5. The use of technology in education tends to replicate
existing patterns, models and behaviors, where traditional
values, beliefs and practices prevail
8. Henry David Thoreau in 1854:
“Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which
distract our attention from serious things. They are
but improved means to an unimproved end, an end
which it was already but too easy to arrive at”
9. Feenberg (2003): “When you choose to use
technology you not simply render your existing way
of life more efficient, you choose a different way of
life”
Technology carries with it certain values, which
challenges and contradicts with traditional values
Tripathi (2006): “Technology transfer without
appropriate cultural transfer is not sufficient”
Technologies not only affect user behaviour, but also
wider social norms and structures
14. Downes (2007):
“The PLE is a recognition that the ‘one size fits all’
approach of the LMS will not be sufficient to meet the
varied needs of students“
15. PLE discourse can be interpreted as an expression of a
(Johnson et al., 2006) ...
• ... desire for greater personal control & ownership of
technology and learning
• ... desire for more effective ways of managing
technological tools, services & various other
resources
• ... desire for the integration of technologically
mediated activities across all aspects of life
• ... desire for a removal of barriers to the use and
combination of tools and services
• ... desire for mediated collaboration and co-creation
16. Two strands of thinking:
- PLE as a technological solution
- PLE as a broader concept
17. Downes (2007):
“...the key to understanding the PLE consists not in
understanding a particular type of technology so much as
in understanding the thinking that underlies the
concept...”
18. Attwell (2007):
“The development of Personal Learning Environments
represents a significant shift in pedagogic approaches to
how we support learning processes”
19. Moving from...
...a learning environment as an instructional condition,
which is assumed to be created by an instructional
designer
to...
an output of a learning process, designed by students
20. Moving from...
...a teacher - centered and controlled settings
to...
a learner controlled learning experiences
21. A potential personal learning environment ...
... is made of all the
resources “that an individual
is aware of and has access
to…at a given point in time
in connection with a specific
learning project (Fiedler &
Pata, 2009)
photo: S. Anderson
22. Personal learning contract procedure...
... is a systematic vehicle for
driving through one’s learning
experience providing a
framework for structuring
learning activities (Harri-
Augstein & Cameron-Webb,
1996) and its perceived
environment
... is a negotiated agreement
about what and how the
learner will learn and how that
photo: R. vand der Steeg
learning will be measured
(Boak, 1998)
23. Learning contract template
Topic What is the topic I wish to learn about?
Purpose What is the purpose of my task? Why do I wish to learn about?
What kind of technological, material and human resources do I
Resources
need? How can I get access to these?
How do I intend to go about learning this particular topic/task?
Strategy
What action may be involved and in what order?
How will I know when I have completed the task/topic
Outcome evaluation
successfully? How shall I judge success?
How well did I do? What remains to be learnt? Why? What are
Reflection
my strengths and what are my weaknesses? What shall I do next?
25. Potential problems (R. Faas)
- uneven education
- school’s limited budget for IT staff and for supporting a
wide range of devices
- school’s regulations regarding Internet filtering and content
blocking
- schools tend to standardize on technology
- incompatibility, uneven access in terms of platforms
- teachers as unofficial technology support
27. Assignment (learning environment):
- think of a learning task and fill in the learning contract
template
- map your personal learning environment (can be a
schemes, text, pictures, etc.) according to the learning
task
28. Thank you for your attention!
Dr. Terje Väljataga
Tallinn University
Centre for Educational Technology
Estonia
terje.valjataga@tlu.ee
http://terjevaljataga.eu
