After I wrote my last post about my eLearning course, I started thinking about Learning Environments (LEs). I made concept maps for both of my classes that include the designed LE as well as the personal learning environment (PLE) I’ve created to make sense of the courses. My PLE starts with the LE, and then I add the components I need for an effective learning environment.

Here’s the c-map for the eLearning course:

I’d say this is a behavorist-styled designed learning environment

Here’s the c-map from my Inquiry and Measurement course:

I’d say this is a constructivist design.

To be fair, I created a concept map of how one of the courses I am working on has been designed. I have to design courses based on the method my department dictates.

I think we do a good job of creating a real-world environment with our labs. That’s pretty important for technical training. But as I look at how I’ve designed this course, I can’t help but think how our students must augment our designed LE to create a PLE that facilitates their learning. In particular:

• Could we design the LE to more closely match some of the common PLE components our students have?
• Do different audiences have different PLEs?
• How can you capture this information?