Personal Learning Environments: The UK’s vision of the future Jack Wills Chairman The British Institute for Learning and Development

Personal Learning Environments: The UK’s vision of the future

Jack Wills

Chairman

The British Institute for Learning and Development

The British Institute for Learning and Development

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© www.role-project.eu

Personal Learning Environments:What does the future hold?

Karen VelascoDeputy ChairmanBritish Institute for Learning and Developmentand Member of ROLE Project Board

Agenda

Trends in learning

PLEs – a potted history

The barriers and constraints of PLEs

From PLEs to ROLEs

The ROLE project

Question time

3 December 2009 © www.role-project.euOnline Educa, Berlin

Five learning trends for 2009*

Mobile learning

DIY learning

Flexible learning environments

Virtual worlds

Games and simulations

* According to Brandon Hall, Chief Learning Officer magazine, January 2009

© www.role-project.eu3 December 2009 Online Educa, Berlin

What is a PLE?


A Personal Learning Environment is not:• A specific software application

• A system for creating or delivering e-learning content

• A learning management system

• A content management system

• A virtual learning environment (in its strictest sense)

A Personal Learning Environment is:• A concept, based on Web 2.0 technology

• A collection of tools and systems

• Browser based

• An environment where learners access information from a variety of sources

• Personal to the user – learner-centric

• Distributed and social

3 December 2009 Online Educa, Berlin

PLEs – definitions


A Personal Learning Environment is a facility for an individual to access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artefacts of their ongoing learning experiences.

Personal Learning Environments are systems that help learners take control of and manager their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to:• Set their own learning goals

• Manage their learning – both content and process

• Communicate with other in the process of learning

And thereby achieve their learning goals.

PLEs are based on the idea that most learning takes place informally, in different contexts and situations, and not by one single provider.


PLE elements


PLEs may be made up of:

• Production tools

• Collaboration and sharing tools

• Communication

• Storage tools

• Aggregating content

• Aggregating people

• Aggregating software

• Identity management

• APIs and protocols


Benefits of PLEs


PLEs allow you to:

•Create a repository of material about a particular subject matter

•Communicate and collaborate

•Organise material in a way that is personal to you

•Learn formally and informally

•Learn at a time and place to suit you

•Learn throughout your life

•Use whatever tools and devices you want (eg mobile phone, PS3, Wii)

•Interact with friends and wider communities

•Explore a subject in an informal manner

•Reflect on your learning

•Submit work for assessment and review

•And much more ...


Drawbacks of PLEs


• Numerous tools may be overwhelming

• Skill levels

– Computer literacy

– Information literacy

• Differing pedagogical viewpoints

• Access to technology and software may be limited

• Reconciling the structured nature of formal education with the informal attributes of networked learning

• Data privacy and security issues

• Still mainly linked with FE/HE sectors

• Take-up in the workplace

• Do blogs, wikis, and podcasts qualify as a PLE?

• Just how responsive and intuitive are PLEs?


iGoogle – is it a PLE?


“Google is the most-used e-learning application.”Graham Attwell, Pontydysgu


Responsive OpenLearning Environments

“an adaptive, predictive learning tool”

From PLE to ROLE


Who is ROLE?

1. Fraunhofer FIT DE

2. RWTH Aachen University DE

3. Technical University of Graz AT

4. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven BE

5. University of Koblenz DE

6. Uppsala University SE

7. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne CH

8. University of Leicester UK

9. Open University UK

10. Vienna University of Economics & Business Administration AT

11. Festo Lernzentrum Saar GmbH DE

12. imc AG DE

13. British Institute for Learning and Development UK

14. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

15. Zentrum für Soziale Innovation AT

16. U&I Learning BE

3 December 2009 Online Educa, Berlin © www.role-project.eu

ROLE vision


Today’s PLEs

Companies

Private

FE/HE

Courses and Contentin LMS

CorporateBlogs

Communities / Social NetworkGroups / Experts

Add-inEducationApplications

CorporateResources

Search andOpen Resource

Repositories

Courses and Contentin LMS/LCMS

InstituteServices


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From PLE to ROLE


Case study – English Language Learning Scenario










A few questions ...

• Are we in danger of relying on “total technology”?

• What about the digital divide?

• Should we rely on technology alone to promote knowledge and social inclusion?

• Do we have the infrastructure to support it?

• What about diversity issues?

• What about assessment and accreditation of learning?

• Is it truly global?

• If we build it, will they come?


ROLE website – www.role-project.eu

For more information

ROLE website:

http://www.role-project.eu/

LinkedIn ROLE group:

http://www.linkedin.com/groupInvitation?gid=1590487

British Institute for Learning and Development:

http://www.thebild.org

Contact me:

[email protected]


Any questions?


Documents

Personal Learning Environments: The UK’s vision of the future Jack Wills Chairman The British Institute for Learning and Development