Interest in the concept of personal learning environments (PLE) began in the late 1990s as new technologies made it easier for learners to take control of and manage their own learning experiences. Academics generally view PLEs as part of a learning ecosystem that is learner directed and “consists of resources available to a learner including other people (for example, peer learners, teachers), printed materials, computational materials (for example, computer systems, including the Internet), other resources” (Mark van Harmelen, Interactive Learning Environments, Volume 16, Issue 1 April 2008).
Although much has been written about PLEs in scholarly journals and professional articles, very little has been heard from students on this topic – until now.
The presentation at the 2009 Canadian e-Learning Conference, “Personal Learning Environments: What Do Students Think?” started off with facilitator Cindy Underhill asking the audience to reflect on what a personal learning environment means to them. She also posed this question to the panel of students participating in the session: Zack Lee, Angeli dela Rosa and Andre Malan. Zack described a personal learning environment as something that was his own, Angeli followed up by stating that her PLE “is always changing” depending on which course she takes and what the context of the environment is. For Andre, a PLE is “the environment in which I’m learning.”
The group then pondered the tools and resources that they use to build their learning environments. For Andre and Zack, the best resources for building their PLE are the people around them. Zack mentioned that some of the best ways of learning are out of the classroom and that the act of sharing ideas with others challenges him to think from different perspectives. It was here that Cindy brought up the notion that as students progress from first year up to third and fourth year, they begin to see their peers as part of their PLE and they begin to have more exchanges between peers. Angeli and Andre have seen this happen throughout their undergraduate education.
The effect of technology was also discussed, with most of the panel downplaying the role of technology in their PLE. Technology is seen as a resource that gives them more opportunities to develop their PLEs. Zack thinks that technology has given him more opportunities to connect with other people. It has also acted as a timesaving device. He pointed out that using a tool like Netvibes gave him an efficient way to research papers by saving him the trouble of reading individual articles.
This led to a discussion of what is required to successfully complete a course. All of the students on the panel agreed that they structure their learning environments to support good academic results. As Zack explained “I ask what the instructor needs so that I can get a good grade. I don’t pay much attention to the learning process.” Andre concurred: “The focus is on output. If an instructor wants a paper, I’ll write a paper.”
Interestingly, although the panel members sited social software as part of their own learning process, they didn’t see this approach used by many of their peers. “I tried to connect with other students by setting up a wiki for my class , and a blog to share info,” said Angeli, “It didn’t really work out.” The students pointed to Twitter and Google Docs as online resources that might benefit study groups. For the most part, however, the way students approach their studies limits their embrace of learning technologies. “Most of my friends are hesitant to use technology because they see it as just another thing to do on top of what they’re already doing,” said Zack.
For professional educators interested in making PLEs a greater part of the student learning experience, the panel recommended taking a more flexible approach, one that encourages learning over grades. Currently, explained Andre “PLE is aligned with getting better grades, not necessarily about learning how to learn better…Learning is a part of your life. PLEs grow and your environment changes – it’s not just about technology, not just about students but also about faculty and instructors. Instructors need to find out how students learn and how to transfer learning skills over to students.”