Tag Archives: flexible

This post encourages the support of personal learning environments over structured work focusing on the end result, in order to also promote the use of library services during the research process.

What is a personal learning environment?

Personal learning environments enable more active interaction by engaging learners through several methods rather than adhering to the structured norm that is given by educators. It also increases motivation as it is what specifically interests the learner. This may draw more people into specifically looking into doing additional research and utilizing library services in which they can do further research on their topic area.

Benefits of a PLE:

The following lists the main benefits of PLEs, though additional benefits can be found here.

• helps with creating learning environments that are tailored to the learners
• focuses on encouraging innovation
• emphasizes the value of the learning process than the finished product

Problems in the Real World Application:

One of the issues that I have noticed with personal learning environments does not simply arise from the educator’s responsibility but also because of the lack of responsiveness to new ways of doing assignments. There have been instances in which professors have tried to create a more flexible research assignment that did not require specific guidelines.

In one of my undergraduate classes, a professor had given us free reign over choosing any topic of interest to on a research paper based on the field of Psychology. There were example topics given as well as a word count limit and that was set for the assignment. However, the students in the class did not respond well to the assignment as they had been very used to having a set structure that was determined through a particular rubric. Although they were given the chance to explore their own interests, they were left confused and unmotivated to continue on with their work. This type of behaviour shows how the norms have made it difficult for even students to respond positively to a personal learning environment catered towards their interests. Another interesting note was a paper that was written which highlighted the concern over a lack of structure. It seemed to be that it deterred students from being successful in academia.

Questions: What other ways can educators try to use personal learning environments for helping others learn? What can be done to help students become more receptive to person learning environments if they are not used to it?