A Design Framework for Personal Learning Environments

Objective: This study explores students' perceptions of using Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) in the era of generative artificial intelligence as a learning resource in higher education. The specific objectives are: 1) to determine the current tools that students incorporate into their PLEs and 2) to identify students' perceptions of the use of PLEs for lifelong learning. Theoretical Framework: UNESCO and other institutions recognize lifelong learning as an essential competency for personal and professional development. Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) are considered effective tools for promoting self-directed learning, allowing students to manage their learning processes, especially with the advent of generative artificial intelligence technologies. Method: A qualitative study was conducted with 207 first-semester engineering students from a public university in Peru. Participants were introduced to a training program to develop their PLEs using various digital tools, including generative AI tools such as ChatGPT DALL-E. The instrument used to evaluate students' perceptions was the MUSIC model (Jones, 2009), which focuses on empowerment and usefulness. Results: The results indicate that more than 80% of the students positively perceive PLEs, considering them valuable and empowering tools for achieving their learning objectives. Integrating generative AI tools into PLEs is notable, as it provides a dynamic and personalized learning experience. Most students found PLEs helpful for their future and relevant for promoting lifelong learning skills. Research Implications: The research suggests that PLEs, especially when integrated with generative AI tools, positively impact self-directed learning and promote collaborative and social learning. These findings can inform the development of educational programs and policies that encourage using PLEs as a student-centered learning strategy. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the understanding of the role of PLEs in the context of higher education and generative artificial intelligence. It is one of the first studies to examine students' perceptions of using PLEs with generative AI tools, highlighting their potential to enhance learning autonomy and personalization.

This paper belongs to a PLE (Personal Learning Environment) research, whichis in a development phase. This research is about PLE design, production andevaluation, and is designed with the goal of qualifying university staff in theusing of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).The research presents four revised phases, all of them focused in methodology and working plan: a) PLE design, production and evaluation; b) pilot study; c) virtual environment dissemination; d) development of the final report. Owing to the fact that the research is in a development phase we don’t have results. It’s our purposal to obtain different scientific-technical taxes and benefits with this project, for example: identify the most significant aspects for the faculty’s training in order to incorporate ICT in teachers’ professional development; create a PLE with the aim of developing an environment for the faculty’s training on ICT; recognize the impact that different tools have in the faculty training; become aware of the necessary methodological change that involves incorporate the PLE in the European Space for Higher Education (ESHE) at university. Before concluding this paper, we would like to present our intention to incorporate some proposals from PLE Congress. (Julio 2010, Cornella)

It is commonly argued that learner participation and interaction can be enhanced by the use of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). However, this idea has yet to be reflected in practice. In this sense, researchers are encouraged to do more empirical research in order to know whether PLEs could allow the transference of the participative and networked nature of Web 2.0 to the institutional sphere. In this sense, this paper presents a differential study in which the authors analyzed student participation and interaction when working with a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and a PLE in two online, higher education courses. With that aim in mind, participation measures were calculated and social network analysis was performed on the digital data collected from the learning environments. The findings reflect the effectiveness of a PLE over a VLE for facilitating student participation and for assisting students in the creation of more cohesive learning networks.

Professor Ricardo Torres Kompen is a leading proponent for, and researcher in, personal learning environments (PLEs). During his interview, Torres Kompen clarified his research on PLEs, particularly the digital toolbox within PLEs. He elaborated on experiences with implementing PLE initiatives, personal insights on using social media and Web 2.0 technologies, and the role of PLEs in designing learning for an increasingly complex, networked community in the digital age. Located in Barcelona, Spain, Torres Kompen has traveled extensively and worked in diverse settings. His work has a broad impact, including educators and students, formal and informal learning environments, from primary school students to lifelong learners. The innovative leadership traits referred to as the Innovator's DNA (Dyer, Gregersen, & Christensen, 2011) was used to contextualize major developments in Torres Kompen's contributions to research and practice in PLEs.

