Personal Learning Environments

…so what can social networks do for you?

Dave MeloneEPSY556: Analysis of Advanced Instructional Technologies

November 18, 2008

this isn’t about technology, mostly“PLE (Personal Learning Environments) is a verb, not a noun. ‘PLE’ is something you do, not something you have. It’s an action, not a thing. It’s a way of interacting with others, not a way of ‘getting personalized learning.’ You can’t go out and set up your PLE. You are part of your PLE. You have it already. You can’t seek to personalize your learning - if your learning isn’t already personalized, you’re not learning.” - D’Arcy Norman

http://flickr.com/photos/aarrgh/2110535889/

As teachers, it’s our business to not only teach, but also be constantly learning.

so if we are still learning, then…?“New technologies are not necessarily replacing existing approaches; instead, they are enlarging the range of options for learners. We’re not doing away with email. Or even learning management systems. We’re adding blogs, wikis, social networking, virtual worlds, and numerous other technologies to current practices. And that’s exactly how it should be.” - George Siemens

http://flickr.com/photos/laffy4k/404321726/

Only the technology is new, old ideals and traditions are finding new ways to be expressed.

look around

who do you work with everyday?

http://flickr.com/photos/krikit/2801572237/

PLEs are essentially people-to-people, whether it is between a student or boss, whether they sit in front of you are are posting to the internet from the other side of the world…

…the connection can be a handshake or a blog comment, the point is that there IS a connection.

knock knock

Professional conferences?Work colleagues?Parents?

Do they have blogs, profiles? Keep those business cardsIf you only have a name, search for them online.

make it worksocial networking

search for your own interests: professional and personaladd yourself to groupsavoid becoming a lurker/wallflower

WikEd Artifact: http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Social_Networking_Technology_in_Education

Did you create something? Post the URL everywhere and invite comments/criticisms/questions. Ask some of your own.

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post and tag

contentanything: pictures, blog entries, bookmarksrepost, trackback, remix, and tag

O pen E ducation R esources: http://www.oercommons.org/WebQuest.orgTeacherTube.comePortfoliosBlog entries

comment, rate, share

http://flickr.com/photos/agit-prop/2529683679/

enmesh yourself

feed

post

tag

Use feedreaders to distill the information you want or need. Browse smart using browser plugins and social bookmarking services to browse “people-generated” links. NetVibes, Delicious, Flock

photographer? – Flickramateur bird-watching enthusiast? – Wikibookmarking fiend? – deliciouspowerpoint jockey? – slideshare, Ustreama writer? – blogcurious and have a question – comment!

It is our responsibility to tag, categorize, and build the new taxonomy of learning. The new Dewey decimal system is grassroots, 2.0, and becoming a mess!

Are you a

rinse and repeat

PLEs are less about what you use, than how you use it. So far, the only real requirement of a PLE is that you participate and grow it so that others can too.

The CTER program has been all about building our PLEs all along, keeping them together and enhancing our own learning and extending it to others.

http://flickr.com/photos/14635084@N06/3036888669/

citedNorman, D. (2008). defining ple, D’Arcy Norman Dot Net., Retrieved October 29, 2008 from http://www.darcynorman.net/2008/10/29/defining-ple/Melone, D. (2008) Social Networking Technology in Education. WikEd., Retrieved November 17, 2008 from http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Social_Networking_Technology_in_Education. Wiki entry.Siemens, G. (2008). Social Networks, the Next Educational Tool?, elearnspace. Retrieved October 31, 2008 from http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2008/03/05/ple-nominalism/“PLE Workshop: edtechpost.” (2008). Retrieved November 12, 2008 from http://edtechpost.wikispaces.com/PLE+workshop Wilson, S., et al. (2008). PLE as conceptual intervention, the personal learning environments blog. Retrieved November 17, 2008 from http://zope.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple

Thanks to Flickr users: laffy4k, aarrgh, krikit, agit-prop, and my own: cleo5678Web graph of http://wwwithaq.net generated at Websites as Graphs: http://www.aharef.info/static/htmlgraph/