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Weekly UpdatesA powerful feature of widgets is the ability to pull information from a server in order to continuously update data displayed to the user, or to have data pre-loaded to browser memory, so as to be available for quick display as needed. This kind of background server-client interaction is often described as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). There are many AJAX code libraries available, which make the tasks of creating widgets on Web pages using AJAX much easier. There is an effort underway, called OpenAjax Alliance, which aims to make it easier to mix and match components from different AJAX libraries. Another effort to achieve increased interoperability is OpenSocial, from Google. OpenSocial defines a set of APIs for social networking services to be accessed and run within different Web environments, including widgets. One of the more popular tools for building social networks, Ning, has adopted the OpenSocial standard, as has iGoogle.
INTERFACING WITH LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (LMS)
Ning is one of a set of Web services that aim to be easily customizable portals for interest groups. Several such services have been designed specifically for educational use, such as Colloquia and Elgg. Both are free, open-sources groupware systems. Colloquia, formerly known as Learning Landscapes, features off-line access to learning materials. Elgg features multipage page views (i.e., for mobile devices), easier theme-based customization and a widget framework.
Other systems have been built to have widgets as their core. This is the case with LAMS, Learning Activity Management Systems. The creators of LAMS have designed the integration of widgets as a means to extend the concept of "learning design" (LD), as exemplified in the IMS LD specification. The main focus in this sense of LD is on collaborative, activity-based learning, rather than on content delivery and formal sequencing. LAMS uses a graphic workflow model for authoring, which is quite different from authoring in a traditional LMS. Authors drag and drop the widget-like "activities" and then determine display and sequencing. LAMS allows instructors to share activities and to easily customize activities to one's own needs.
LAMS provides tools for its integration into LMSs such as Moodle, Blackboard, and Sakai. In fact, there has been considerable interest in integrating services such as Netvibes or Pageflakes into a traditional LMS. There are demos available that show Netvibes and Protopage integration into Desire2Learn. In the Netvibes integration, the Netvibes page is used as the home page within Desire2Learn, while the Desire2Learn toolbar is still available at the top of the page. This setup allows the instructor to incorporate easily tools such as blogs, wikis, Skype, or slideshows into a course site. This also offers the benefits that the page potentially could be used within a different LMS, should the university decide to change products.
This kind of integration may also raise the issue of the need for having an LMS at all. In fact, instructors are using products such as Pageflakes to replace the use of an LMS like Blackboard. At the 2009 CALICO Annual Conference, the titles of two sessions point in this direction: "Beyond Blackboard: Using Wikis in L2 Composition and Collaboration" and "Pageflakes vs. Blackboard, the LMS Winner by T.K.O ... Pageflakes." The large number of widgets available may make the smaller number of services and tools available in a mainstream LMS seem paltry by comparison. The quick and easy drag and drop interface for a PLE generally is more intuitive and flexible than the authoring interface for a LMS. The possibility for students to further customize the PLE is an additional benefit. Indeed, the possibility exists for the entire learning environment to be personalized by the student, depending on individual learning styles, needs and course requirements. Finally, the PLE, in contrast to an LMS, does not need to be course-bound. Peer-to-peer and student-teacher contact through the PLE can easily continue independent of the academic calendar. This makes the PLE seem a more compelling environment for informal and life-long learning. In fact, there is some work being done on PLEs as forms of e-portfolios.
At the same time, there are compelling arguments for an institution to maintain an LMS. Typically an institution has put time, energy and manpower into setting up and running an LMS. This is also a system that offers robust support services, even if they may be quite expensive. PLEs use services not hosted by the institution. As a consequence, the institution will not have control over that content or be responsible for its maintenance. This raises issues of security and reliability. E-learning services have become mission-critical on campuses and institutions may be leery of having essential services and data located on third-party servers.
