The design of personal learning environments (PLE) with scope on information literacy in high school

Abstract

Information literacy is considered a key competence for the networked 21st century. Despite of its importance it has not been anchored in educational technology research and practice in sufficient manner yet. The paper at hand contributes to this research gap by providing a concept for design of personal learning environments with scope on information literacy. Personal learning environments (PLE) can be defined as conceptual and technological frameworks that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to: set their own learning goals and manage their learning in terms of both learning outcomes (content) and process. By applying the design science approach, a framework for PLE is proposed that combines subject-oriented learning objectives with goals to build and foster information literacy. The focus of the research lies in the initial theoretical phase of the design cycle. Based on a systematic literature review first a model for measuring information literacy is developed. The developed model is than embedded in a generic PLE framework that supports building and measuring information literacy in addition to other subject-specific learning goals. Therefore, the paper outlines a framework to conceptualize PLE focusing on information literacy by pursuing the design-based research paradigm.