Universities have a key role to play in the progress and development of the Knowledge Society. They should lead the way in the design of teaching strategies that promote knowledge building. Personal learning environments (PLE) represent a groundbreaking new development in educational practices through the incorporation of Information and…

In this study, the authors explored identity positioning as perceived by doctoral learners in online, networked-learning environments. The study examined two distance doctoral programs at a Canadian university. It was a qualitative study based on methodologies involving open coding and discourse analysis. The social positioning cycle, based on…

Despite the proliferation of social media, few learners make effective use of digital technology to support their learning or graduate with the skills necessary for developing and communicating their expertise in the knowledge-driven networked society of the digital age. This article makes use of the concept of Personal Learning Environments (PLE)…

This article argues the importance of including significant technologies-in-use as key qualitative research participants when studying today's digitally enhanced learning environments. We gather a set of eight heuristics to assist qualitative researchers in "interviewing" technologies-in-use (or other relevant objects), drawing on concrete…

Knowing whether Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) could transfer Web 2.0 affordances, which have been focused on the non-educational or recreational sphere, to the institutional sphere is important to move the research agenda beyond "cool uses" and to understand how the learning process is affected when students use this new type of…

Taking cognizance of the transformation experienced in education technologies, the concept that comes into prominence in integration of ICTs to education process at present is web 2.0. The main philosophy of web 2.0 technologies is its contribution to content formation of users and high-level interaction between users. One of web 2.0 technologies…

The growing use of the Internet in learning environments has led to new models being created addressing specific learning domains, as well as more general educational goals. In particular, in recent years considerable attention has been paid to collaborative learning supported by technology, because this mode can enhance peer interaction and group…