LMS and PLE

Source: https://wiki.oulu.fi/display/LETs/PSV's+PLE+in+LET

Learning management system, which is the same as Virtual Learning Education, is a software which educational institutions use to be connected with their students, provide them with all the materials and information they need for their studies and facilitate the communication both within students and between the professors and the students. This new technological advancement has been part of my life throughout the one and a half year of my studies at the AUA, where Moodle LMS is used. This facilitates my life a lot. I don’t need to go to the library in many cases to find the materials or ask the professors to provide the materials, everything is stored there and I can access to the information anytime I need regardless the place I am.

However, this software has its shortcomings as well. The students have access to the materials and the information in the LMS only during the years of their studies in that institution. As soon as they graduate they cannot go back and look at the materials or the assignment they took.

However, there is another great tool which is of great help particularly in the case of not having access to the LMS. It is called PLE (Personal Learning environment). Stephen Downe’s YouTube clip helped me a lot to identify the differences between the LMS and PLE. PLEs include all the web based applications, softwares, web pages and folders that the individuals use to organize and manage their own learning. This stays with them during their entire life and it becomes their own possession. Individuals use many kinds of informal ways of getting information materials or they have personal folders where they keep their materials. All of these are categorized under the PLE.

I believe, the best solution for the students would be to use both LMS and PLE simultaneously. This way they will benefit from what they get from the LMS and other sources and they can still use them even after graduating.

As for me, I value what I have at this point and what the University provides me a lot, that’s why I keep my own logs and folders with all the information and materials that I believe may be helpful for me in future. I suggest others do the same, take advantage of being a student and become a lifelong learner.