PLE

MAIN CONCEPTS

• DIAGRAM: A diagram is a chart that simplifies and outlines information about a process or system. It can be simple or complex, with few or many elements. It is a complete summary, which serves to know and interpret information in a simple and visual way. There are various types of diagrams that are used according to the communicational need or the object of study, such as flowcharts, conceptual, floral, synoptic, among others. Diagrams are used in the field of education, communication and other disciplines and are usually made up of small boxes, globes and arrows that connect the parts to create a more general structure. In our case, our group has used the Venn´s diagram. A Venn diagram uses overlapping circles or other shapes to illustrate the logical relationships between two or more sets of items. They are often used to organize things graphically, highlighting how items are alike and how they are different. We created these circles and spaces in order to put in all the different apps and tools we chose and according to the 3 cathegories, we placed them in one space or other so that we can see the characteristics, the similarities and the differences.

Here it is a web that explains a little bit more about this diagram: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/venn-diagram.asp

• PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: This refers to the fact that people can take advantage of all the capabilities, information and facilities that the Internet offers us on our own. It is the set of tools that the individual chooses to be able to access new forms of knowledge as well as an infinity of useful information to create a medium in which we can learn in this way. PLE is a method that is taught today in schools since it is a very easy, entertaining and useful way to create an ecosystem based on new technologies from which we can take advantage of multiple functions thanks to the existence of different apps, web pages , social networks, articles of interest, publications, interviews, teaching-oriented content, etc. Thanks to the evolution of technolgies, learning can be adapated in different ways and we are able to learn in a process that can be formal or informal. Each individual is the one that gestionate the use of these tools in order to create content, share knowledge, share ideas, modified information, improve contents etc.

Here I have found a video that talks about how we can create a PLE and how it can be used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T2T-WCc9_Y

• SOCIAL NETWORKS: Social networks are a series of structures found on the internet and require it for their use. They were created and their main use is based on facilitating people to share and create common content of interest and they are basically based on entertainment and connection with other people. From there, social networks, being moved by lots and lots of people, can adopt different functions, there are different types of social networks among which we find twitter, instagram, whatsapp, facebook, telegram, etc. and each one has its own functions and designs. Within them, people can create content as well as consume that of others. This content is usually free and people orient that content to the topic that interests them the most, that is why there is a wide variety of content, from sports content to animals, construction, cooking, humor or music to more professional content oriented to training or learning, teaching or simply the transmission of interesting information to those who need it. In this way, each one can interact with the people that best suit their tastes or what they are looking for at any given time and that may interest them. Thanks to social networks, people are more connected when we do not have that physical presence and we can share our opinions and content at the moment on any device, at home, on a trip, in my bed, at school or on vacation resting in the sand of the beach.

------> IN WHICH WAY AND WHY "PLE" CAN BE A GOOD METHOD TO LEARN NEW THINGS AND IMPROVE OUR KNOWLEDGE?

A Personal Learning Environment is a learning approach where the learner has all the power: he sets his own objectives, chooses his teachers, decides the tools with which he will learn and delimits the contents he will work on. Therefore, it is necessary to have a trained, serious and constant learner, who does not allow himself to be influenced by the first information he comes across in his search.

A crucial requirement for the PLE to last over time and for the individual to be gradually formed by it, is that he/she be a producer as well as a consumer. This means that in addition to going to the network to extract information and turn to other people to overcome difficulties or expand certain content, it is necessary that the PLE protagonist gives something to others, preferably as much as is taken because otherwise, people, the network, may end up not giving more. In PLEs, individuals have the power to create a network of collaboration, trust and communication networks with other people that allows them to share events, transmit doubts and ask for help when necessary in the same way that we provide these same services to others.

Therefore PLE can be a good method and can have many facilities when learning about what we are interested in since we discover the information thanks to our own curiosity as well as thanks to the experience we get when using all the technologies and researching about a topic. We also learn as we move in this environment since we have no guide or teacher to tell us what to follow, so thanks to all the tools that we discover in the learning process our knowledge is evolving. Generally, PLE is a method that can always be used and that will improve over time thanks to the evolution of technologies and all the new tools that will appear in the market.