PLEs from virtual ethnography of Web 2.0 Luis Torres 1 , Hugo Gonzalez 1 , Jordi Ojeda 1 , Josep Monguet 1 1 Barcelone Tech, School of Engineers UPC, Barcelone Spain { luisyepez13, hugodgdavila, jordi.ojeda, monguet.upc} @gmail.com Abstract This article presents an exploratory research based on the virtual ethnography from an environment of research and learning including new technologies. The ethnography is a method of qualitative research of social sciences that is mainly used in the socio-cultural Anthropology, where it has its theoretical basis. The target was to explore the web 2.0 and its tools. The process of participant observation is by means of a blog, other tools and virtual communities. The result is a descriptive model of the web 2.0 based on a Personal Learning Environment which developed in the ethnographic experience. Keywords. Anthropology, virtual ethnography, web 2.0, PLEs 1. Introduction The ethnographic method has been transformed within the cyberculture, cyberspace and information society context (Escobar et al. 1994, Lévy 1994, Castells 2003). In general terms, the base of the ethnography is the same, meaning the involvement of the researcher within the context and the participant observation; the anthropologist takes part in activities and puts at stake the subjectivity of his descriptions and methods, but new forms of work arise in the Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies (STS), both in his theories, as well as in methods and techniques. For example, the technique of taking notes during the ethnography, takes place at present by means of the field blog, and the ethnography is online, virtual or digital (Estalella and Ardèvol 2007, Murthy 2008). Traditionally, the anthropologist in the field takes notes, does interviews, design schemes, uses the visual and audio-visual means to register information. Later on, with this information he thinks about how to interpret the practices, beliefs, symbols, objects or artefacts and, finally, the every day events. At present, the virtual ethnography has been developed for several years. The research have a theoretical base on the Christine Hine studies (2000). The issue of the ethnography in Internet bases on the fact that Internet is a cultural product that generates social practices, interactions and specific beliefs. There are in the network virtual communities focusing on diverse subjects since some time ago, beginning with consultation forums on issues such as technology and Linus's influences in the development of OpenSource communities. Howard Rheingold, defines virtual communities as social aggregations that emerge from the Internet when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace (1993). Pierre Lévy relates that “human feeling” to the virtualization of the man, emotions, needs and beliefs. Additionally, Lévy mentions the issue of the “collective intelligence” emerging in the digital networks of communication (1995).