Presentation at the PLE Conference 2012 in Aveiro, Portugal.

1. Introducing Personal
Learning Environments to
Informal Learners: Lessons
Learned from the
OpenLearn Case Study
Alexander Mikroyannidis & Teresa Connolly
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, UK
© www.role-project.eu

2. The OpenLearn case study
• OpenLearn (http://openlearn.open.ac.uk) is a Moodle-based LMS,
consisting of two distinct learning areas: LearningSpace and
LabSpace.
• LearningSpace includes Open Educational Resources (OER)
organised in standalone learning units, plus social software and
discussion forums to enable collaboration and group work.
• LabSpace has an experimental and developmental nature; users
can submit their own content, as well as remix and reuse the
resources available.

3. OpenLearn courses & tools

4. From LMS to PLE
This transition attempts to transform and improve the OpenLearn
user’s experience by:
• enabling individuals to build and personalise their learning
environment
• gaining more control over their own learning by becoming self-
regulated learners.
• offering further value to those users by supporting a stronger
framework to foster learning communities.
Image source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos
/smannion/2949490218/

5. An introductory course to PLEs
http://tinyurl.com/role-course
• Introduces the core ROLE
concepts and demonstrates
a selection of ROLE
learning tools.
• Learning outcomes:
• Understand how widgets
can be used to carry out
specific tasks
• Outline how a Personal
Learning Environment can
be enabled
• Build your own Personal
Learning Environment

6. An introductory course to SRL
http://tinyurl.com/role-srl-course
• Learning outcomes:
• Understand the
fundamental aspects of
SRL
• Outline a series of SRL
examples
• Assess your own SRL
skills
• Understand how you can
use the ROLE tools to
apply SRL to your
learning

7. Social search widget: Binocs
• The Binocs widget
allows search for a
variety of content
formats (e.g. videos,
presentations) and
content repositories
(e.g. YouTube,
SlideShare,
Wikipedia).
• Search results are
ranked according to
users’ ratings.

8. Bibliography search widget: ObjectSpot
The ObjectSpot widget
searches through:
• Bibliographic
repositories, such as
Google Scholar,
CiteULike, DBLP.
• Repositories of OER
(Open Educational
Resources), such as
OpenLearn, Jorum,
iTunes U.

9. Collaborative authoring widget: EtherPad
• The EtherPad widget enables real-time document collaboration for
groups of users.
• When multiple authors edit the same EtherPad document
simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's
screen.

10. Lessons learned
Some emerging best practices that have proven to be successful in
ROLE:
1. Accessible and easy to use tools, e.g. simple format, visibly
understandable to new users.
2. Multi-format introductory and guidance learning course
materials, e.g. can be used face-to-face, at a distance, or in a
blended delivery.
3. Tools tailored to meet the needs of specific subject
audiences, e.g. Designed for Learners studying x, y, z or
Educators researching a, b, c.
4. Effective evaluation and feedback mechanisms, e.g. so that
user experiences can help modify or adapt tools.
5. Support for SRL, e.g. through appropriate learning materials
and tools like recommenders.

11. What’s next?
• Continue evaluating the usefulness of PLEs within a variety of
learning contexts and scenarios, both in informal, as well as in
formal learning.
• Evaluation of pedagogical models for self-regulated learning and
tools for supporting learners in becoming self-regulated.
• Further investigate the potential
of PLEs in TEL and acquire a
better understanding of the
needs of various communities of
learners and educators.

12. Thank you!
The ROLE project
http://www.role-project.eu
The ROLE courses
http://tinyurl.com/role-course
http://tinyurl.com/role-srl-course
© www.role-project.eu