OPEN LEARNING: KEY FOUNDATIONS OF PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

International Journal on Web Service Computing (IJWSC), Vol.10, No.1/2/3, September 2019
DOI : 10.5121/ijwsc.2019.10301 1
OPEN LEARNING: KEY FOUNDATIONS OF
PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Abdullah Alenezi
Northern Borders University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
The concept of open education is one of the concepts that have taken a clear place on the academic map of
higher education in many countries of the world. This type of education has become an important resource
for universities to overcome many of the material and academic problems. The aim of this study is to
analyse the role of open learning as the key foundations of personal learning environment. The interview
respondents were nine teachers who are currently working with different open learning programs in Saudi
Arabia. The nine teachers were from three different institutes in Saudi Arabia. It was identified through the
interviews that the emergence of Open Textbooks, which is part of the broader movement known as Open
Learning Resources, can help meet these challenges and improve the quality of the learning process.
Higher textbooks for higher education students, especially middle school students, In the beginning of the
last decade in the Saudi Arabia, to what is known as the "crisis of the textbook" and tried to solve many
solutions to address the problem, such as the rental of the book to the student and the adoption of e-book
and others, but the most prominent solutions are effective and impact, the emergence of non-profit
organizations in cooperation.
KEYWORDS
Open learning, Saudi Arabia, e-learning
1. INTRODUCTION
Since the end of the last century, technology has taken on a leading role in the development of
societies. One of the main triggers of this technological spread has been its adaptation to the
different scenarios of human activity. The progress of technologies and their impact on the
behaviour of societies has forced them to seek the most appropriate means to get the best use of
them and reach the greatest number of people (Attwell, 2007, Wilson, 2008, Salinas, 2009c,
Couros, 2010).
Among the main challenges facing the education systems of the Saudi Arabia, according to the
Commission of 31 January 2001, the risk of social exclusion stands out if the principle of equality
of opportunity were not adequately addressed. Knowledge-based societies could open a
considerable gap between those who had access to Information Technology and those who did
not. In addition, referred to as the OECD isDeSeCo Project (1997), among its universal
competences on economics, culture, and values (TORIBIO, 2010).
The common idea of a digital educational resource is educational content in web format such as
text and images, but this term also includes documents with guidelines on how to teach a certain
subject or even data sets on evaluation and functioning of educational experiences, among others
(SICILY, 2007).

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From education, strategies for the introduction of digital technologies are carried out, which
means adapting the didactic procedures implemented with analogue technologies. This adaptation
is transversal and involves all levels.
The features that distinguish digital technologies from their precedents are based on the logic of
interactivity, both the user with the devices and the users with each other.
The technological tools, on the other hand, also undergo processes of adaptation according to the
models of prevailing social relations. For authors such as Cabero (2003), the coverage of
collaborative and cooperative learning is understood as a resource, a strategy, and methodology
of instruction, in which traditional roles played by the teacher and the student in a traditional
methodology of transmitter and Receiver of the information, and is transferred to new
environments where the knowledge is developed jointly and collaboratively.
2. RESEARCH AIM
The aim of this study is to analyse the role of open learning as the key foundations of personal
learning environment
3. RATIONALE
The basis of the concept depends on the conception of Personal Learning Environment -PLE, in
the English sense. If we accept that the PLEs are located within the limits of the new spaces of
educational communication (public communication vs. private communication, institutional
environments, social environments or personal environments, etc.) it is clear that both the
definition of the concept and its foundations require discussion and reflection (Coffey 1977,
Lewis 1985, Lewis and Spencer 1986, Boot and Hodgson 1987). It can be established that one of
its bases, perhaps the most solid from the pedagogical perspective, are concepts such as flexible
education and open learning. From the moment we talk about adult education, with autonomous
consciousness and that exercise in relation to their learning, the development of PLE falls within
what is understood as open learning or flexible education: the user has choice, is free to
Maneuver, you have control over how you learn. We are, therefore, faced with processes centred
on the student, which have traditionally been contemplated in Didactics. Another thing is that
they have been scarcely practiced (Casquero et al., 2008, 2010, Santos and Pedro, 2010, White
and Davis, 2011, Salinas, 2009b, Salinas, Marin and Escandell, 2011).
4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Open learning: towards a better understanding of the PLE
We can consider open learning as a pioneering approach in the current of eliminating barriers to
adult learning and the consideration of independence and autonomy in the learning process. For
Coffey (1977), open learning refers to the removal of administrative and educational barriers to
learning. A NBEET report (1992) defines open learning as a form of study in which a student can
enter without prior preparation, where he has the greatest flexibility in the choice of study
subjects, the period, place and time of study, And in the modes of evaluation.
Both definitions of open learning focus on the expansion of the educational offer by eliminating
institutional barriers. Lewis and Spencer (1986) go on to point out as one of the most important
aspects of open learning the commitment to help students acquire independence and autonomy in
learning. It has been customary to find partners in the concept of open learning and distance

