In Networked Learning people learn within networks as a part of them, receiving and contributing to the creation of knowledge. The Social Web and the Web2.0 tools have certainly contributed importantly to this way of learning. RSS feeds and comunicating in an online open way through blogs, wikis, twitter, facebook, and many other tools, has provided the learner with an environment within which to interact and connect, demanding a continuous exercise of autonomy and responsibility in their use to learn.
In Wendy Drexlers paper "A Networked Learning Model for Construction of Personal Learning Environments in Seventh Grade Life Science" (2010), its stated that in the 7th grade class networked learning environment the students success depended highly on their motivation and teachers strategic guidance, adding that it would "require considerable teacher professional development and possibly a philosophy different from that of most current educators".This issue is very important for me as a teacher to reflect about. It is not easy to build a PLE, or I might say it was not easy for me. I started last year (2010) in September to better understand what a PLE is, and to try and build my PLE. It was in one of the PhD class, and the tool asked for me to use was Netvibes. It was only then I truly understood the power of RSS feeds in updating me with all the content on the websites, blogs I consulted everyday or just randomly once in a while. I had used GoogleReader or Twitter to update some information, but to think I could have an open online space as a PLE was something new to me. I then began to search about PLEs in education, and soon enough I found the video 'Welcome to my PLE' with a 7th grader explaining how she built her PLE for Science class. The video is very good in showing how in the teaching practice we can integrate the PLE as a learning experience for the students, its very clear in showing how the student manages all the pages she consults for personal entertainment and school work. My first thought was that this must have been some special student achievement :)...could it be built by a 7th grader?! OK, lets have confidence on our 7th grade students :) The issue is that, it is possible! The questions are: Is it possible to apply Networked Learning in schools with large classes with students heterogeneous in the ability to use technology? My reflections take me to think that with numerous and heterogeneous classes the necessary balance demanded of the teacher between the necessary relinquish of their authority as intellectual managers and students autonomy, would be far greater and more difficult to obtain. In this type of learning its development lead to an increase of one-to-one or small group teacher facilitation, bigger classes will also have bigger difficulties to manage those supports in the frequency needed. Younger learners need more support in their learning, and the bigger the classes more computers will be used and consequently more technical support will be needed, and some frustration can lead to difficulties in students motivation towards this approach to learning.
On the other hand, a growing number of young learners outside formal education are using digital technologies, increasing their exercise for autonomy learning, autonomy to choose the tools that best suit their interests and needs to learn. This can facilitate the teachers challenge to integrate these tools in class and for the development of a PLE by students. Students are challenged to continue the learning process initiated in the classroom, and transfer that knowledge to the outside of school walls, or vice-versa, capable of developing their own PLE for all subjects of interest throughout their life, as a lifelong learner.
The definition of PLE I feel more connected to, is from Attwell, when he states that PLEs are the comprise of all the different tools we use everyday for learning formally and informally. Does this mean its every tool I use? Well...yes, why not? It seemed somewhat confusing and disperse the first time I thought about it, but after I tried to build up my own PLE by using Netvibes to aggregate all the feeds from the web places I was learning from or thought I would learn from, I began to understand how important was the idea of "all the different tools we use everyday". I felt that the Netvibes was one more tool, but not 'the' tool. I imagine a PLE as more organic, with an easy flow between the web references and tools I choose to aggregate and use. But as a teacher, I see Netvibes as one great tool to help me organize and aggregate content to share online with students.
To be more organic nowadays, I believe the person needs to be an excellent user of the tools. Maybe in a close by future, that excellence won't be necessary to go with the flow of online connected knowledge!
[Art Education is the topic for inquiry for me to build my PLE, in the PLEK12 course.]
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Estou imbuída na leitura sobre Personal Learnin Environment na sala de aula com alunos do nível K-12, e pelo que percebo a abrangência de idades é grande - dos 6 aos 18. O artigo de Wendy Drexler está-me a dar que pensar! O estudo referido no artigo abrangeu alunos com idades entre os 15 e os 18 anos.
Interessa-me também perceber o trabalho que está na base do vídeo divulgado por Wendy Drexler, no qual uma aluna do 7º ano (12-13 anos) explica como construiu o seu PLE para a aula de ciência
Espero ter todas as questões que me estão a acompanhar nestas leituras bem "baralhadas" até ao final do dia para as poder partilhar por aqui :)
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I'm steeped in readings about Personal Learning Environments in the classroom of grades k-12. Wendy Drexler's paper is giving me something to think about! The study refers to a study with students between 15 to 18 years of age.
I'm also interested in realizing the work behind de video, in which a 7th grade student explains how she built a PLE for science class.
I hope to have all the questions, that these readings are suggesting, "shuffled" until the end of the day, so I'm able to share them here:)
Desde o meu primeiro ano de escola que tenho a necessidade de ilustrar conceitos com um exemplo em contexto real ou então fazer um desenho. O mesmo aconteceu com o conceito de Personal Learning Environment (PLE)/Ambiente Pessoal de Aprendizagem. Como é que as plataformas de participação online poderiam ser utilizadas como um PLE? Percebi quando vi o video onde Wesch explica e ilustra como criou um espaço Netvibes com os alunos, como o utiliza e quais as ferramentas que lhes permitem trabalhar colaborativamente online (versão longa do vídeo)
[video1]
OK, criei um espaço netvibes como um PLE (trabalho para a unidade curricular TCEdu), e até aqui encantada. Mas as questões começam a surgir : e agora como dinamizo este espaço? só posso agregar e não editar? este é mais um espaço onde tenho que decidir o que mantenho privado? alunos mais novos conseguiriam organizar um espaço destes sozinhos, sem divagarem para agregações de páginas que não estão relacionadas com a "matéria"? como é que o professor controla o que o aluno agrega?
Pesquiso até que encontro este video, e mais uma vez encantada com o exemplo em contexto.
[video2]
Agora parece que percebo bem. Mas... parece tão fácil! Nada com alunos tão jovens é sempre tão simples e calmamente organizado na minha opinião...e começam novamente as questões...
Since my first year of school I have had the need to illustrate concepts with examples of real life context or make a drawing. The same happened with the concept of Personal Learning Environment (PLE). How can online platforms be used as a PLE? I understood it when I saw the video where Wesch explains how he created a Netvibes space with his students, how he uses it and which tools are used to work collaboratively online (longer version of the video).
[Video1]
OK, I created a netvibes space as a PLE (for a class). But questions began to emerge: how to make it a dynamic space? can I only agregate and not edit? is this one more space where I have to decide what is public and private? can younger students, alone, organize a space like this without wondering? how does the teacher control what the student aggregates?
I keep on searching and find this video, and once again I like the example in context.
[video2]
Now it seems that I understand it well. But...it seems so easy! In my opinion, with students that age nothing is so simple and calm...and questions arise again...
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