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Belatedly, I listened to the recorded session given by Steve Wheller at the PLE Conference. Wheller conceptualizes the ways in which the Internet environment with rich Web 2.0 resources facilitate self-organizing learning environments for the learners by themselves. His intention of the conceptualization is obviously to influence the established institutional learning and provide some alternative thinking towards the ways to support the learners. The ultimate objective of teachers or facilitators of students’ learning is to “create conducive environments in which the students will organize their own learning.” Wheller situates the concepts of PLE’s, PLN’s and personal web in the connectivism discussion. Like Stephen Downes and George Siemens, Wheller distinguishes between the institutionalized online learning (VLE) on the one hand, and the web of learning on the other. The former is designed for students to funnel the authoritative knowledge given by the experts, while the latter, to make their own meanings through the active interactions through their webs of connections. When taking into consideration of the wider learning webs, the boundary between the formal and informal learnings become blurry. The diagram of Web 2.0 tools Weller used in the presentation shows that these tools facilitate three functions of PLEs : 1) Managing information; 2) Generating content; and 3) Connecting with others. In general, his presentation helped me to establish how the concepts of PLE’s, PLN’s and Personal web fit into one easy representation of learning, even though how learning is taking place can be very complex and highly context dependent.

While his presentation helped me visualize a snap shot of how PLE’s, PLN’s and personal web are parts and parcel of one’s learning, when he mentioned his application of Hegel’s philosophy in understanding his idea of how self-organizing learning environment takes place, or how ideas are being exchanged, I posed for a moment to locate a loose connection I may have on the subject. It took me back to what I learned about the difference between Hegel’s philosophy and Marx’s in my Sociology theory course that I took during the late 80′s. I remember from Hegel’s idealized notion of the State,  Marx’s rejection of it. Also Marx’s dialectical philosophy to address the 19th century emerging social issues based on actual material productions. I apologize for getting a bit too theoretical here. However, as Stephen Downes was repeatedly asking for more specifics of the negotiations between the PLE’s and the rest of the connections, and what sort of processes are taking place in the negotiations, Wheller’s conceptualization remains somewhat abstract.

In summary, without hinting at a disruptive revolution in higher education, Weller’s conceptualization of learning in the Web 2.0 environment helps us broaden the notion of education and explore the ways to integrate Web 2.0 tools, in order for us to provide more conducive environments for learning.

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