A Personal Learning Environment or PLE is described as a process that helps students organize the influx of information and resources that they are faced with on a daily basis into a personalized digital learning space or experience. A PLE is primarily facilitated by cloud-based Web 2.0 technologies and services designed to help students create, organize, and share content, participate in collective knowledge generation, and manage their own meaning making. Hence, a PLE is student-designed around each student’s goals or learning approach. In a PLE, the student develops an individualized digital identity through the perceptual cues and cognitive affordances that the personalized learning environment provides such as what information to share and when, who to share it with, and how to effectively merge formal and informal learning experiences. To gather data on PLEs, Mason students were asked what do they like to learn about; what hardware (devices) and software do they use to learn; what digital tools they wish they had access to for learning; and what their ideal PLE might look like. In this presentation, we will share student responses to these questions and provide recommendations for supporting the development PLEs in teaching and learning contexts.

In this paper we present the results of a naturalistic study carried out with higher education students which describes their learning environments when working on academic tasks in groups and individually. In this study we want to analyse how they organize their learning activities and knowledge processes (reading, reflecting and sharing) and how these learning processes are integrated into their Personal Learning Environments (PLE). In order to achieve that, students had to reflect about the basic ‘components’ that make up their learning process: reading (using not only by text but also multimedia), doing/reflecting (creating cognitive artefacts) and sharing (discussing, showing, and offering and receiving feedback from and to a community of reference). Students formed relationships between those components and any technological tools they used and created mind maps to represent their PLEs. The main objective is to try to understand how PLEs are organized and how they are perceived by learners, not from a technological perspective but from a learning perspective. The main results confirm the strong nature of PLEs as a pedagogical approach with a strong technological base. In addition, those results suggest a close relationship between students’ beliefs and expectations regarding academic tasks as well as the importance they give to each component in their learning process.

Web 3.0 – Based personalisation of learning objects in virtual learning environments

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) favor better scenarios for teaching and learning processes. Personal Learning Environment (PLE) improves the educational process. Under the computational and ubiquitous learning approach, a ubiquitous PLE model (uPLEMO), an example of a PLE design for teachers and its application in courses are presented here. Results of such model were very positive. The ubiquitous PLE model can be applied in any area of knowledge, for teachers, learners, companies or institutions planning educational processes based on ICT.

Personal Factors and Clinical Learning Environment as Predictors of Nursing Students' Readiness for Practice: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

As personalized learning initiatives become increasingly pervasive in schools across the United States (Patrick, Worthen, Frost, & Gentz, 2016), teachers are called upon to address the needs, interests, and skills of individual students. Many aspects of personalized learningalign well with the middle school concept, which has long advocated student driven curriculum as a desirable practice (National Middle School Association, 2010). As teacher educators seek to keep pace with personalized learning efforts, we must first understand the requisite teaching skills and dispositions. Accordingly, the purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the dispositions that middle grades teachers identified as necessary to enact personalize learning. After interviewing 10 middle grade teachers from five schools in which personalized learning was mandated, our research team used Dedoose software collaboratively to analyze the transcript data and subsequently identify seven dispositions: (a) taking risks, (b) accepting imperfection, (c) being flexible, (d) reflecting, (e) empowering students, (f) relinquishing expert status, and (g) tolerating disorder. In this chapter, we examine each of these dispositions individually and then compare them to prior research and existing conceptual literature. We conclude with implications for middle grades teacher preparation, professional development, and future research.

This study investigated the goal-setting approaches of 11 middle grades teachers during the first year of their implementation of a statewide, personalized learning initiative. As an increasing number of middle level schools explore personalized learning, there is an urgent need for empirical research in this area. Goal setting is a critical aspect of personalized learning and, thus, an important instructional area for researchers to investigate. This qualitative study found five dominant trends in teachers’ approaches to goal setting. The researchers analyzed the key features of each approach and then analyzed them using three key elements of personalized learning. The authors offer implications for practitioners and researchers engaged in teaching and research related to personalized learning environments in the middle grades.

