Human interaction is one of the oldest learning technologies and the basis of social learning. Social learning can be very simple and effective. I like coffee a lot and usually drink it all day long. That means I meet a lot of colleagues at the coffee machine and have short, interesting and valuable conversations with them when I’m at the office. There is a company that decreased the number of coffee machines and water coolers at their offices to support social learning. With the rise of social media and new social platforms, human interaction changed. And so did social learning. To get the most out of social learning, just ‘playing around’ with coffee machines or implementing a social platform doesn’t do the job, as shown by an interesting situation at aNewSpring not too long ago.
The aNewSpring platform has social learning features. A user called us with a complaint: he created an e-learning program on the platform. After a while, he thought social learning would be a good addition. So he switched on the social learning settings. And then… nothing happened (or so he complained)! Effective social learning is hard work. It starts with intentional design and needs a lot of ‘gardening’ as I like to name it.
In this episode of the Learning Notes, you’ll find some of the best resources from experts explaining how to make the best use of social learning. Please use them as conversation starters. Comment, ask, debate and challenge what you read, and more importantly, share! We need all of you to create the best social learning around social learning.
