Personal Learning Environments

The term personal learning environment (PLE) describes the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals (Educause, 2009). In other words, a PLE is a self-directed approach to learning that is supported by personal research and a professional learning network (PLN) - or a professional community comprised of other individuals who share a common interest or work collaboratively to expand their respective PLE projects. By gathering information through various forms of traditional and/or online sources, a learner can organize and build a customized knowledge base that can be utilized both by the individual as well as others. In continually developing, revising, and sharing PLEs, a community of learners can easily access vast amounts of relevant information to aid them in their education.