Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Reflections after the first Elluminate session

The “personal” aspect of PLE/N speaks to the fact that it is made up of components I personally use, and that those components will differ to some degree from anyone else’s. The objection that “personal” implied ownership, and therefore control, seems unnecessary to me. There is ownership in the sense that I select the environment or network components (tools and sources) according to what makes sense and is useful to me rather than chaffing under what’s forced upon me by an authority. But that’s quite different from proprietary ownership in which I control or limit someone else’s access to those same tools or resource people for their PLE/N.

From discussion forum :
The term "Personal Learning Environment" was new to me when I enrolled in PLENK, but as I read the materials over the last few days I realized that I’ve used one for a long time. Rather than learn from a single source I’ve always selected my information from an eclectic (and often contradictory) assortment of sources - books, radio & TV, exchanging letters & tapes, lengthy telephone or F2F conversations, and personal experiences. With dial-up, my options expanded to include email, listservers, and the web (before it became too graphic-heavy). Since the arrival of Satellite broadband in our isolated community in 2007 (yep, we joined the 21st century a bit late) my range of available sources and tools has expanded exponentially. Ken Anderson (Link) suggests, “maybe it is useful to think of a capital PLE post Web 2.0, and a lower-case ple, pre Web 2.0, to acknowledge that a personal learning environment is not a new concept.” I like that. It also acknowledges that my PLE still includes all the elements (well, maybe not snail-mailing cassette tapes) that formed my personal learning environment before Broadband.

As I understand the current discussion, a Post-Web 2.0 PLE seem to be not so much about the tools as it is about how the tools can complement each other in enhancing the learning experience. This course has opened my eyes to many new ways to use multiple tools in concert. Not only am I learning new tools, but it’s been informative to realize how others use them together. Emma Stodel started a discussion on competency levels that will be useful in making my way forward. Kay Novak posted a link to a document by Dr. Lisa Dawley containing very interesting analysis of levels of engagement.

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