Personal learning environment
You're still learning. But what does your learning environment look like? How should you care for it? How do you get it right?
Personal learning environment - (PLE) is the set of all activities and resources a person uses for learning. It includes, for example, the books you read, the news websites you subscribe to, the social networks that help you learn, or your learning diaries. Everyone has a personal learning environment in some respect, but we all think about it differently. When working with resources and information, thinking critically and creatively is integral to operating effectively.
You can build or organize a PLE in many ways, and choosing how is up to you. Though we want to emphasize the online environment, this does not mean that everyday activities such as reading books or going to lectures should not be included. Still, we highly recommend creating a digital footprint for them. One that you can quickly return to at any time and that will not end the moment you leave the university gates. After all, PLE is something you carry with you at all times.
The Collecting-Reflecting-Connecting-Publishing Model is one approach that shows what to keep in mind when building a PLE. As the name suggests, it consists of four phases that, although not in a fixed linear order, are related in some way:
Building collections is an activity that is essential for practical study. This includes working with bookmarks, resources, courses, and teaching materials. At this stage, you should be able to create a coherent structure in which to place resources. Learning how to create a reliable system for storing data is essential, as the second activity falls here - acquisition. This is the ability to find, evaluate, and acquire the resources and information you need. If this is the phase you are struggling with, check out the first half will be beneficial.
Interconnection is atypical phase related to modern society. It assumes that learning is not an isolated process but something that takes place in a community. You should be able to look for people to learn with and from. And it doesn't matter whether it'sexciting people on or getting involved in an interesting project on.
Reflective learning implies the independent activity of the learner. The learner must be able to say what interests them and what they want to pursue, to set educational goals and paths, but they should also think about what the resources will do for them and, if necessary, whether they are valid for their work. At the same time, you need to be able to reflect on your learning, assess your progress and possibly look for ways to improve or learn better.
Publishing is the last step of this model -don't keep your stuff, insights, or created objects in adrawer. - it will strengthen your and brand but also allow you to get feedback from abroader range of people or for them to connect with you on something interesting. Definitely do not underestimate this stage.
Creating your curriculum builds on SMART and looks at the curriculum through the lens of guiding questions:
| What is your goal? | "I will learn how to work with information and write text." |
| What is your motivation? | "I don't want to be a loser, and I want to prepare for my thesis." |
| How do you want to achieve this? | "I will take the KPI22 course and do all its assignments, including the sub-assignments." "I will go through the topic of learning and self-management." |
| How will you check the progress? | "Every week, I reflect on whether I've learned something new." "I will evaluate the tutor's feedback on my assignment." |
| How much time each week are you willing to commit to your goal? When? | "Wednesdays at 5 pm, Thursdays at 9 am." |
| Where will you store resources on the topic? | "I save interesting articles, links, and clippings in my KPI folder in Evernote." |
| How and when will you organise notes and other documents? | "On Sundays, I review my past week's notes and resources." |
| How will you let others know what you are doing? Will you share interesting things in some way? | "When I see something cool, I share it on Twitter." |