Abstract
The Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is fast emerging both in practical reality and through the e-learning discourse. As with many new and emerging technologies, there is a divergence of opinion as to what constitutes this new phenomenon, or indeed, if it is a new phenomenon at all.
The aim of the PLE project at the University of Bolton has been to bring clarity to this discourse through the production of a reference model together with the creation of some prototypes. Here we present a commentary of our survey of currently emerging projects and technologies in this field and show how the attributes of the reference model may be of use in defining the relationships between current technologies, the direction of future developments and the implications for learners and educational institutions.