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learning, since it connects with some approaches or currents of thought about distance education,
especially with theories of autonomy and independence (Keegan, 1986) . One of its
representatives, Wedemeyer (1971), is based on a social-democratic ideal and a liberal
educational philosophy, on equal opportunities to access education, overcoming geographical,
economic, social limitations, etc.
Moore (1983, 1991), On the other hand, relies on the relation between personal autonomy and
geographic distance, while Holmberg (1985) emphasizes the interaction. The student is seen as an
autonomous person who is spatially and temporally separated from the teacher, but with whom he
interacts through technology-mediated communication systems. Undoubtedly, open learning can
be done remotely, but it can also be done in a crowded reading room or in the classroom, it can
happen whether the student belongs to a group or is learning at his own pace.
A. Administrative Determinants
Administrative determinants to which the student must attend: teach attendance at a
predetermined place, time and number of sessions,in-group by the teacher, the rules of the
organization. It refers, therefore, to the provision of freedom, or better of optionality, to students
in access, admission, course selection, and freedom in temporal and spatial determinants. In this
sense, these characteristics would not require particular educational requirements and provide
accessible guidance and instructional support systems for the student. Kember (1995), for his
part, suggests that this dimension of open learning has developed due to social and political
pressures by removing the barriers that prevent participation in adult education.
B. Teaching Determinants
The other dimension of the concept of open learning is related to the translation of the didactic
determinants: highly adjusted specified learning goals; Sequence of teaching and place; The
strategy to teach the individual teacher or the organization. Failure to apply such determinants
drifts towards closed educational designs. It refers to an educational model or student-centred
philosophy versus that of institution-centred or teacher-centred (Cunningham, 1987; Kember,
1995). Paul (1990) proposes a series of dimensions that would come to express with respect to
what and to what degree an institution can be considered open and that represents both
dimensions well (Table. 1)
Table1. Openness dimensions of an institution (elaborated from Paul, 1990).
ADMINISTRATIVE
DETERMINANTS
Accessibility Previous academic credentials
Weather
Physical location
Financial Determinants
Personal characteristics
Social responsibility
Flexibility Frequency in periods of
admission
Learning pace
Optional Support Services
Student's control over content and structure
Choice of distribution system
Accreditation
TEACHING
Very specific learning goals
Sequence of teaching and place

