To be honest, I had never heard of a PLE until last week. So this is all new to me. While in class, I kept thinking of PLEs in terms of the Netvibes website we had to create an account for. Since this was my first exposure to learning about PLEs, it seemed to me nothing more than a place to store your favorite websites as bookmarks. Kind of like your favorites in a web browser. Boy was I way off. After reading all three of the articles I found online, I have a very different take on the whole Personal Learning Environment thing. I mean I was still trying to figure out what a widget was (admitted embarrassingly and coming to the conclusion it was an icon kind of like a thumbnail, in my opinion) and then still trying not to laugh every time I came across the word “pedagogies”. The word just makes me laugh. Go figure.
Anyways, I finished reading all three of the articles (being somewhat annoyed that one author kept referring to himself in third person…ugh) and all the debate over whether it’s a system or a concept. I honestly had no idea this PLE thing was as widespread and very closely related to primary and secondary education. And then, of course, now I realize the Netvibes site mainly focuses on linking blogs on certain subjects or topics where users of a PLE try to shape or “customize” their own learning space. The way I was originally thinking of it in class was as a completely casual extracurricular type of tool. One where you read and link the latest ridiculous celebrity gossip/drama and or one where you read the latest discovery or invention in science or one where you can get lost in your daily dose of io9 or Geekologie. I now see that Personal Learning Environments as something that helps the learner/user “take control of and manage their own learning”.
Now just thinking of a PLE as a sole source of learning, especially for secondary education like college, was enough to almost make my head explode. I’m in college as we speak (obviously), and I can’t imagine having to learn everything I’ll be learning in a traditional classroom over networked blogs that can be endless at best. The whole idea I read of it possibly one day taking over education as we now know it blew my mind. I just can’t imagine that. For people like me, I actually do better in school attending a college with traditional in-person classes. I learn better that way. I have to physically be in a different place (classroom) than say sitting on my desk at home. I personally don’t have the discipline it would take to one day completely get my education from blogs (or I guess free information on the internet), but, at the same time I say that, I have taken an online class here and there and have succeeded at it. I just much prefer going to a class myself. At home, I’m easily distracted because it’s such a relaxed and casual environment, and then next you know I’m off tracking researching the net trying to figure out what that cool progressive house song was playing in the background on the Scion car commercial I just heard from the living room. See, I just got distracted and went off on a tangent. Kidding. Let’s move on.
But back to PLEs. If they were the norm one day for education, who’s in charge for setting the standards for what information should be learned say to get a bachelor’s degree in any given field. How’s it going to be graded? How are you going to know you’ve learned what you need to learn if there isn’t any clear cut direction? Nowadays, it’s hard to believe some of what you read posted on the web. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether it’s a fact or opinion, and yes I know people post references to back up their information, etc. The plain and simple fact is that takes time to research, and I chose to go to college because it’s convenient and I trust the information I’m being taught. In addition, I chose to go to college and to class to be taught by an instructor who to me is an expert in their field, and I’m there to learn from them. There would always be a starting point to begin an education whether it be through a PLE or through some kind of traditional college. In traditional college, there is a curriculum, assignments, tests, books, etc. I would think an educational PLE might begin the same way, but, if you don’t have a structured outline of what to learn to get your desired result as an expert (say in web design for this exercise) in the field you want to work in, how are you going to know what site to link or what blog to follow, etc.? I guess in my understanding what it all boils down to if you would really have to trust your resources for information and also do a lot of the leg work on your own, if it wasn’t provided to you in some sort of outline like a degree plan is.
I read on more than one occasion in the article describing how in regards to a PLE the “numerous different tools are overwhelming”, and I have to say that’s an understatement when reading all these different views on what a PLE might actually be in terms of sticking an exact definition to it. All these different PLE architectures, PLEF, PLEX project, and aggregation portal this and that is overwhelming within itself. I definitely have a newfound appreciation for what a PLE could mean for every single person sometime in the near future, and I’m ready to embrace it but of course will always have certain apprehensions until they are put to rest. Man, at first I thought the whole PLE thing was going to be another way of “they” forcing you to join MySpace and Facebook where some people feel the need to give you a play by play of their entire day and where they are at any given time. That’s just not me and never will be. I actually enjoy my privacy and don’t need the world to know my latest feelings on the last Lost episode or who I can’t stand on the Bachelor or whatever that show’s name is. I was almost ill thinking there was going to be another personal social-networking application or website I had to keep up with in addition to working full-time and going to school. Proud (and glad) to say I was wrong in my assumption, and that a Personal Learning Environment might actually help me more with my studies more than I ever thought it could. Just have to stay focused and not get lost in the other Web 2.0 applications that may be entertaining but not productive for school purpose. Anyways, much more to come later in the semester and much more to learn. Antennas are up and reading to receive incoming academic transmissions.
http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Ple#What_is_a_Personal_Learning_Environment.3F
Phbalanced808's Blog 
I understand your questions about how which information sources will be deemed acceptable or unacceptable. I agree that there needs to be a standard of scholarly credibility; a codified information vetting rubric is necessary in maintaining a population with at least some base of common knowledge. I think one of the major concepts PLE advocates stress, however, is that students should be taught to discern the difference between fact and opinion, or editorializing. An article I read proposed teaching students a system to design their own PLEs from the code up, which is more of a ‘teach to them to fish, and they’ll never go hungry’ approach. That involves critical thinking, analysis, problem resolution, creativity, and research skills. More importantly, it immerses the student in an educational environment that is never out of date.
It is a move away from the traditional prescriptive method of education, which involves textbooks that take years and cost millions to make, cost states and schools to make major investments every few years for new editions, and they’re subject to political influence from state boards like our own in Texas. Schools spending less on books their students hate would have more money to spend on students, facilities, teacher salaries, and extracurricular and enrichment programs. For all the money spent on developing textbooks, I’d bet it would a long way towards buying computers or iPads for every school in the state. Teachers themselves still have important roles to play, as directors of studies, ‘in-house support’, and possibly the judges of what a student can use as a valid source. One of a teacher’s greatest skills is the ability to identify what may be inhibiting a student’s learning, and how to deal with that. I do not think there will ever be a time when the role of a teacher will not be necessary. Lucky for our professors and grade-czars!
Thanks for your comment, Jefferson. You definitely have given me a much different perspective on it, and I always appreciate learning to view something in many different ways. I have several friends who are teachers. So I guess maybe that’s where my big brother approach stemmed from in regards to PLEs taking over traditional education. I really enjoyed your explanation on how schools can spend less on textbooks and instead put useful technology in student’s hands. Thanks for enlightening me. I’m beginning to like and understand the use of these blogs more and more each day.