Personal Learning Environments (PLE): Learning and Diversity in the Cities of the Future

The annual conference on Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) has a great focus this year: learning and diversity in cities of the future. I love the step out from the formal context of learning (i.e. schools, university) and the fact that we now start thinking of the whole city as a learning environment. This allows asking the following type of research questions, for which the call for papers has now been set-up (deadline 4 March 2013)

What shapes can Personal Learning Environments take to support diversity, cross-boundary learning and interdisciplinary transformation of urban spaces? How can we design and implement Personal Learning Environments as part of highly interconnected social and technological infrastructures of smart cities? What technology-enhanced scenarios can be envisaged to enhance learning and diversity in cities of the future?

In general, PLEs are an approach to Technology- Enhanced Learning based on the principles of learner autonomy and empowerment. PLEs include methods, tools, communities, and services constituting individual learning infrastructures or ecosystems which learners use to direct their own learning and pursue their educational goals.

This year, I'm honored to serve as part of the Scientific Committee. In 2011, I was one of the (un)keynote speakers.

Teachers' collaboration networks as a PLE for professional development from Riina Vuorikari