There are also some specific services offered by an LMS that are more difficult to implement within a PLE. User authentication may be at the top of that list. This is awkward in a tool like Pageflakes, but is handled automatically and seamlessly in an LMS like Blackboard (assuming integration with student services has been done). Assessment options tend to be much more limited in a PLE, and less secure. It is possible to use tools like Hot Potatoes or Blog Quiz with a PLE, but they do not provide robust options for formal assessment. Electronic gradebook integration is also much easier in an LMS. Finally, both teachers and students may feel more comfortable with a known and uniform learning environment. The decentralization that a PLE offers promises more flexibility but also greater complexity. Currently, it is not nearly as quick and easy to set up a course Web site in Pageflakes or iGoogle as it is in Blackboard or Moodle.
OUTLOOK
LMSs have been slow in adapting to new developments on the Web in terms of social networking and widgets. They also tend to remain fixed in the instructor-designated, top-down approach, which differs markedly from the ever more collaborative environment which is the hallmark of Web 2.0. There has been some movement among LMSs, with Blackboard, for example, adding blogs and allowing third-party tools to be integrated through its Building Blocks initiative. Despite Blackboard's stated plans several years ago to support Web 2.0 tools, Desire2Learn and Angel have gone further in providing new collaborative options for users. The most flexible major LMS remains Moodle. With its modular design, it is fairly easy to add functions and features through installation of additional modules. For language learning, the additional flexibility and interactivity of Moodle tend to tip the scales in its favor. Epoche.net gives an interesting example of enhancing Moodle for language learning through the addition of social networking sites. One of the developments which may be helpful in allowing and encouraging more mainstream LMSs to offer more options is the IMS Tools Interoperability standard. This provides a means for third-party tools to be integrated into an LMS.
PLEs are intriguing to many educators because they seem to hold out the promise of using technology in a way that better parallels the student-centered approach of today's classrooms. Some proponents of PLEs see this approach as the needed counterpoint to intelligent tutors. In "Designing for Change," Wild, Modritscher, and Sigurdarson (2008) write,
The authors argue that the process of creating a PLE can itself be a learning outcome. It certainly is the case that if an easy-to-use PLE could provide a common site for institutional instructional use, informal learning, on-the-job training, and a form of e-portfolio, this would offer a compelling alternative to an LMS.
REFERENCES
Wild, F., Modritscher, F., & Sigurdarson, S. (2008). Designing for change: Mash-up personal learning environments. eLearning Papers, 9. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media15972.pdf
RESOURCE LIST
Personal Portal Services & Integrator Tools
* Create a Customized Web Portal with Netvibes From PC World
* Creating a Librarian's Info-Portal with Netvibes and RSS
* iGoogle
* My Yahoo
* Netvibes
* Ning
* OUseful Info: An Institutional Dashboard Using Pageflakes
* Pageflakes
* Pageflakes--Teacher Edition
* Pageflakes--Teacher Start Page
* Personalized Start Pages from About.com
* Protopage
Personal Learning Environments: Info & Projects
* Colloquia
* Developing a Personal Learning Environment for Language Learning Using Web 2.0 Tools Video
* EuroCALL 2008 Virtual Strand: Developing Personal Learning Environments Using Web 2.0 Tools
* Personal Learning Environments
* Phillip D. Long on Virtual Learning Environments
* Ple/Report--CETISwiki
* Social Web and Language Learning
* The Personal Learning Environments Blog
* The Present and Future of Personal Learning Environments
* Virtual Learning
Learning Management Systems vs. Personal Learning Environments
* CopperCore Run Time (CCRT) Environment
* Desire2Blog: Web 2.0 Inside D2L--Netvibes as Home Page
* Desire2Blog: Web 2.0 Inside D2L--ProtoPage Widgets
* Facilitating Language Learning with LMS: (A Brief Review on Blackboard and Moodle)
* From VLE via PLE to SLN
* LAMS: Learning Activity Management System
* Pageflakes vs Blackboard
* The Ed Techie: The VLE/LMS is Dead
Widget Collections
* Clearspring
* Etiqueta Language Learning--Widgets de Netvibes
* Gadgets API--Google Code
* Gadgets MS
* Language Widgets From Widgipedia
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