Course:ETEC522/2010ST1/InformalLearningEnvironments/DQ
Activity
Using ELGG, we've created an environment whereby you can try out how a contained PLE may work. Read the instructions, then go to http://ferviddesigns.com/kenbuis/522/elgg/ to create an account.
Discussion Questions
We invite you to choose one of the following questions for discussion on the course site:
Personal Learning Environment
Watch the Graham Attwell's video „Schools out – Personal Learning Environments“. Do you as an educator agree that there is a mismatch between our learning and the way our educational system operates? If we consider PLEs as a concept or tool which brings together different learners' worlds, what might be its role? What role would teachers and institutions play if learners developed and controlled their own PLEs? Is there a real threat that PLEs are going to make schools obsolete?
Leading Learning Applications
We are all engaged in informal learning all time, and whether we realize it or not, we all have a "personal learning environment." What is the nature of your personal learning environment? Do you have a "formal" method of managing and aggregating the components of your informal learning (a web service or series of services, an application, a desktop application) or is your learning managed in a more organic way? Do you think you might use one of the services or applications we've explored in this unit as your own personal learning environment?
Stability and Usability
What do you think the future tools of learning will be as the internet evolves? Will they be all encompassing environments like Google Apps and Blackboard, or will students get to pick and choose what they would like to use in forming their own personal learning environments?
Total Cost of Ownership
If Informal Learning through personal learning environments is more cost-effective, would you consider it to be more effective than formalized training, or does the fact that it is informal and possibly without clear learning objectives make it cost-prohibitive in the end?
Future Potential
What is your opinion regarding future potential for PLEs? Is everybody going to have his or her own PLE embedded in a specific PLE application in, let’s say, five years? Are PLEs going to be embraced by individuals, educational institutions, and corporations? Do you think your institution would employ PLEs?
Next: Conclusions
Previous: Future Potential
