Picture taken from: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=writing&page=2Unfortunately the full text of the article I found for last Thursday is no longer available on the Web, so I chose another article of my interest from Google Scholar that I shared in delicious too. The article I found is on “Personal Learning Environments”. I was able to catch the main topic of the paper from the abstract, that is a discussion on the dimensions which characterize current conceptions of PLEs, thereby defining a space of PLEs, providing examples of Personal Learning Environments. I immediately found the name of the author Mark van Harmelen, who is an Independent Consultant at the University of Manchester. The date when it was published online wasn’t available, but I found at the end of the article a list of references, which made me think that it is quite recent. As the author was linked to a School of Computer Science in a Manchester framework team and the language used was formal, I can understand that the article is reliable.
It provides a clear layout with the use of paragraphs and follows the hourglass structure, as it starts with a relatively spread introduction with alternative definitions, so it places the subject matter in context and introduces a position which is then developed in the essay. It goes on with the body, describing in specific details the term PLE and similar terms, discussing the dimensions of a space of PLEs, and giving examples of PLE implementations. The article finally offers some conclusions going back to the introduction.
The text is cohesive and follows a logical flow of ideas, and a certain order in presenting information. Moreover it is not unusual to find repetition of words or synonyms in order to keep always the attention of the reader alive. These consideration can be proved in the example below:
“…An open system may be extended easily, a totally closed system may not be extended at all. This dimension influences personalisation. Openness is highly desirable, and can be implemented via a variety of mechanisms. At the most basic level this may be provided by facilities for users to capture and use URLs to obtain extra facilities. Some commentators are of the opinion that an open PLE can be constructed entirely from various kinds of servers on the web. However, application interoperation is a problem in this scenario. Another more complex mechanism, as yet unimplemented in any PLE, would operate by resource discovery and subsequent resource use in a service oriented architecture”
In the article each paragraph contains one main idea with a series of sentences supporting it with details, so is precise and the ideas presented can be clearly understood. Even if sometimes there are some technical words with which I was not so familiar too, such as Virtual Learning Systems, and Learning Management Systems, the author provides us with a brief and concise explanation of the main terminology. A clear example is:
“A Personalised Learning Environment can usefully mean any environment that has been tailored for an individual prior to use.
A Personalisable Learning Environment is one that can be personalised at the time of its use, either by the user or by the system on behalf of the user.”
Since the type of language used is mainly formal, the article clearly addresses to a specialised audience oriented to this type of study, or to students who want to be involved in this topic in order to write a dissertation.
Personally I think that a blog post should have all these characteristics to be easily read, because a clear layout, coherence and cohesion can attract a reader and add a value to the writer’s work.
It provides a clear layout with the use of paragraphs and follows the hourglass structure, as it starts with a relatively spread introduction with alternative definitions, so it places the subject matter in context and introduces a position which is then developed in the essay. It goes on with the body, describing in specific details the term PLE and similar terms, discussing the dimensions of a space of PLEs, and giving examples of PLE implementations. The article finally offers some conclusions going back to the introduction.
The text is cohesive and follows a logical flow of ideas, and a certain order in presenting information. Moreover it is not unusual to find repetition of words or synonyms in order to keep always the attention of the reader alive. These consideration can be proved in the example below:
“…An open system may be extended easily, a totally closed system may not be extended at all. This dimension influences personalisation. Openness is highly desirable, and can be implemented via a variety of mechanisms. At the most basic level this may be provided by facilities for users to capture and use URLs to obtain extra facilities. Some commentators are of the opinion that an open PLE can be constructed entirely from various kinds of servers on the web. However, application interoperation is a problem in this scenario. Another more complex mechanism, as yet unimplemented in any PLE, would operate by resource discovery and subsequent resource use in a service oriented architecture”
In the article each paragraph contains one main idea with a series of sentences supporting it with details, so is precise and the ideas presented can be clearly understood. Even if sometimes there are some technical words with which I was not so familiar too, such as Virtual Learning Systems, and Learning Management Systems, the author provides us with a brief and concise explanation of the main terminology. A clear example is:
“A Personalised Learning Environment can usefully mean any environment that has been tailored for an individual prior to use.
A Personalisable Learning Environment is one that can be personalised at the time of its use, either by the user or by the system on behalf of the user.”
Since the type of language used is mainly formal, the article clearly addresses to a specialised audience oriented to this type of study, or to students who want to be involved in this topic in order to write a dissertation.
Personally I think that a blog post should have all these characteristics to be easily read, because a clear layout, coherence and cohesion can attract a reader and add a value to the writer’s work.
Bye
Anna
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