The Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a concept or system consisting of a the set of elements (tools, information sources, people and activities) that are routinely used for personal learning management. and which at the same time is accompanied by a change of attitude. The EPA is for lifelong learning, at one's own pace and according to one's own needs.
A EPA or PLE is not a way of teaching but a approach to learning that helps to understand how we learn people using the technologies that are available to us. It is therefore a pedagogical approach with major implications for learning processes and a technological basis.
The Personal Learning Environment includes both the material a person consults to stay informed and educated, as well as the people who serve as references and the connections between these people. It helps us to develop new digital skills, as well as to find and connect with different people and thus discover other perspectives and innovative ideas.
Features of our Personal Learning Environment
All PLE (EPA) has a number of characteristics The basic common principles, regardless of the fact that each person personalises it according to his or her needs:
- The PLE integrates all of the experiences that have shaped a person's learning in formal education as well as new experiences facilitated by information technologies.
- The PLE recognises that learning is lifelong, The programme provides tools to support this learning.
- Enables the person to set their own learning objectives, The learner is given the autonomy to make decisions and self-regulate for his or her own benefit. In this way, the learner is allowed to decide what they want to learn, how they want to learn it and with whom they want to learn. He himself is the manager of his learning.
- It has a high social involvement.
- Favours the generating relationships with other processes learning.
How do we create a Personal Learning Environment?
An EPA is something very personal, as its name suggests, and therefore each person creating their own EPA you can organise and manage it in a way that best suits their way of learning. However, if an EPA is to be complete, it must have at least three parts:
- Sources of information. Consists of all the sites and activities from which we obtain information. They can be, for example, online media, digitised libraries, blogs, video channels, newsletters, etc.
- Tools for modifying information. These are all the digital tools or software that allow us to work with the information obtained and thus be able to create content that helps us to learn. They are, for example, tools for creating blogs, presentations, videos, etc.
- Personal Learning Network (PLN). It is made up of all the people with whom we share our knowledge and experiences, collaborating in the creation of new learning objects. To connect to them we use social networks, forums or virtual communities, collaborative environments, etc.
Therefore, to create learning in an EPA, Firstly, the information or knowledge will reach the person through media such as social networks, through searches or through their own network. In a second stage, and with the information obtained, new content will be created and shared on social networks, thus strengthening the links with the components of our learning network.
Tips for creating an EPA
Before creating an EPA it is advisable to take into account a series of recommendations:
- It is important to create it little by little. It is not a question of sitting down and collecting all the tools available to us at once, or of starting to create profiles on networks that we are unable to use later. It is important that if we are not trained, we strengthen our digital skills little by little, using and learning only the tools or networks that we are going to use and that are useful to us.
- It is always in constant transformation. As we learn, there are resources that we will stop using or that we will replace with others that are more advanced or better suited to our content. We will also include new sources, contacts and tools that we discover.
- It is necessary to share. In addition to obtaining information from our network contacts, it is essential that we share our activities, experiences and knowledge with others. This can be done through our social media profiles or through our own blog. In this way everyone learns, both the contacts in our learning network and ourselves through their responses and comments.
From all of the above, we can conclude that a PLE is made up of three large blocks that form part of our personal learning environment, which are related to the activities of reading, reflecting and sharing. PLEs are facilitators of the teaching-learning process that enable us to enjoy collective and public knowledge. At the same time they promote participation by sharing and creating new knowledge.
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