Heather Ross

Thanks for pointing me towards EverNote, Derek. I do prefer offline applications for pulling my ideas together. I just wish that they'd come through with their plan to do a Mac version (I hate that I must use a PC at work, while I have a Mac at home).

I think that the idea of an application or Web site for a PLE suffers from the same issues as using an application or Web site for anything. We search for that ONE that will do it all and are inevitably disappointed. We need to get away from thinking, "well this is what it can do, so this is what I'll work with" and be accepting of the concept of multiple applications, Web sites, print resources, etc.

I don't see an MD for my dental work, nor do I have a plumber do my landscaping.

What are our needs? What are the needs of our learners? What are the needs of those the learners will end up working with? When we answer these questions we can determine what is the best thing or environment to make use of.

This is far more than I intended to say when I started this post and I'm not sure if it's even in the right place. Just my soapbox spewing for the morning.

Derek said:

I have a son like you describe.  Mobile phone (yes) Internet (only if I really have to) computers (No) 

Sounds like Apple was correct to put the resources into the iPhone. I keep thinking about how much work I'll have ahead of me in a few years when our courses will need to be redesigned to accommodate this shift.

I'm making use of Gliffy in some of the courses that I'm designing. Students need to be able to collaborate on creating floor plans and they're all over the province. We haven't gotten to the point where the students are using it, but the instructors think it's great.

I've looked at Netvibes and haven't seen a real difference between it and the personalized Google homepage, so that may be another option to consider. Per Sylvia's recommendation I checked out pageflake, which also reminds me of Google, but allows for sharing, which is great (it doesn't let me add my Google Reader to it though). This may make me look at Google in an entirely different way.

I have noticed that whether we're talking about "applications" or a collection of tools, we seem focused on those that are Web-based.

Emma,

I went to look at Plex and found this great short post on the Personal Learning Environment Blog. Ray's mindmap of his PLE threw my brain into high gear.

Thanks!