URL Shortening • bit.ly; ow.ly
• Aggregator • iGoogle; Netvibes
• Microblog • Twitter; Tumblr
• Social Networks • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

4. eLearning
Social dimension of learning eLearning 2.0
Quick
feedback
information Image, video,
text, collage Multiple
sources
Constant
communication communication
Control Ownership
media
Autonomy Production
LMS/VLE PLE

5. Tools
Services
(PLN)
PEOPLE
Resources
PLE Ecology
Learning
Personal
Environment
Adapted from Steve Wheeler, University of
Plymouth, 2009 http://goo.gl/kBTP2

6. PLE - Definitions
A PLE is a web interface into the
owners’ digital environment.
The PLE is an approach, not an Terry Anderson (26-01-2007)
application.
Stephen Downes (05-06-2006)
However, a PLE is not a piece of software.
Personal Learning Environments
It is an environment where people and
offer both the framework and the
tools and communities and resources
technologies to integrate personal
interact in a very loose kind of way.
learning and working. Scott Wilson (04-2008)
Graham Attwell & Cristina Costa (11-2008)
a collection of tools, brought
A Personal Learning Environment is a together under the conceptual
facility for an individual to access, notion of openness,
aggregate, configure and manipulate interoperability, and learner control
digital artefacts of their ongoing (…) PLEs are a concept-entity.
learning experiences. George Siemens (15-04-2007)
Ron Lubensky (18-12-2006)

7. PLE – Characteristics
organic Ownership Interoperability
Diverse and complex
Openness
Connectedness
evolving User control
Autonomy Identity Production
persistent Sharing
Collaboration
Learning
formal informal non-formal
lifelong learning

8. PLE – Characteristics 2
 content management
 integration of personal and professional interests,
related to formal and informal learning experiences
working and learning space, both individual and
collaborative
e-portfolio
 rich profiles that facilitate connections
multi-format communication system
 aggregation and syndication (rss feeds)

9. PLE – Functions
Connect with others Manage information Generate content
Search for information Aggregate information and
knowledge
Share by supporting Analyse information to
others in their learning develop knowledge
Reflect, question, challenge, seek clarification,
form and defend opinions
Manipulate, rearrange and
Network through a collaborative
repurpose knowledge artifacts
learning environment
Adapted from
Graham Attwell (2010) – Working, learning and playing through Personal Learning Environments [Presentation]
http://www.slideshare.net/GrahamAttwell/working-learning-and-playing-through-personal-learning-environments
Steve Wheeler (2010). It’s Personal: Learning Spaces, Learning Webs [Presentation]
http://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/its-personal-learning-spaces-learning-webs

10. IMS, CMS, LMS, VLE - Disadvantages
Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, Institutional Platforms
Centered on teaching and
Highly hierarchical
the institutional needs
Limited tools
Closed
Limited interaction Not very flexible
Used for the course Slower innovation

11. The end of VLE/LMS?
Debate in the Association of Learning Technologists Conference 2009
[ALT-C 2009]
http://celtrecord.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/the-vle-is-dead-debate-at-
alt-c-2009/

12. IMS, CMS, LMS, VLE - Advantages
Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, Institutional Platforms
Institutional and Easier communication and
instructional needs collaboration
Safety
Content delivery Group identity
Less demanding in terms of
time and technical
Assessment Tools and proficiency
information in one
Monitoring of place. Easier technical support
students’ work

13. Latest trends
Institutionally supported PLEs
 SAPO CAMPUS (University of Aveiro, PT)
 University of Southampton (UK)
 University of Manchester (UK)
 Graz University of Technology (Austria)
 Athabasca University (Canada)

14. VLE + PLE at Universidade Aberta
Moodle coupled with
blogs wikis diigo delicious
secondlife google reader flickr
twitter youtube voicethread
slideshare scribd
facebook

15. Project Socializing Online Learning (SOL)
Development of a social academic
network
Active, learner-centered learning Personalization of the online
learning environment
Openness, transparency
Groups formed around
common interests/goals
Public Portfolio
More visibility
Employability

16. ELGG –open source social network
http://www.elgg.org
Dashboard Member list RSS
personal learning landscape
Rich profiles Blogs Activity stream
Files
Pages (wiki)
Photos Groups
Videos
Micro-blogging
eportfolio
Social
bookmarking Fine-grained sharing
permissions
Athabasca University - https://landing.athabascau.ca/

17. Moodle + Elgg
Moodle Elgg
Information Rich profiles
Learning contract Blogs
Some content and Groups (formal and
resources informal)
Assessment Files
Forums Social bookmarking
E-portfolio
RSS
…
Class Uab Community / World
Formal Learning Formal and informal learning

18. SOL – Some questions
 How to enable anf foster active participation in an
ecology of sharing and collaboration geared towards
knowledge creation, that contributes to reinforce the
identity of the academic community?
 What elements could be decisive to aggregate good
quality information, relevant for academic performance
and for social visibility/employability?
 How to develop good mechanisms that articulate
efficiently and productively formal and informal learning?

19. Thank you .
e-mail: josecmota@gmail.com
twitter: @josemota
blog: http://orfeu.org