In South Africa we have become masters in the art of asking for and granting forgiveness. So many people were wronged in the past and have graciously forgiven those who wronged them. Likewise, many proud, privileged people were treating their fellow humans with little dignity, at times with cruelty, and had to humble themselves to beg for forgiveness.

This took place on a personal level, and through the Peace and Reconciliation process, was often done in public.

However, there is also another process of forgiveness taking place: on a group level. Whereas individuals might not have wronged others, there is still the element of group accountability. While there may not be a formal asking and granting of forgiveness, actions of restitution, reconstruction and equalisation are implied forms of asking for forgiveness.

Among the many efforts in this regard is the Khanya project, where technology is made available (by the previous “haves”) to the the millions who do not have. It is a privilege to be involved in a such a noble project, with no profit motive, to level the playing field. A visit to www.khanya.co.za will give you more information on how the lives of more than half a millon previously disadvantaged children have been affected, by a group of about one hundred people who are seeking to right the wrongs of the past.

What is a Personal Learning Environment?

Definitions for Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) differ. Some have suggested that the principles of PLEs can be presented in a software tool (see Plex, for example), while others suggest it to be more of a concept than a particular tool. The differing viewpoints of PLEs are reflective of infancy of the concept, and the practical applications of the read/write web itself.

It's the connections that make a PLE. Numerous other factors play a role: content creation tools, content storage, tools for communication, protocols/APIs, and identity management.

A few definitions:

• "A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a collection of free, distributed, web-based tools, usually centred around a blog, linked together and aggregating content using RSS feeds and simple HTML scripts." http://seanfitz.wikispaces.com/creatingyourple
• "a Personal Learning Environment is a facility for an individual to access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artefacts of their ongoing learning experiences." http://members.optusnet.com.au/rlubensky/2006/12/present-and-future-of-personal-learning.html
• "Essentially, they are a collection of tools, brought together under the conceptual notion of openness, interoperability, and learner control." http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/002884.html
• PLEs: http://blog.simslearningconnections.com/?p=50 - "PLE are very personal both in the sense of being independent of the university or employer and in the sense of being hand-crafted — although a bit necessarily too hand-crafted today. Even with a more ideal integrative application, PLE will still be highly customized to the needs and preferences of the learner. Portions of even the software application PLE will be kept behind our personal firewall. Learning is deeply personal, AND social."

6 Responses to “Jimmy Wales on WikiPedia”

1. Pam Lowe Says:
   April 12th, 2007 at 12:37 am e

   Wes,
   How funny that I should just finish my blog entitled, “Wonderful World of Wikis!” and share my fourth grade students’ wonderful experience with them and then read that you’re going to present to an anti-wiki audience. You’re welcome to use my blog or my class wiki page ( http://schoolweb.missouri.edu/poplarbluff.k12.mo.us/lowe/Wikis.html ) if you’d like to show teachers that wikis can be productive and thought-provoking tools.