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This article provides an introduction and overview for personal learning environments and digital learning pedagogy.

Beth, good find I find that I very much agree with Markum in that one of the "best ways to make an impact on learners is to mentor them through project-based learning." Learning shouldn't be passive or a spectator sport. Students that are involved, hands on, through projects applying the materials that they are learning are more likely to master the concepts in my experience.

This article touches on one of the most important aspects of the discussions on personal learning environments. Students and educators have to be taught and mentored when it comes to internet usage and how to sift all of the information and resources that are available.Teachers who imagine they can just let the students lose and all will be well will have many unforeseen difficulties.

This articles provides an important model for understanding the personal learning networks that students can create as part of the learning process. It incorporates Connectivism learning theory as part of the PLN creation.

In a different twist, this article discusses personal learning environments as a part of activity theory. This theory encompasses connectivism, but also adds in other elements such as rules and division of labor. The paper goes on to analyze the parts of a personal learning enviornment which include the person and the tool being used.

Summary: This article examines the distinguishing features of PLEs. The authors assert that PLEs are complex activity systems; therefore, they want to prove that key elements of PLEs can be described using Activity Theory. Section 2.3 provides a nice overview on Activity Theory, while section 4 reflects their findings. To read the article click the MSWord link. I appreciate the fact that they include diagrams and charts -- these make the article user-friendly.