What is Personal Learning Environment?
This week was all about PLE; this stands
for personal learning environment. Digital
Study Skills describes PLE “as a digital toolbox… that is personal to each
individual, created by them, owned by them, used by them within their lifelong
learning”. You can think of a PLE as a system that assists learners to manage
their own learning. An individual can create a PLE to help them set their own
personalized goal, administer their learning styles and engage/ interact with others. PLE is more of an informal learning than formal
learning. It is important to experience both informal and formal learning. This
reminds me of two courses offered at Brock University, ADED 1P31 Learning for
Success and ADED 1P32 Learning in Digital Contexts. These two particular
courses focus more on an individual’s learning style; great courses definitely
recommend taking them! These courses have helped me organize and manage and
organize my own learning. For more information regarding PLE, please visit this
slideshare called Learning management systems and the personal learning
environment: A bridge in the cloud? By Steve Wheeler http://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/a-bridge-in-the-cloud
Attwell (2007) indicates some important
aspects of personal learning environments. Education has taken a new approach,
and has embedded the use of technology into their curriculum. Schools in the 21st
century are now incorporating as much technology as they can. Our generations
today, are known as multi-taskers and prefer to learn by using various sources
available to them online. Attwell (2007) emphasizes on the importance of
experiencing informal learning. Informal learning allows individuals to learn
through all kinds of settings and contexts.
Attwell (2007) brought up a good point about how people learn their
jobs. Atwell (2007) indicates that only 20 % of the learning process is done
through formal learning, whereas, the rest is through informal. What I mean by
this is that, often times individuals get trained on their position. However,
they get more comfortable with their position through observations and asking
questions, and learning from their mistakes. Lastly, Malan (2010) indicates
that it is more important for individuals to focus on finding, sorting,
sharing, critiquing and creating than simply reading, memorizing and recalling.
For more information please view this Prezi presentation that explains more in
depth about PLE. https://prezi.com/-xhpuupxgjin/growing-your-personal-learning-environment/
Moving on, here is a picture of my
personal learning environment (PLE)!
Personal:
In 5 – 10 years time, I envision myself continuing
my current occupation and growing with Caribbean Medical University as a
Program Coordinator for their Premedical Program. Furthermore, in 5 – 10 years,
I hope to continue my education, get my Masters in Social Work and pursue my
dreams of becoming a Social Worker. If I were asked this same exact question
about a year ago, I would have said inspiring educator. During my last semester
at Brock University, I have finally been able to envision where I see myself. I
am currently, working part- time for Caribbean Medical University, finishing up
my last semester. Lastly, I hope to begin working at non-profit organizations
to build my experience to get into masters of social work.
To pursue my career as a Social Worker, I
will have to learn more about essential skills and have a good foundation of
knowledge. For beginners, I will need to complete my program and graduate.
After graduating, through informal learning, I would have to build experience
and get more fieldwork experience. However, in order for me to get this
fieldwork experience required for me to apply for masters. I would need to make
connections and stay caught up with issues related to children. I will have to
learn through researching articles being published regarding children’s inequity
issues, what fits for children and etc. I would need to be aware of what
theorists are arguing and their standpoints on certain topics revolving
children and youth. With the help of blogs, twitter, and Prezi, I will be able
to share my views and opinions online for those who may be interested in
similar topics as me. In order to build
experience, I would need to make connects, and network with individuals who are
in the similar field as me. For this, I would need to learn, how to be
professional on LinkedIn and etc. There is a lot of formal and informal
learning required for me to do in order for me to pursue my dream job as a
social worker.
Environment:
Environment has a huge impact on learning!
An individual must be in a positive “studious” environment in order to want to
learn. I love to learn in the comfort of my bed, but during examinations it
gets really hard for me to find that motivation to continue studying. It is important to pick a place to learn where
either you are isolated from those who may be distractions and cellular
devices. Studying in a quiet floor on the library really helps! For those like
me who get easily distracted, should spend at least 3 – 4 hours in the library.
Studying beside other students can help with motivation.
Habits:
As mentioned above,
my bad habit in terms of environment is doing all my work in the comfort of my
bed. Once I am in bed, I just feel so relaxed and calm; it makes me want to
watch a show, talk to my roommates, online shop. I have tried changing this habit. I actually
live in an apartment that has a study room; I use to go there when I needed to
get my work done. It was good until others walked in who had work to do, but allocated
most of their time talking out loud, which is a distraction for those trying to
do their work, especially me. Now, I just try to stay at school as long as I
can to complete most of work their, so I can come back knowing I had a
productive day and got majority of my work done.
In sum, a personalized learning
environment can definitely be a positive approach for individuals to understand
their own learning styles. There are many ways to look at PLE; for example,
Wendy Drexler believes that PLE can empower learners to become accustomed to
new technology and sources available. A
personal learning environment is very unique and helpful. It allows individuals
to organize and mange their own learning.
There are so many unique tools, that I
found very useful for example, Google Alerts. My reason as to why I love Google
alerts and it has great advantages because it allows me to stay updated with my
social media sites. I will get notifications about anything posted online about
me. You always want to be aware of such things, to prevent them from affecting
ones careers and life. 
