To transfer information to our brains we depend on media because we are not able to write this information into the brain like we do it on our harddisks. This statement is true today but it is also true if we address learning in the Stone Age. In former times we simply used our speech, stones, fire and chalk as the medium, later on we used pencils, paper, books and blackboards to transmit our knowledge and today we use all of those, supplemented by Television, Smartboards, Computers, mobile devices and the Internet.

But the situation today is exactly the same like thousands of years ago: we use the medium as a tool to transfer information during a learning process. The learning process consists of action and social interaction. There is nothing different today. Okay today you are able to meet and discuss with a large number of people outside the classroom, whom you might never have met in the non-digital age. That´s good ! But this is no revolution .. This may be part of some learning processes. But the success of a learning process is independent from weather or not you use technology whilst learning. This is what Michael Kerres, professor for educational media in Germany concluded after analyzing the results of research which compare learning situations with and without digital media: Es muss davon ausgegangen werden, “dass im Durchschnitt betrachtet Lernerfolg eher unabhängig ist von dem gewählten Mediensystem.” (Kerres, 2007, p. 3) h –> download article

So there is no need to use the term e-learning, which seduces us to the assumption that there might be an alternative to learning. The psychological process of learning is defined: it is a change of behavior by experience (this is widely accepted independent which learning theory you are following: Behaviorism, Cognitivism or Constructivism). Weather or not you use digital technology during a learning process, does not change this situation.

Learning is complexly interweaved with experiences, actions and social interactions beyond those media like screens, books and blackboards. To transmit and to mediate knowledge we are reliant on media, be it a book, a pencil, a computer or our speech. It´s the real space, the real learning environment (Internet and the computer are a part of it) which we as teachers are able to influence and which may or may not support the activity, the social interaction and the motivation of our students.

The intention of this blog is to follow – and contribute to – the international discussion on Personal Learning Environments (PLE). As the german discussion on this topic still is pretty calm, I decided to try to link to the english-speaking community. Although, my english is not very advanced, I hope to be able to express my thoughts in a proper way. I am teaching and researching at Freie Universität Berlin with a focus on learning and emerging technologies. You can find me on twitter (also english speaking) at this adress: https://twitter.com/WolfgangNeuhaus

Here, some links to the virtual part of my personal learning environment, be careful: almost everything here is published in german language: Blog Mediendidaktik, myPLE-Startpage, E-Portfolio, Contact-Page at University