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DETERMINANTS Teacher's didactic strategy
Didactic strategy of the organization
It should be considered that what we understand as open learning is the natural way in which
much learning has occurred over time (Race, 1994). It is like saying that learning is something we
do for ourselves, even when we learn from others, and this largely coincides with the most
characteristic aspects of the PLE, which would become somewhat configured to make the best
use of our way Natural way of learning things, in this case exploiting the possibilities of ICT.
Since the PLEs are different systems that help students take control of their own learning, i.e.,
decide their own learning objectives, manage their own learning (both content and process),
Communicating with others in the learning process, and everything that contributes to the
achievement of the objectives align with the basic principles that have inspired from the
beginning to open learning.
The PLE From The Perspectives Of Open Learning And Flexible Education
The PLE concept is becoming an important reference in Educational Technology, since it is
gaining widespread recognition of its pedagogical value, as well as its framework and its
components. In this sense, it can be associated, as it were said, with a whole stream of models and
conceptions that refer to student-centred learning processes.
Unlike traditional virtual teaching-learning environments that focus on the institution or a course,
the personal learning environments are focused on the user, who has the possibility of creating
and consuming information and knowledge.
Alongside this feature, it has been considered as another key element in the PLE connection -
open learning / flexible education, the integration of formal, non-formal, and informal learning.
Both aspects are considered key in the evolution of learning scenarios and should be considered
in the processes of reflection, research, and innovation with a future perspective. The advances in
the reflection and research about the PLE find, in approaches associated with open learning, basic
elements. Based on these two premises, present in the conceptions of open learning and flexible
education, we can consider in the foundation that both contribute to the reflection and
development of the PLE, four essential characteristics that are present in all the tendencies
associated with open learning and (Van der Brade, 1993; Moran and Myrlinger, 1999).
Personal learning environments respond to these characteristics. They are supported for this in the
systems and software applications that constitute the so-called social software, or Web 2.0, whose
evolution advances parallel to the movements that are making the Internet de facto become the
communicative area par excellence. Obviously, this dynamic causes conceptual changes and,
above all, the appearance of new terminology, but as far as didactic foundations on which they
are based, surely it will be possible to continue finding references in the streams of open learning,
flexible education and Trends that have derived from them.
It can contribute to look at the PLE from this pedagogical perspective, the proposal of two models
of open learning that do Boot and Hodgson (1987), which still not being exclusive, strongly
determine the configuration of the training system and consequently the components of it. Based
on the pedagogical principles that differentiate the 'administratively' programs from the 'open'
educational ones, they point to two orientations: one takes a dissemination orientation (in
practice, it offers administratively open learning) and another takes a developmental orientation
More educational).

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From a pedagogical perspective, PLEs can be clearly associated with what Boot and Hodgson
(1987) call developmental model, since it is oriented to the complete development of the person
(especially the continued ability to search for the sense of self and the world That surrounds it)
(Table. 2). Here the authors consider the three main elements of PLE: tools, resources and people.
Table 2. Open learning models (from Boot and Hodgson, 1987).
CONCEPTIONS DISSEMINATION DEVELOPMENT
Knowledge Something objective
(valuable commodity that
exists independently of the
people).
It can be stored and
transmitted. Epistemology
of objectivism.
Wisdom as a
process of
coupling and
attribution of
meaning to the
world, including
in it.
The learning Acquisition and addition of
facts, concepts and skills
Epistemology of
relativity
Purpose of
education
Dissemination of stored
knowledge
Elaboration and
processes of
meaning creation.
Meaning of
independence
Individualization Emphasis of
personal
competence.
Bases of the
student's options
Selection in a closed range
of options
Global
development of
the person
Open learning, in the perspective of development, allows students to define their learning and
personal development needs through a process of negotiation, collaboration and cooperation.
In relation to the personal learning network, they emphasize the importance of people other than
teachers as an inherent part of the learning process, providing challenges and collaboration in the
construction of personal meaning and, in addition, their participation in the assessment as part of
the process of Learning, understood as realized collaboratively in relation to shared common
criteria. They identify the idea that the role of the tutor in a development orientation is a
facilitator, personal resource, and co-learner. While the dissemination model would be associated
with products (contents, materials, teaching packages, where knowledge can be seen as a valuable
commodity that exists independently of people and as such, can be saved and transmitted (sold);
Development would be associated with the learning process itself and the achievement of the
learning objectives of adults. This feature makes open learning associated with development
orientation as opposed to conventional distance learning that would be product oriented.
To attend to the teaching-learning model that underlies, and this requires a new look on the
pedagogical models, a strong support of technologies, important changes in the organization as
much administrative as of the materials and systems of communication and mediation (Salinas,
2004b; 2009c). And they can be found from models that describe teaching as a technical process
and that sees the teacher as a simple executor who has to equip the skills and abilities to increase
their effectiveness through resources (deploying what has been termed 'Generic' methodologies),
to more open models that see teaching as a space of knowledge and knowledge and socio-
political space in which knowledge is selected, legitimized and distributed to subjects differently
and sees the teacher as a professional with capacity Of decision and judgment and able to

