Personal Learning Networks, Portfolios and Environments

Abstract

The initial steps towards the model to personalising e-learning through the injection of AI starts to take shape in this chapter as several of the factoring elements have been covered in the previous two chapters. These will form part of a personal learning environment that each individual learner or life-long learner would establish and assemble around oneself in an effort to create and avail of a sustainable educational system that has the learner at its centre. Personal learning environments or PLEs are ideal vessels to encapsulate all a learner requires due to their personalisation capabilities that truly empower the same learner. Morrison [1] identifies two essential components within a PLE as he depicts its anatomy as shown in Fig. 5.1 overleaf. Each of these components play an important role and need to be investigated individually to ensure that they are optimally setup and compatibly designed to generate the expected outcome, an intelligent personal learning environment . The Personal Learning Network (PLN) and the Personal Learning Portfolio (PLP) form part of the PLE and will be initially presented in the following sections as they bring together essential components from the previous chapters. These underlying technologies that source both of them will be justified in terms of their academic relevance, pedagogical effectiveness , and theoretical suitability. How will both these components take advantage of the latest technological developments and boost well established technologies in an attempt to enrich the learning experience? How will the different technologies compatibly come together to ensure the learner is not just at the centre of the PLE but also in full control of the medium? The personal learning network and the personal learning portfolio are intended to complement each other as they form part of the proposed model in the next chapter.