There has been a lot of talk recently about PLEs (Personal Learning Environments) and everyone it seems, wants to know what they are, what they contain, or if they will replace current institutional VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) or LMS (Learning Management System) provision. No one seems to be able to agree on what a PLE is. I've heard several people complain recently that they can't find enough published research in the area of PLEs either. I simply point them in the direction of the journal I edit: Interactive Learning Environments. Last year we ran a special issue on PLEs, and to give you a flavour, here are two of the abstracts:The first article, written by the guest editors Mark Johnson and Oleg Liber, examines learner agency:
We present the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) as a practical intervention concerning the organization of technology in education. We explain this by proposing a cybernetic model of the “Personal Learner” using Beer's Viable System Model (VSM). Using the VSM, we identify different regulatory mechanisms that maintain viability for learners, and how physical engagement with tools is of fundamental importance in learners being able to manage their learning environment. We explain how the PLE, in exploiting Service Oriented Architecture, attempts to address this issue of the engagement with tools by allowing learners to control their own instrumentation. This, however, is more than a practical issue. In shifting the locus of control over learning to the learner, the ways in which learners exercise that control becomes an important educational issue. Drawing on sources ranging from Bandura's work on self-efficacy, and philosophical work on social ontology, we argue that self-regulation and technological personalization are issues which strike at the heart of current debates about the organization of education and the nature of the relationship between institutions and learners, and more deeply, the human condition in the modern world. Some anecdotal practical implications are reported in the final section of the paper as we describe the response of learners to the challenges of increased personalization.
Johnson M and Liber O (2008) The Personal Learning Environment and the human condition: from theory to teaching practice. Interactive Learning Environments, 16 (1), 3-15.
The second article I can draw your attention to was written by the so called 'Father of the PLE', Scott Wilson. In the article, Scott examines design issues surrounding the deployment of PLEs:
The use of design patterns is now well established as an approach within the field of software systems as well as within the field of architecture. An initial effort was made to harness patterns as a tool for elaborating the design of the elements of personal learning environments as part of the University of Bolton's Personal Learning Environment project; however, this earlier effort had a number of limitations that prompted a revisit to the pattern language documented here. In particular, the initial patterns, while functionally useful, lacked some of the moral and generative qualities that are the essential qualities of an effective pattern language. This paper presents a revised pattern language focused around two primary categories, learning networks, and personal learning tools.
Wilson S (2009) Patterns of Personal Learning Environments. Interactive Learning Environments, 16 (1), 17-34.
Related Links:
Scott Wilson et al: The Personal Learning Environments Blog
Mohamed Amine Chatti: LMS vs PLE
Clarence Fisher: Reflective Spaces and Learning Networks
Steve Wheeler slideshow: Self organised learning and PLEs
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