PLE & Collective Intelligence

PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

     Personal Learning Environment, or PLE, is a way for individuals to gather and disperse information in the direction and in pursuit of their own learning goals.  The PLE may incorporate blogs written by an individual from information gathered across the world wide web, including sites such as YouTube or RSS feeds from new agencies.  Other resources beside the web may be included in this individual learning process.  Institutions who integrate PLE into their classes offer a place for students to store their blogs or other personal content where it can be shared or used in other ways. Once feedback is provided by professors, peers, experts in the field, or others, it becomes a true learning environment.  It appears that the educational roles of students and teachers are changing.  Students are taking more responsibility with their own learning by reflecting upon the information they gather and the feedback they receive from others.  Teachers are guiding students' reflections, as opposed to transferring the information to students.  Ultimately students may find that they are relying on their contacts to help keep web information updated as others post new findings.  It is sort of a web among webs - people, personal learning information, and the classic freeway of information (the worldwide web).

   

    PLE Example

     A student shared how she learns about network learning and how she pulled it all together on her own page known as her personal learning environment.  She showed how she organizes information which can be different from others since it is personal.  It was interesting how she found scientists to review and verify the information she gathered and how she even skyped a scientist to speak in real time. I like the idea of being able to ask questions, but is not that the job of a teacher?  If I was unable to answer a question, I would tell the students that I would get back to them with an answer.  Answers today, though, are basically instantaneous since we have the opportunity to use the web. 

     I am confused as to what kind of school she is attending and where these lessons originate.   Towards the beginning of the video, she said that she pulled up a science agenda to find out her daily assignment.  Is this from a public school, homeschool, charter school?  In other words, to whom is she reporting her findings besides herself and another scientist who is verifying the information.  Does she even need to get out of bed to complete these assignments that she pulls up on her computer?  She says that she can become certified to hold certain animals after doing research.  Where does she find the animals to hold once she becomes certified?  

     One comment she made that I found interesting was about the fact that there is so much information on the web, but one needs to take responsibility for accomplishing the task at hand without getting (too) sidetracked.  It is up to the student as to how and when the assignment gets done.

     What she is creating is basically what students until recently have been doing all on paper.  Instead of collecting and saving paper copies of reports, this student is saving everything electronically.  One difference that I can see is that paper copies will last whereas nobody knows the next format of technology and if her PLE will be available to her in years to come.  To me, it appears that all of her assignments become projects.  In other words, find a program to take notes and another program to organize and make things look pretty.  It is nice to be able to make one's way around the internet and computer, but I am not totally convinced of this type of learning.  I think a paper folder can do just the same.  (I guess I still have some old-school thoughts running through my brain.)

COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE:  WHAT IT COULD MEAN FOR EDUCATION

     Collective Intelligence is a combination of sharing, cooperation, collective production and collective action with regards to technology.  Basically its purpose is a place on the web where people can interact in various ways with other people who have the same interests.  Regardless of their backgrounds based on Prensky's "digital natives" and "digital immigrants," people can contribute via social interactions on the web to collaborate with others in order to create a commonplace educational society.  

     Some questions arise regarding collective intelligence.  How will teachers' roles change as collective intelligence develops?   Will academic social environments be available as a product of collective intelligence and giving students and teachers a place to collaborate?  The web has changed from Web 1.0 where there was little to no interaction to Web 2.0 where people can contribute to websites and learn from them.  Wikipedia is an example of a version of collective intelligence where people can contribute to articles and/or they can benefit by the knowledge of others.  

HOW COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE REDEFINES EDUCATION

     The educational system of today relies on teachers to share their lines of expertise.   Teachers today teach what they are required by the government so that the government can in turn command students to take tests to assure learning is taking place.  A problem is that this scenario does not necessarily prove learning has really taken place.  Basically the current education system has students learning to master up to certain points which does not necessarily assure or prove that thoughtful learning is taking place.  Education requires higher-level thinking and adapting those thoughts, ideas and concepts to something greater than a test to prove students have learned and that teachers have taught.  

     "The notion that knowledge can be built by groups of people, over a global network, using self-regulated norms is antithetical to the environment of learning within today's formal educational systems."  (p.1)  This form of education is called collective intelligence and it is redefining education as we know it.  Collective intelligence allows knowledge to be shared in (nearly) real time, it can change quickly, and it can take place anywhere.  This is unlike today's formal education where teachers teach certain, concrete information which remains stagnate (unless experts are on-hand to fix or add to the information).  Time constraints in formal classrooms do not allow teachers or students the chance to check other resources during instruction, such as the internet, for any additional information pertaining to the topic being taught.  Thus, collective intelligence appears to be a more efficient system as it relates to up-to-date information.

      Collective intelligence has "come into widespread use as technology has become cheap, in common use and linked globally and as knowledge innovation has become a major source of new value creation." (p.5)  The value that the collective intelligence system provides is really invaluable.  This type of educational system can grow instantaneously by people from all over the world.  It is truly amazing!  This system does not rely only on just one person to share knowledge in front of a classroom of students, but it relies on an infinite amount of experts to build a reliable and organized arrangement of information for anyone to benefit.  Again, invaluable.

     Issues that arise regarding collective intelligence systems are reliability and accuracy.  When my sister used to tell me that she would rely on Wikipedia to answer her daughter's homework questions, I cringed.  I was leery of using such a site due to the quality of the information.  As much as I thought she was the ignorant one, it was really myself who was the naive one.  "Collective intelligence usually swamps a few bad informants or has a way of isolating them against future participation." (p.5)  This makes me feel better.

   

My Thoughts

     The personal learning environment, PLE, style of learning appears to be a large, creative project where students can organize their assignments, websites they would like to revisit, and other information they would like to save.  The biggest difference I see between the current education system and PLE is the fact that that students collect and organize information on a computer (PLE) rather than papers (current system).  As my kids bring home papers, I pick and choose which of them to toss into a bin for them to look at later.  At the end of the school year, I have my kids go through their books and papers to decide which can be useful for the future.  

      One advantage I can see to holding onto the paper is that it will always be there when my kids want to peruse them.  Technology is ever progressive and therefore, I think PLE is an idea that will constantly need to have its format updated.  

       A disadvantage of holding onto the papers is the belief that they will probably not be looked at.  It is more likely that information and saved websites will be revisited in a PLE.

      Collective intelligence systems seem to be a good learning concept because:

1.  Experts and others can comment, add/delete/change information  

2.  Informational change takes place in (basically) real time

3.  It is a place to get the most updated information

     Some faults I find with collective intelligence systems:  

1.  How can people be certain of what is accurate and what is not.  When I was teaching, I noticed that students would jump on any information they could find when doing research for reports.  They believed everything they read.  I taught them ways to find out if sites (or other resources) were factual or not.  If they were still in question, then the answer was to not use the source.

2.  It appears that collective intelligence systems take time to organize and time to overlook so that misinformation is not printed.

     Change is the most constant word in any language.  Methods and styles of learning are always changing.