Personal learning Environments: challenges in next generation learning

by Mr Graham Attwell, Mr Dave Tosh, Mr Scott Wilson, Ms Josie Fraser, Professor Terry Anderson

"The logic of education systems should be reversed so that it is the system that conforms to the learner, rather than the learner to the system. This is the essence of personalisation. It demands a system capable of offering bespoke support for each individual that recognises and builds upon their diverse strengths, interests, abilities and needs in order to foster engaged and independent learners able to reach their full potential." (The Learners Charter for a Personalised Learning Environment).

The last five years have seen a major uptake of VLEs by colleges and universities. The vast majority of these are large, institutional systems, which are predominantly course based providing support for content distribution, discussion and assessment, mainly through proprietary tools. There are several problems with this approach of which two are of most concern.

* VLEs are not easily customised to suit the needs and preferences of individuals
* As learners move between institutions, they may need to learn the interfaces to different VLEs.

An alternative approach is to locate a large amount of VLE functionality with the learner either as a desktop application or an independently hosted portal. Institutions would still provide content via repositories, undertake assessment and so on, but learners would interact with these using their personal systems (Personal Learning Environment) comprising their preferred tools and ways of working.

The development of Personal Learning environments will have many implications for next generation learning, next generation learners, next generation technologies and next generation providers. The symposium aims to examine the implications of the development and implementation of PLEs and to explore the different issues.

Next generation learning issues include
* What affordances do PLEs provide for new pedagogic approaches to teaching and learning?
* What are the implications of PLEs for subjects and disciplines?
* How can we use PLE's to encourage and support self-directed learning?
* How can informal learning be supported and recognised through PLEs

Next generation learner issues include:
* What skills and support do learners require in order to develop and manage their personal learning environment?
* How will learners scaffold and plan their learning?
* How will learners present and validate their learning?
* How will learners develop support networks and affinity groups - both peer and 'expert'?
* Will PLE's exacerbate the so called "digital divide'?

Next generation technology issues include:
* What will PLE technologies look like and what functionality will they support?
* How can PLEs be made portable and interoperable?
* What middleware requirements are there for PLEs?
* What is the role of standards in the development of PLEs?
* How will autonomous agents be used to effectively link learning resources and learners
* Who will support learner owned PLE's?

Next generation providers issues include:
* How will providers collaborate in supporting personal learning?
* How will providers deal with the loss of control implied in the movement from VLEs to PLEs?
* How will providers approach the issue of assessment and accreditation?
* What are the funding implications for providers?
* What privacy, control and authentication issues do PLE's create?

ID Number: 812

Date: Wednesday, 6th September 2006

Time: 1600

Location: tbc

Theme: Next generation learning