Creating-entrepreneurial-mindset

T. KurbanowOERs are Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), offered by renowned universities(e.g. the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford Universityand dozens of others) on such Web platforms as Coursera.org, Udacity.com,edX.org. After registration, every user gains the opportunity to study a college or universitylevel course, get learning materials in the form of video lectures and/ or readings,create learning communities with other course participants, and earn a certificateof participation on condition the learner finishes the course successfully.Communication and socializing via the digital channels has become possible due tothe rapid development of social software on the Web 2.0. The concept of social softwareunites all the tools which allow people to connect, communicate, and create networks(Attwell, 2007). Social media help to form human networks for mutual learning,and provide insight into how other students worldwide work on similar learning tasks.Thus, the Internet is not only the repository of resources, or information delivery vehicle,but also the virtual space for building connections with other learners, sharingviews and content, reflecting and shaping ideas.This way, the new learning paradigm is no longer based upon the idea of an omniscientteacher transmitting data and information to passive students, with all limited byrigid curriculum. Rather, the vision of contemporary learning stimulates student activediscovery of personally meaningful educational content in accordance with their learningpreferences. Quality educational interaction between students and teachers grantingstudents more independence, reflection, and consciousness in learning is an essentialconstituent of the new learning paradigm. The curriculum and teaching are becomingmore flexible, allowing individuals to move along their own learning trajectories.2. The concept of Personal Learning Environment.Personal Learning Environment integrates into a coherent entirety the wide range ofresources, contexts, and services a learner utilizes in his/ her educational activities.EDUCAUSE defines Personal Learning Environment as a combination of “tools,communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learnersuse to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals” (EDUCAUSE 2009, p.1). Scott Wilson et al. (2007, p. 176) and Graham Attwell (2007, p. 7) state that PLE isnot a software or a desktop application, but rather a pattern learners create to learn withdiverse technologies, or a new approach to the use of technologies for learning. AlecCouros (2010, p. 125) understands PLEs as “tools, artifacts, processes, and physicalconnections that allow learners to control and manage their learning”.PLE brings together all sorts and episodes of learning: institutional learning, informallearning, workplace learning, learning from home, learning driven by problemsolving, learning motivated by personal interest (Attwell 2007). PLE admits learner'sindependence from the educational institution, where the balance should be found betweeninstitutional learning and learning in the wider world (ibid.), and between teach-63