Miles Metcalfe: From VLE to PLE - how a personal learning environment empowers the new creative
Learning environments are models of our conceptions of institutions. The personal learning environment reflects a learner-centred model where the institution is less important than the individual's learning journey.
A personal learning environment disrupts institutional models of learning by returning ownership of the learning experience to the learner. The virtual learning environment is a product of the corporate world. The personal learning environment is standards-based and built on open source platforms.
In a creative institution like Ravensbourne College a personal learning environment becomes a platform for network media where the student, as learner-practitioner, can use new technologies to reach the world.
Miles Metcalfe is Head of IT R&D at Ravensbourne College. He is an experienced technologist with many years of experience designing and developing innovative digital resources. He is a long-standing advocate of open standards and open source solutions in education. He is currently developing a curriculum for a school of computing for the creative industries.



