Personal Learning Environments to Encourage Independence
Personal Learning Environments are “learner-controlled environments for language learning” (Reinders, 2014, p. 14). Reinders (2014) continues to explain that a PLE is a combination of digital tools and other resources that a learner can use to drive their own learning. Reinders's personal experiences are with university students and he found that helping students build independence as learners was difficult. Some of the challenges he faced were having students commit to the time needed for learning. He specifically was using PLEs to help students expand their language practice when they could not be in class. He also found that most students were not accustomed to controlling their own learning. He gives a six week simple plan of how teachers can begin to implement a PLE. For example, the first week is about explaining the why of a PLE, setting expectations, giving incentives for work, and beginning training on how to use a PLE. Each subsequent week, students take more responsibility for their learning. This plan is helpful and realistic for those who would like to begin setting up PLEs for their students. Although he was hoping to increase independence out of the classroom, his plan also works for implementing PLEs in a classroom setting as well.
While I really like the idea of a PLE, and I can see a huge benefit because it helps students develop independence, motivation, and goal setting behaviors, I worry about how to appropriately use them at the elementary level. I do find that my students struggle when they leave the elementary level and are expected to be more independent at the middle level, so a PLE may help to prepare them. We have periods during the day called WIN and Explore when it may be possible to begin teaching my students to use PLEs. They could set certain language goals and use different resources including programs like Imagine Learning, Epic, and Raz Kids to reach those goals. Using WIN or Explore time would work because no new instruction is being done during that time; students could have the freedom to drive their learning because it is not a time when we are bound by curriculum. I would have to carefully model, explain, and scaffold for my older elementary students, but I believe they could handle taking more ownership of their learning.
Source:
Reinders, H. (2014). Personal Learning Environments for Supporting Out-of-Class Language Learning. English Teaching Forum, 4, 14-27. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1050245.pdf
Jenna - I completely agree that incorporating PLEs can be beneficial in the classroom due to the increase in motivation, independence, and goal setting. I think that having students use PLEs in the older elementary level would be more appropriate than in the younger students (i.e. Kindergarten through 2nd grade). I feel that at that age, they are still developing other skills and may need a lot more support to utilize PLEs. When I taught 5th grade learning support, our special education curriculum was Read 180, which incorporates whole group instruction and online instruction. During small groups, students would be in charge of picking out their books that were on their designated level, reading them, and taking the assessments online. They also had other lessons and activities that they were required to do and I was able to see how many minutes each student spent working on lessons. I really enjoyed it and the kids did a fantastic job with the structure and expectations of the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteDuring one of my field observations, I observed a Kindergarten ESL teacher who taught at CCA, which is a virtual school. It was interesting to see the number of students who showed up and had their cameras and microphones on. They still needed a lot of support and prompting from the teacher, but they did well with completing the activities along with the teacher and using the annotation features of Zoom. I'd be interested to see how they do in their core content classes where instruction might not look the same and they have independent activities to complete.