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de un estudio empírico donde se analizan entornos de aprendizaje como Entornos de Aprendizaje Personalizado (PLE). El objetivo ha sido reformular el concepto de PLE a partir de la visión original que psicopedagogos en formación tienen del mismo tras su diseño. En la experiencia participan 68 estudiantes universitarios de Psicopedagogía. La investigación sigue las directrices metodológicas propias del estudio de caso, considerando que el interés principal es descriptivo y exploratorio. Los datos se recogen a partir de la reflexión autoevaluativa que ellos hacen al identificar e interpretar sus propios PLE. El Método de Análisis Temático nos ayuda a encontrar significados en las reflexiones de los estudiantes. Para minimizar el sesgo en los análisis realizados, se calcula la consistencia de las interpretaciones de los investigadores a través del coeficiente Kappa Cohen. Este alcanzó un K=0.79, considerándolo como un proceso fiable. El valor científico de la investigación viene dado por la captación de las diferentes subjetividades e interpretaciones que se hicieron en la respuesta al encargo académico-profesional (tarea) de la confección de los PLE. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto el valor del PLE como herramienta de gestión consciente de dónde aprenden. Nos han permitido identificar sus dimensiones, funcionalidad e implicaciones. La conclusión principal nos lleva a entender el PLE como entorno de aprendizaje personalizado (customizado), connotación diferenciada de la traducción que en nuestro contexto se viene haciendo como entorno personal de aprendizaje (estándar)

The realm of nursery and primary education in Cameroon has witnessed the introduction of novel curricula aimed at fostering competencies among learners, particularly accentuating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. This paradigm shift underscores the pressing demand for educator’s adept at navigating and fully leveraging these curricular frameworks to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes requisite for the learners' holistic development. Concurrently, the enactment of the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (NDS30), geared towards propelling Cameroon towards emergent status by 2035, serves as a resounding call for concerted efforts across all sectors, including education, to realise the stipulated objectives. Consequently, there is an urgent imperative for a cadre of high-calibre educators equipped with the specific knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to yield the desired educational outcomes. Such educator proficiency can only be cultivated through rigorous professional programmes that address contemporary challenges and foster avenues for lifelong learning. It is well-established that higher levels of education are intricately linked with elevated pedagogic standards (Howes et al., 2003; Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). In alignment with this premise, the Faculty of Education at the University of Buea has devised a master's programme in nursery and primary education employing a blended learning model, encompassing both face-to-face and online learning modalities. Nonetheless, to provide truly tailored educational experiences catering to the diverse talents, interests, and needs of each learner, a personalised learning approach is indispensable. The creation of a personalised distance learning environment holds paramount significance, particularly in light of the burgeoning prominence and acceptance of personalised learning within higher education circles. This initiative furnishes a roadmap for transitioning from conventional face-to-face instruction to online learning through the lens of personalised learning principles.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0736/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

The push for personalized learning without clear guidance, training, or resources has forced educators to make their own interpretations of what it means to individualize. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate and improve the implementation of personalized learning environments in K-8 classrooms. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 consisted of interviews, document reviews, and classroom observations of K-8 teachers at Souderton Charter School Collaborative--a small, suburban, public charter school which services about 240 students and identifies individualization as a cornerstone of the school's mission. Action steps were designed, implemented, and evaluated in Cycle 2 to create and deliver a professional development program along with resources for implementing personalized learning in the classroom setting. Findings include: (a) there needs to be a common understanding of what individualized/personalized learning is, (b) teachers need quality professional development on how to implement personalized learning, and (c) teachers also need access to resources for individualizing instruction. Implications for the organization included the creation of a professional development program and access to individualized learning resources which led to a common understanding and approach to implementing personalized learning environments.--Author's abstract

This practitioner perspective describes how middle grades units are developed and revised in response to student needs to engage students in social justice work while maintaining a safe and respectful classroom culture. In order for students to understand the world around them, they need to develop context by studying the past. There is no better way to enable students to do this in a personalized learning environment than to explore both the past and present through the lens of social justice. Broad, thematic units, such as “Revolution,” “Race in America,” or “Societal Monsters” allow teachers to ensure that students are able to analyze and reflect on the injustices of the past, as well as understand how those injustices have changed and shifted to become the ones we see and experience in our modern world. At the same time, personalized learning allows students the freedom to choose topics within these broad themes and learning pathways that suit their interests, skills, and needs as individuals.