http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/05/22/32el-personallearning.h32.html

While PLEs are commonly created using specific technologies and tools, such as online-resource organizers like Symbaloo or EverNote, the model is not wedded to a specific technology but rather to a process that aims to visualize and organize the influx of information and resources that students are confronted with daily. It is essentially an educational response to the overload of information in the digital age.