Personal Learning Environment

The term Personal Learning Environment ( PLE short, German Personal Learning Environment ) is not clearly defined, but can be understood as a concept of the individual design of their own learning environment. The most important aspect is that the learner has this area under his control and his learning and working environment customized to develop and share knowledge with others. Although the purely linguistic translation Essentially, the entire personal learning environment means (eg, desk, library, computer, newspaper, etc.), under the technical implementation of a PLE in research primarily individual configuration of ( social ) software, Web services and mobile technologies that support the mostly informal learning with the computer understood.

Conceptual history

The term Personal Learning Environments created in early 2000 as part of the discussion on Virtual Learning Environment (short VLE ), an approach in which traditional structures, roles and processes of formal education in a virtual learning environment (eg, earlier forms of learning management systems short LMS) are simulated. In contrast to the Virtual Learning Environment approach, the Personal Learning Environment strives approach a higher educational and technical innovation, especially by a person-centered use of modern digital media, to.

Life Long Learning

Lifelong learning as a concept, the ability to possess or acquire to be able to live long situational and educate its own, is the main motivation for research on PLEs. Driven by a (computer) society that is becoming faster, and in which product cycles are getting shorter, you have to be able to quickly and problem-oriented learn new domains and to acquire knowledge. This is accompanied but also new demands on man and software. The person must be able to shape his own learning and align. Software should be able to support him as possible find appropriate information to make their own available to share knowledge with others and allow reflection on Written or Reported to support learning. Because the learning situations are particular diverse, because they arise in very different contexts (eg: (project) work, hobbies, etc.) should be a PLE in a position to offer the learners a flexible environment that he to its requirements can make accordingly.

Informal learning

As the study shows, the education of professional people to about 70 % of informal learning. In particular, workplace learning is meant, which consists in most cases of formal training. However, it was shown in the development and research around PLEs that the already existing informal training must be supported. The aim is both to give the learner the opportunity to make its collected used anyway programs and services available and to support the other with the composition of this learning. Technically this could be created or data bases are so provided that a persistence of confluent knowledge artifacts can be guaranteed even links between the tools.

Functions of a PLE

Graham Attwell et al. describe several features that should be part of a PLE:

• Information search: access to information is essential in order to initiate a process of learning situation- can. Only by being able to specifically identify information in different sources ( with content possibly different priorities ), the learning process can be supported efficiently.
• Collecting and structuring: A PLE must enable the learner to gather the information found from various sources and to structure them in a meaningful way for him. First, it should help to get an overview of the existing material, on the other hand, the learner, to reflect on the relationships and differences between the individual artifacts. This may help him to separate him for the most relevant information.
• Edit: After the learner could identify for themselves relevant information, he wants to expand it might require so that they conform to his particular problem or he wants to enrich it with their own knowledge of the relevant knowledge domain. For this purpose, the possibility must be given to handle such knowledge artifacts.
• Analysis: In order to adapt information to a particular problem situation, they must first be analyzed. This analysis can be performed alone, but can also be done in exchange with other people who have experience in dealing with this or other similar problems.
• Reflection: reflection on Visited example may serve to uncover difficulties in understanding or weak in content in a document. This can then lead to the learner even deeper deals with a subject in order to understand the entire relevant area for him. This reflection can occur, for example, by writing an article, a blog entry or by talking with friends or colleagues.
• Present: There must be the possibility, for example troubleshooting their own colleagues or friends present. This can be done with the help of slides, brochures or writing an e -mail.
• Representing: In contrast to Present Represent aims aggregations and analysis of artifacts and the newly arisen knowledge artifacts in a more general form to publish, so that by means of which not only have the same problem can be solved again, but also beyond this More value is obtained. This also goes with the effect that the learner presents itself and his area of ​​interest.
• Parts: One of the most relevant points is the ability to found knowledge to share with others, on the one hand to not only benefit alone of newly acquired knowledge and on the other hand, to obtain new information from other people themselves.
• Networking: build relationships with other people is the most important aspect in order to realize the above-mentioned points efficiently. Only in this way it may be possible to effectively get information. Only persons who themselves have a certain level of knowledge in a knowledge domain can quickly and easily locate materials, information, or meta-knowledge point (eg everyday problems ). Moreover, it corresponds in many situations the normal life that you ask a friend or colleague about a problem, because it is assumed that one quickly comes to the aid of the goal than if you would have to re- familiarize themselves with an entire domain.