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reconstruct his own practice critically and to include means in a creative way ('specific'
methodologies).
5. METHODOLOGY
Qualitative research
The conduct of qualitative research, points out that knowledge is the result of interaction between
the individual and his environment, so its purpose is to come to represent and interpret the culture
as seen by the participants of the same (Sieburth, 1993, cited by García, 2006). This study used
qualitative methodology as it has the main objective of description of the qualities of a
phenomenon.
The work carried out based on this type of research, adopted a descriptive, interpretive,
descriptive character because we were interested to indicate what really happens with the teachers
of mathematics in their classrooms, and interpretative because, in addition to saying what
happens we consider that it was necessary to analyse and understand the educational reality that
could not be directly observed.
Research Philosophy: Ethnography
To understand more about this type of methodology used in this research, in Woods (1986) cited
in Garcia (2006), the term ethnography derives from anthropology and literally means description
of the way of life of a race or group of individuals.
Information collection
In the ethnographic research, the information sought is the one that has the most relationship and
helps to discover the significant structures that give reason for the behaviour of the subjects under
study. As this research is based on ethnographic philosophy, for this reason, the following types
of information may be very relevant and has been used in completion of this research:
The content and form of verbal interaction between subjects
The interview: allows complementing and verifying the information obtained through participant
and non-participant observation. The purpose of the interview is to reconstruct what happens in
the study environment. Through the interview, you can reach a contact with individuals, creating
certain conditions that allow participants to freely say what they think and feel, using their own
language that is part of their natural reality. The interview can be casual and informal, or
structured. Data collected through the interview can be recorded in the form of notes during or
after completion of the interview, or it is also possible to use audio or video recording.
Elaboration of information records: In this stage, if there is videotaped material, it is transcribed
directly and integrated with the field notes, to form the research records.
Participants
The interview respondents were nine teachers who are currently working with different open
learning programs in Saudi Arabia. The nine teachers were from three different institutes in Saudi
Arabia. The interviews were conducted via Skype and were transcribed based on the aim of this
study. For privacy reasons respondents are referred as respondent 1, respondent 2 and respondent
3 etc in the analysis.

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Analysis and interpretation of results
Interpreting information is one of the key moments of ethnographic research, and involves a
reflexive process through the review, of the information collected, with the purpose of
discovering the meaning of each event or situation since the point of view of the participants. The
interpretation phase starts from the strictly descriptive until arriving at the explanation of the
situation approached.
Confidentiality and Ethics
All the information that is collected during the course of the research will be kept strictly
confidential. The participants will not be identified in any reports or publications. Furthermore
there are is no conflict of interest in conducting this research.
6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Among the technological and economic factors, it identifies the reduction of costs of
infrastructure, hardware, and software, as well as a friendlier interface of the technologies of the
information. On the other hand, he points out that it is easier and cheaper to produce content that,
when shared, tends to reduce costs even more. New economic models are emerging for the
distribution of free content.
“Materials under a Creative Commons license are transferred to users for use, reuse, translation,
and adaptation to other contexts. Users undertake to use them for non-commercial purposes, to
recognize the Institution that originally published it or the author, if applicable, and that the
resulting material after its use is free again and can be used again by third parties. Among other
legal aspects highlights the relationship between the teacher and the University,” said respondent
1 when asked to comment on the legal aspects of Open learning programs.
The author grants rights of use, assumes intellectual property, and respects the conditions of use
established by the owners. “The University where I work at, assumes the use of its site according
to principles of respect to the author and his work. The growing willingness to share with third
parties is one of the most noteworthy social factors,”said respondent 2.
Taking into account political aspects, the study indicates several reasons why governments may
be interested in supporting such projects. “On the one hand, they facilitate access to learning
materials for society as a whole, and in particular for groups of non-traditional students, allowing
a greater proportion of citizens accessing education and more specifically higher education. On
the other hand, it is an efficient way of promoting lifelong learning, narrowing the gap between
formal and non-formal education and self-learning,” said respondent 3 commenting on the
political aspect.
Incentives such as the altruistic motivation to share their knowledge, non-monetary reward, for
example through publicity and recognition among members of the open community, or for
economic and commercial reasons, are perceived as a way for teachers and researchers. To
become known more quickly in the market.
Respondent 4 while defining open education said, “A broad definition of open educational
resources could include, in addition to didactic content and licenses under which such content is
published, distribution tools, such as content management platforms or e-learning platforms.”

