Gender Differences in Perceived Equality and Personal Knowledge System Development on Personal Learning Network

Regina Juchun Chu

doi:10.4236/jss.2014.212008

Regina Juchun Chu

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2014.212008

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Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate how personal learning network (PLN) facilitates individuals to build up their own epistemologies of the interpretation for their knowledge system. Based on three interviews and literature reviews, this study intends to develop and validate a personal epistemology development scale (PEDS) on PLNs to understand learner knowledge constructions. 561 valid data from the participants in two studies (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) were analyzed for the research purpose. The results of these studies supported an 18-item, 4-factor PEDS: description, analysis, vision, and strategy. The results also reveal that equality significantly influences the process of theory development especially for the stage of vision. The result moreover shows gender differences existing in the perception of equality on PLN environment, in the description and in the vision stages.

Highlights

Social network tools, such as blogs, wiki, twitter, facebook, etc., have been widely used as learning media in formal and informal education, which contributes the concept development of personal learning network (PLN)
The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a personal epistemology development scale (PEDS) with the PLN
An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation was administered on the 19 items to explore the underlying structure of the scale

Summary

Introduction

Social network tools, such as blogs, wiki, twitter, facebook, etc., have been widely used as learning media in formal and informal education, which contributes the concept development of personal learning network (PLN). By interacting with members online, people increase the opportunities to approach global community and receive multiple resources of feedback. PLN has been introduced for the past decade [1]. People use it as journal writing, sharing experiences, showing off achievements, connecting with friends and community, even for commercial use. Writing is a basic form of PLN [2]. Since writing and readings can help individuals construct

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