Personal Learning Environment

Personal learning environments are just what they say they are:

Environment: What a particular location is made up of including all the things and conditions found there.

Learning: The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge, skill, or becoming something.

Personal: You own it, you run it, content, look and feel, who sees it what you put there etc.

PLE: A particular location that you own and control that facilitates your learning including all the things and conditions found there. Most PLEs are not isolated but are open and can be shared with those you choose or those who choose to go there. A blog, a wiki, a website, a network site, igoogle, and many other types of places could be a PLE for you. However, these are not just personal environments so for most of us the Facebook page only partially counts. These locations are centered on learning.

Criteria for deciding whether you have a PLE:

• Did you stop using it when your class/project was over?
• Can you look at it and answer the question, what have you learned lately?
• Why did you create this environment?
• Is it controlled by you or by another organization?
  

I have started PLEs that simply turned into assignment boards. I have started other PLEs that ultimately ended up being controlled by others. Maybe this time I'll be a little more successful.