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However, the study points out that open educational resources are open and free digital materials
for educators, students and self-educators who can use and reuse for teaching, learning, and
research (OECD, 2007). This is the big difference with other educational resources that are
offered on the net.
Another of the actions carried out by UNESCO in promoting technologies in education is the
sixth Education for All (EFA) Monitoring Report (2008). This report analyses the evolution of
the commitment of 164 governments and organizations around the world to increase the
educational opportunities offered to children, young people, and adults around the world by 2015.
Some of the measures taken at the international level to improve learning through technologies
are those of South Africa and India, which emphasize the importance of promoting ICT in
education through SchoolNet, enabling the creation of school networks to improve Teaching and
learning through collaboration and sharing of information.
In Saudi Arabia, the promotion of ICT in education through QSience, which installs laboratories
in schools and establishes regional centres of education technologies for training and assistance,
is intended. The use of ICT in the context of the modernization of education program is also
mentioned in other Middle Eastern countries.
Saudi Arabia emphasizes the need to create a comprehensive ICT policy in education within the
framework of national development policy. Professional development programs for teachers
using ICTs, such as the project to strengthen digital education, are mainly developed in Egypt.
Morocco refers to the need to carry out projects aimed at extending the use of ICT in education,
focusing mainly on equipment, training and educational content. These provisions reflect the
measures taken by other countries in ICT education. In developing countries, more emphasis is
required on OER to reach a larger population (FARRELL and WACHHOLZ, 2003).
“The recent expansion of technologies and open learning has led to the development of two
trends in education, greater use of different models of distance learning, termed open learning and
the implementation of a series of pedagogical innovations related to ICT , used by both teachers
and students,” said respondent 5.
In the Arab countries, the challenges of providing education, especially the higher ones, are
higher than those faced by developed countries. All international and regional reports indicate a
serious setback in the development of education as indicators of higher education are low in most
Arab countries.
The greatest challenge facing higher education officials in the Arab countries is the huge numbers
that will be included in the coming years. For example, according to respondent 6, “The age
groups (1-14), 16-24 years, 45% and 21% of the total population respectively, which means
doubling the demand for secondary and higher education in the near future.” This necessitates the
need to raise higher education enrolment rates, which are currently low in most Arab countries,
ranging from 4% to 30% at best, to be 50% to 60%, making the situation in Arab countries more
difficult.
The quality of education and the adoption of traditional systems at all stages of education and
reliance on the method of conservation and education and distance from the practical application
and the use of modern education techniques to facilitate the understanding of information and
turn it into reality, as confirmed by the International Development Bank in its latest report on the
state of education in the Middle East and North Africa.

