The foundation of the internet has facilitated communication modes worldwide and it is interesting to note that like in different fields of activity, the World Wide Web has also made suitable contributions in the world of education by aiding the development of online educational courses. Online learning has in the recent times spread beyond geographical boundaries and it has been noticed that currently the online education industry is worth about 38 billion euros.
Online learning includes the imparting of knowledge with the aid of various software applications like the learning management systems, course management systems and virtual learning environments which provide the necessary infrastructure to aid in the interaction between the tutors and the students.
Personal learning environments are considered as parallel systems which aid in the functioning of online learning courses by means of providing the learners with a set of tools which help them is self-assessment by means of three major methods. These include setting personal targets, organizing the contents and therefore the entire process and finally interacting with others within the learning process.
The personal learning environments are facilitated by the presence of various networking protocols like those of syndication, peer-to-peer and web services which allow the coming together pf various resources within this personal learning space. Moreover, often in this personal learning environment the use of social networking sites are implemented. These sites aid considerably in increasing peer-to-peer interactions and also help to extend the cause of online education across geographical boundaries.
It is to be borne in mind that in personal learning environment both official and unofficial modes of training as a means are incorporated within the process of personal learning. It was in the year 2000 that the earliest of the personal learning environment systems was introduced.
It was known as Colloquia. However, it is necessary to point out that in Colloquia, personalization was still restricted though it was possible for both the students and the teachers to make necessary contributions to any activity or sub activity. Later peer-to-peer networking was also introduced in Colloquia. It was in late 2004 that the term 'personal learning environments' was first used and since then these environments have contributed immensely to the cause of online learning.
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