VLE vs. PLE

Here is the link to the discussion article on Virtual and Personal Learning Environments.

When I first began reading this discussion article, I did not know what VLE stood for. We recently learned about a PLE (Personal Learning Environment), but VLE was foreign to me. Turns out, a VLE is a Virtual Learning Environment; a learning platform such as Blackboard that we all use for this class. The author of the article described the VLE and PLE as such, "A VLE is composed of a number of tools that are organized around units of instruction delivered through an institution or by an individual instructor. These tools may be strongly coupled (e.g. as inside of Blackboard Learn ® or Moodle) or loosely coupled and collected together from a variety of existing tool sets).The PLE is always loosely coupled and organized by the learner." When I saw this quote, I immediately thought back to the essential question for this week in regards to our web tools being "tightly connected or loosely aligned". My personal opinion is that in order for a virtual learning environment to truly exist and provide instruction, there must be some foundation. Blackboard creates a tightly aligned foundation so students can access information about the course, and have guided instruction. Without the one - to - one contact a classroom normally offers, a VLE could successfully exist because students would not know what to do! With this said, I also believe that a tightly aligned VLE allows for a loosely aligned PLE. For example, I believe this class is tightly aligned so students can understand the ultimate goal of each weeks' learning experience. However, I also believe because the successful structure, I can choose what areas I want to learn about. In essence, I am creating my own PLE along with the VLE. No one else might have found this article I am responding to, but that is the freedom associated with a PLE.
In conclusion, in order to establish a PLE that is student driven, there must be a tightly aligned VLE. There has to be some order or place that a student can refer back to, or their PLE may not be a "Learning Environment".