Because of pressure of work, I am not yet fully connected with #PLENK10 but I did want to chip in to this interesting thread.
To me PLE suggests how a learner connecta to their network of people and material resources. I envisage the learner poised and ready for action. What is really interesting is what they then do i.e. their agency within their network. I really like your point about the disaggregation of power not the disaggregation of people but that’s not easy. Moving from joining a class on an LMS with a bounded set of learners and a named teacher to constructing your PLE view of your PLN is a bit like me removing my glasses – the distant becomes fuzzy. First, the issue of scale (very relevant in a MOOC) – we can respond with homophily, feeling safe around those who think like us. Second, the issue of reciprocity. It’s quite obvious to spot the power difference between teacher and student (teachers spending more time speaking than listening) but it’s just as present in our use of social media e.g. when those with largish numbers of Twitter followers choose to follow a subset of them. I like Michael’s point about paper.li – Stephen Fry who did follow back the majority has now resorted to this broadcast mode. Asymmetry of reciprocity is bound to exist as scale increases – it’s what we do and what we are aware of that matters. So if you are an ‘attractive’ node in lots of people’s PLNs then it’s extra challenging to listen and amplify quiet views, probably more challenging even than for a teacher in a traditional classroom. At least we can develop tools to help visualise our networks http://blog.ouseful.info/2010/09/08/deriving-a-persistent-edtech-context-from-the-altc2010-twitter-backchannel/