Abstract:

Although researchers differ in terms of the way they define a PLE, much of the concept of a PLE is based upon social constructivist learning theory. According to this theoretical framework, the student uses technologies to develop into an independent learner. While the technologies are the means through which students learn, it is the instructor who creates a learning environment in which students can use these technologies effectively to learn.

One way that learning within PLEs is different is that it is generally informal. As Harvey (2015) puts it, it is “unstructured learning within a structured learning environment” (Harvey, 2015). Learning within PLEs may involve “taking part in meaningful conversations, listening to and telling stories, building personal trust networks that yield advice quickly” (Cross, 2006). Such a learning style is similar to the way that students interact with their environment today. Thus, understanding the informal ways that students learn is just as, if not more, important than understanding how to make more formal means of learning, such as an institution's Learning Management System, effective (LMS).

The context of a learning activity will affect the technologies used. One educational context for which students may use technologies is the assessment process. Lounsbury, Mildenhall, Bolton, Northcote, and Anderson (2015) conducted a study of students's use of technologies for assessment tasks. Students were presented with lists of technologies by categories. The technologies included both hardware and software, university-based resources as well as internet-based resources. Although the study by Lounsbury, et al. (2015) provided important results in helping to understand the use of technology for assessment purposes, the technologies identified by students were not situation specific. In other words, they did not identify the context in which they used the technology. As Lounsbury, et al. (2015) state, "more research is required to investigate the contexts in which these main technologies are used by students in association with assessment and the connections between these technologies."

The current study uses a similar methodology to investigate the use of technology. However it does ask about the specific context of the use of the technologies. To do so, it breaks down the assessment task into smaller steps, such as document research, data collection/gathering of materials, data or materials processing, and presentation of results. For each of the steps, it asks students to identify the specific technologies which they are using. Implications of the results with regards to how teachers can help students to develop their own personal learning environment will be discussed as well.

References:
[1] Cross, J. (2006). The low-hanging fruit Is tasty. Internet Time Blog. Retrieved from http://www.internettime.com/2006/04/informal-learning-clo-april-06/
[2] Harvey, L. (2015). Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International. Retrieved 14 October, 2015, from http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/
[3] Lounsbury, L., Mildenhall, P., Bolton, D., & Northcote, M. (2015). Higher education students' use of technologies for assessment within Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) Conference Proceedings ASCILITE 2015: Globally connected, digitally enabled. Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia.: ASCILITE.

Keywords:

Personal Learning Environment, technology, assessment.