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“Despite the gloomy picture of education in the Arab countries, mentioned in the international
reports, there are still rare opportunities to upgrade education, improve its quality, absorb
additional numbers of students and reduce the cost of production in the educational process
without the need for high financial investments,” added respondent 6. (Openness) of the global
educational resources on the Internet (Internet) is a real opportunity to meet these challenges and
overcome those difficulties, where there are currently hundreds of university sites and educational
institutions containing thousands of educational resources, such as: (Curriculum).
In the context of globalization and the transition to a knowledge economy, there has been a need
in developed countries to increase enrollment rates, especially higher education, in addition to the
need to rehabilitate the workforce in order to develop their skills in line with the new
characteristics of professions that led to the development of the skills required for their
performance within the structure of the knowledge society. “In order to meet the requirements of
the development of education in accordance with the new reality, it faces a number of challenges,
the most important of which is the high cost, which includes various elements”, said respondent
6, while adding, “The most important of which is the production of educational content such as
textbooks, which is an obstacle to the enrollment of large segments of society in education,
especially the higher and the middle. The United States is estimated to have more than 200,000
students per year.”
Addressing the growing demand for education through traditional methods by expanding
infrastructure, building new educational institutions and using traditional teaching methods is not
possible; it requires large budgets that are difficult to provide, and it takes a lot of time and effort.
Low effectiveness and unsuitable for qualifying students to meet the requirements of life in the
third millennium.
“The OER movement has great potential for learning. The value of education is easy to use when
they are encoded and numbered, which facilitates the partnership of educational institutions.
Open learning resources (OERs) are other educational resources subject to a proprietary licensing
and protection system, which makes it easier to use and adapt them without permission from the
author of the title”, said respondent 7.
It is important to recognize that open educational resources are not an adjunct to e-learning, but
that the use of OER can be done without an Internet service. The concept of open education
resources also differs from the concept of "open education", which requires a systematic analysis
of the student's assessment process and needs administrative accreditation and support systems,
among other things.
The challenges facing the textbooks can be divided into two parts. The first relates to the book
itself, and the second relates to the user of the textbook, whether the student or the teacher. It is
rare to find the appropriate book to cover all the subjects required in the course, and to provide it
may not be the required depth. “Often content is not compatible with the context and
characteristics of the local environment, especially in higher education, because most textbooks in
Arab universities in general and Gulf universities in particular are foreign books, also require
accelerated technology transformations and transformation,” said respondent 8.
“This is difficult to achieve except through a new book, in addition to the previous challenges, the
challenge of high prices of books on the global level, especially for students of higher education,
which is a huge financial burden on the budgets of higher education, especially in Arab countries
because of Adopting English as a language of instruction in its higher education institutions”,
respondent 8 added.

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“As for the student, who is described as a digital student, who has spent thousands of hours
sending and receiving e-mails, instant text, thousands of hours using a computer researcher, a
rookie and a reader, and has listened to thousands of digital content when enrolled in higher
education”, said respondent 9.
The previous challenges have led some post-secondary education institutions to create the so-
called course material prepared by the course teachers, leading to a clear variation in the output
levels of these institutions, especially if they fall under one umbrella and adopt a single study plan
for all of their colleges.
7. CONCLUSION
The trajectory of technology applied to the development of Open Educational Resources is
influencing some theoretical principles on which socio-educational intervention is based. OERs
are already a reality pursued by society. There are cases where the principles of these resources
are used although the movement itself is unknown.
This article shows the programs and models at Saudi Arabia universities and international level
that facilitate the penetration of the OER in the educational space. These resources in turn provide
educational materials with benefit, facilitate communication, search for information, and promote
access to education for people with physical, mental, or social disadvantages. They also allow
obtaining other types of competences such as autonomous and cooperative work and creative and
critical thinking.
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AUTHORS
Abdullah Alenezi, Dr. of Education, is Assistant Professor in the Educational
Technology Department, Faculty of Education, Northern Borders University,
Saudi Arabia. His major areas of interest and expertise are: organizational
change, teaching and learning outcomes arising from uses of leading-edge
technologies, implementation and management of leading-edge technologies at
the local authority and individual institution levels, uses and impacts of
technologies and technology-based resources in formal educational
environments, distance learning and training, and technology integration in the Saudi context.

OPEN LEARNING: KEY FOUNDATIONS OF PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

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OPEN LEARNING: KEY FOUNDATIONS OF PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT