Although I have heard of the terms VLE & PLE, I have not read about these concepts in detail before now. Indeed, without regard for literature definitions, for me, my PLE is a collection of offline and online/human and technological resources, that can be accessed at almost any time. My human resources are those in my social circle – my family, close friends, work colleagues, students, and other informal social networks. My technology resources are all accessed via the internet: Google Search/Websites, Webinars, Blogs, Podcasts and News feeds.

Each human resource has their own area of expertise, and being in close contact with me, means I highly value their opinions. For example, my mother is a teacher and entrepreneur, living in England. By contrast, my father is a telephone engineer and athletics coach, living in the Caribbean. Each person in my human resource network, despite differences in age or interests, has their own unique life experience, which I feel can positively impact my perception of the world.

Comparatively, I contact friends for personal and social problems in the first instance, their professional expertise in the next. I exchange teaching ideas with my work colleagues, and have been able to gain considerable knowledge about being young in China, through my students. As an ex-pat in a foreign land, informal social networks thrive here in Beijing, where a) the people who are attracted to this city are very social, b) the people are more entrepreneurial and because of a) and b) c) there is a lot of social ‘knowledge exchange’.

I am conscious that the technology resource is conceptually much larger than the human resource, and thus requires some depth of thought in terms of management. This relates to time and management (how long will I spend on researching this or trying to find this piece of information), and judging appropriacy (is this information related to what I need to know?). I make a concerted effort to keep the technological resources I regularly access to a minimum, as it is easy to become overwhelmed with all of the information that is out there. However, as the internet is constantly updated with information, or ‘old’ information is deleted, then so I, too, refine and re-validate the key resources I access.

I think my PLE is an approach to learning. It is an attitude and desire to learn. It is an inherent acceptance of the term ‘life-long’ learner. I believe that I learn every day from everyone I come into contact with, everything I see, and do. This may sound burdensome, or heavy, all of this ‘learning’. However, I see it as an invisible transition of information between a person and another person, or between person and situation. I guess I see my PLE as a passive willingness to absorb everything I can by just being open, and then when I need to do or learn something specific, for work, or my studies, then I move up a gear, and ’employ’ my PLE, by making a concerted effort to tap into/turn on my human and technological resources.

In sum my PLE is a constant exchange of information between people and/or technology (via blogs, for example). It is unique to me. However, others may also access what I know. It is built on my own desire to learn or know more. To help me de/re/construct and better understand the environment around me.