Effects of a Personal Learning Environment Approach in a Master’s Program for Future Teachers

Abstract

Personal learning environments or their acronym PLEs are understood as a set of tools, resources, connections, and activities that each person regularly uses for learning. This study examines the PLE approach in a university setting, evaluating its impact on student learning in a university subject within an education master’s program. The effect is assessed from two perspectives: a quantitative one based on the ‘PLE test’—administered at the beginning and end of the course—and a qualitative one based on the assessment provided by the students themselves regarding the impact of training in digital tools and competencies on their PLE, at the beginning and end of the course. The ‘PLE test’ measures four factors: time organization, creation–editing, searching–investigating, and collaborating–contact networks. In all four factors, by the end of the course, there is a significant increase in usage scores, especially in the last two. The students’ assessments of the evolution of their PLEs reflect the evident impact of this approach as a strategy for more effective and self-managed learning.