'Personal learning environments' emerging as K-12 trend to watch

Lauren Frederick

Ash, K. (2013, May 22) 'Personal learning environments' focus on the individual, Education Week. Retrieved on October 22 from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/05/22/32el-personallearning.h32.html

While I wasn't able to retrieve this whole article from the Education Week website without a subscription, this article links to the New Media Consortium's 2012 K-12 Horizon report which lists Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) as a trend to watch for 2013. There is a lot of information emphasizing the path toward implementing them in all K-12 schools. It is a process that aims to visualize and organize the influx of information and resources that students are confronted with daily.

PLEs focus on self-directed and group-based learning, designed around each user’s goals, with great capacity for flexibility and customization. Students help create their own path to learning. The conceptual basis for PLEs has shifted significantly in the last year,from online ePortfolios and browser based PLEs to a handful of applications being used on smartphones, tablets, etc. Many free tools are making it easy to support individuals social, professional and learning activities.
"While the concept of PLEs is still fairly fluid, it is clear that a PLE is not simply a technology but an approach or process that is individualized by design, and thus different from person to person." They enable students to determine the style and pace at which they learn while exposing them to technologies that they may not otherwise encounter in traditional classroom settings that will help prepare them for university and the workforce.

I would recommend reading the report, especially to help pull together your own PLE. If you have access to the subscription, I recommend reading the whole series that this article is part of, called 'Digital Curricula evolving.'