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Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an online environment, where various tools are provided fro student to facilitate their learning experiences. Some VLEs require specific software to be installed on the user's computer but most VLEs operate across World Wide Web (WWW). VLEs is a computer system, predominantly a web-based system, used to facilitate learning. VLEs also known as Learning Management System (LMS), Course Management System (CMS), Learning Content Management System (LCMS), Managed Learning Environment (MLE), Learning Support System (LSS), Online Learning Centre (OLC), and Learning Platform (LP). VLEs also known as an e-learning system and a collection of integrated tools enabling the management of online learning, providing a delivery mechanism, student tracking, assessment and access to resources.

VLEs has been used widely in institution of higher education to controlling access to digital resources for enrolled students. VLEs gives benefits to the users especially teachers and students too. VLEs is a system designed to support and help to enhance individual learning process and a platform that was built for knowledge management that allows the sharing of information and provide interactive learning to enable students to access information on programs, course content, discussion, and learning resources. VLEs is a system where students are divided into groups and follow the on-line learning. Students access the structured learning content and manage learning content, resources, and evaluation of on-line via the Internet. In this VLEs system, teachers have more power in designing and managing resources in collaboration with colleagues or in communicating with students.

VLE allows teachers to design learning resources quickly uses a combination of Internet-based tools to allow teachers to upload learning materials deemed suitable to be use by the user. The specification of VLEs are :


 * 1) The information space has been designed.
 * 2) Educational interactions occur in the environment, turning spaces into places.
 * 3) The information/social space is explicitly represented. The representation varies from text to 3D immersice worlds.
 * 4) Students active, and act as an actor. They co-construct the virtual space.
 * 5) Enrich classroom activities.
 * 6) Integrate heterogeneous technologies and multiple pedagogical approaches.
 * 7) Most virtual environments overlap with physical environments.

The Use of VLEs
VLEs is a set of teaching and learning tools designed to enhance students' learning experience in computer and internet in learning process. Generally teachers and students will use their ID in using VLEs system. Teachers having advantages in creating and modifying curriculum content, and monitoring students' performance. Examples of VLEs products are such as :


 * 1) Blackboard
 * 2) WebCt
 * 3) Lotus
 * 4) LearningSpaces
 * 5) COSE
 * 6) Moodle
 * 7) Claroline
 * 8) ATutor

The Advantages and Disadvantages of VLEs
VLEs system provided many advantages for users. The advantages of VLEs are  :


 * 1) Flexibility of time and place.
 * 2) Can support the learning of the number of students.
 * 3) Can share and reuse resources.
 * 4) Encourage collaborative work.
 * 5) Student-centered learning.
 * 6) Teachers can monitor students' achievement.
 * 7) Encourage collaboration and communication between students and teachers, and students and students.
 * 8) Collecting learning resources in one manageable place.
 * 9) Help teachers to provide additional information to the students simply through VLE.
 * 10) Teachers can save their time in distributing learning resources, reprint and renewing learning resources

However, as educators, we need to always remember that technologies are not stagnant. The development of technologies occur from time to time. This phenomenon has triggered refusal of VLEs systems which is more to teacher- or institution-centered. VLEs are great in concept, but they fall short in delivering the environment desired by learners. Learners are advocating for open source systems, systems that they can control. Nowadays students craving for expecting more control of their learning resources. While VLEs systems does not allow this to happen. This is because of the constraints of the system itself.

VLEs no longer relevant to be applied in the present century because of the growing social networking sites such as blog and wikis which offer students unprecedented opportunities to create, share content and interact with others. These sites provide possibilities for customization and a sense of ownership currently impossible in VLEs. This is because VLEs restricted students to content designed for a particular course and to interactions solely with participants in that course.

VLEs constraints are caught the attention of various parties for the provision of an effective learning environment for students. Johnson et al. (2006) identified six themes of dissatisfaction of VLEs which includes the point that VLEs systems :


 * 1) Do not support mobile life long learners.
 * 2) Do not allow learner to organize their own materials.
 * 3) Difficult to add resources from outside of course.
 * 4) Difficult to integrate other elements of life into courses.
 * 5) Having problem in learning how to use a VLEs.
 * 6) Inability for peer-based pedagogy.

Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
VLEs constraints have caused the students to shift to use Web 2.0 technologies in their learning process and PLEs has became one of the solution in using VLEs more wisely. PLEs is a new concept for organizing learning. This concept is a new step as an alternative approach to e-learning by giving more advantage to students.

PLEs was a student-centered learning approach and basically different form VLEs, which is more to institutional or course centered. PLEs defined as a system that helps students to control and manage their own learning. PLEs may consist of one or more subsystems where it might be conducted through desktop applications, or consist of one or more web-based services. Van Harmelen (2006) states that PLEs give students an opportunity to achieve their learning by encouraging students to :


 * 1) Determine their learning goals.
 * 2) Manage their learning through the management of the contents and the learning process.
 * 3) Communicate with others during the learning process occurs.

PLEs is also defined as a tool that allows students or anyone else to engage in a learning environment consisting of human networks, services and resources. PLEs does not refer to the application, but rather refers to the concept of learning that involves a variety of communication tools in the Web 2.0 to help a student to collect, manage, and process their learning resources.

In terms of pedagogy, PLEs offer a wider portal for students to explore and create their own learning based on their interest and importance, interact with friends and people around them by using the tools and network determined by their own. Irwin (2009) also stated that the PLEs of pedagogy is an approach to promote greater learning experience by placing students as key individuals to control their learning experience.

From the technical point of view, PLEs give students freedom in using learning tools and network services that give students more control, such as choosing, using and diversify the learning services that they thought suitable for their learning and allows them to collaborate and share knowledge with colleagues. Attwell (2007) stated that PLEs is a new approach to learning where PLEs is pedagogical approach that requires students to use e-learning system to control their own learning. PLEs is an idea that learning can occur in different contexts and situations and obtaining resources not only possible from one source. PLEs realize that learning is a continuous activity and PLEs are trying to provide aid to support the learning so that it could occur according to the selection of students using a variety of sources of variation educational tools that enable students to realize their importance in controlling their learning.