Social learning is a sharing knowledge, information and experience via interactive discussion and collaboration among peers. It may be enhanced using technology, including social media.
The idea of social learning has been around over hundred years and Albert Bandura was one of creator's Social Learning theory.
Bandura and Walters, the key proponents of this theory, observed that:
- Learning may not always be behavioural. It is a cognitive process that takes place in social context.
- People learn by observing a behaviour or its consequences (vicarious reinforcement).
- Learning is a product of observations, extraction of information from those observations and interpretation of the behavioural performance (observational learning or modelling). It is not necessary for an observable behavioural change for learning to take place.
- Mere reinforcement does not suffice when it comes to learning, although it does play a role in the learning.
- Learning does not happen in passivity. It is a result of a coordinated impact of cognition, environment, and behaviour (reciprocal determinism).
Social learning is framed by the three core elements of a community: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. Social presence reflects the ability to connect with members of a community of users on a personal level. Cognitive presence is the process of constructing meaning through collaborative inquiry. Finally, teaching presence is the crucial integrating force that structures and leads the educational process in a constructive, collaborative, and sustained manner.
Benefits to producing collaborative learning content
Because most learning is “socially situated,” working together can often produce better results than working by oneself, as the thoughts of one person can stimulate the thinking of other group members. Other benefits of collaborative learning include the following:
- Enhanced retention of knowledge, especially when devices exist for storing "organizational memories"
- Increased control of learners in their own learning
- Higher motivation for learning
- Deeper knowledge and understanding because of the processes of negotiation, argumentation, and exposure to multiple points of view
- A greater sense of being on a team and feeling socially connected
- The chance to explore new ideas and discover new knowledge from interactions among group members
Social learning is more complicated than simply getting people together to learn over a computer network.
It can be full of pitfalls and requires careful design and structure to succeed. Some of the problems include the following:
- Unequal participation by group members
- Resistance to group work by individual learners, especially when learners feel competitive with each other
- Off-task behavior that interrupts the collaborative learning process
- Personality clashes resulting in members not getting along with each other
- Leadership conflicts caused by too many people wanting to be leader or by no one wanting to be a leader
- Groups having members with different ability levels, which can sometimes be a problem
- Group members working at different rates
- Participants with different attendance records
- Cheating or rule-breaking that disrupts the process
- Groups sometimes going on too long without closure
There are many useful online communication tools to interact with others. Here’s some methods you may interact:
- Discussion – present an issue and have the participants talk about it. If they need add info, have them go find it.
- Brainstorming – puts the thinker to work. Present a situation. Ask learners to creatively think.
- Role play – role playing allows the learner to try out the experience.
- Debate – during a debate learners challenge each other.
- Q & A session – allows learners and facilitators to learn more from each other.
- Inquiry based – inquiry-based learning starts with a question. It comes in many forms.