Social Media & Formal Structured Learning

This video shows how there is a need to bid "a fond farewell to the industrial-age training approach" in favour of low-cost, practical (formal) social learning methods: Goodbye butts in chairs.

Today's learners are different! Jane Hart's article, Understanding Today's Learner, for the eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions magazine (September 2009) profiles today's new learners in terms of:
(a) age and attitudinal differences, and
(b) by their use of technology, in particular Web 2.0 social media tools.

It also identifies the features of today's new social-media-savvy learner, and the type of learning that best suits them, i.e.

They prefer hyperlinked information coming from many sources.

They are skilled multi-taskers, and they parallel process. They are used to simultaneously working with different content, and interacting with others.

They are highly visual learners, preferring to process pictures, sounds, and video rather than text.

They are experiential learners who learn by discovery rather than being �told.� They like to interact with content to explore and draw their own conclusions. Simulations, games, and role playing allow them to learn by �being there,� and also to enjoy themselves and have fun.

They have short attention spans, so prefer bite-sited chunks of content (either on a PC or iPod).

They are very social, and love to share with others.

They enjoy working in teams. Interaction with others is key to their learning, and they want to be part of a community, collaborating, sharing, and exchanging ideas.

They are happy to take on different roles in their learning, either as a student, or even as an instructor, facilitator, or supporter of others, and switch between them.

They prefer to learn �just in time,� that is, have access to relevant information they can apply immediately.

They need immediate feedback, responsiveness, and ideas from others, as they are used to instant gratification.

They are very independent learners, and are able to teach themselves with guidance; they don�t need sets of instructions like their predecessors � just like they found out how to use their iPods or Google.

They prefer to construct their own learning � assembling information and tools from different sources.

Formal course design will need to take account of the features of today's new learners and in particular provide a more social approach to learning:.

Formal Social Learning Design Models

When applying social media to formal course design, there are a number of models available.

Wrap-around model � here the social aspects of learning are added-on to the content to provide tutor and peer-support for understanding the content. This model is often used where the content is delivered via LMS or VLE (and the social aspects via stand-alone social media tools or social learning platform like Elgg), where the social course is wrapped around existing content or courseware. This model is sometimes used, e.g. to provide a discussion area within a course. However, this model needs to be used with care since it won't work well if social aspects are simply bolted on without good reason; they will not used.
Integrated model - here the social and collaboration aspects are well integrated into the content , i.e. firmly embedded in the course, so that the learner fully participates and is active in the social side of the course. Here the focus is still on the content with social aspects supporting the content.
Collaboration model - here it is the social and collaboration aspects that are the focus for the learning - not the content - the content is co-created by the learners - so that the learner fully participates and is active in the learning. This model is used where a problem-based or inquiry-based learning approach is used, and here the tutor is an equal member of the learning group "the guide on the side" rather than the "sage on the stage"

Using social media

Here are some of the ways that social media can be used within formal courses for BOTH asynchronous courses and live formal learning events.

Educators can write course blogs to host an entire course, to provide a chronological focus for assignments, a site for student interaction and discussion, where students can contribute thoughts and experiences

Students can write blogs to reflect on their learning (e.g. Learning Logs) or to post e-portfolios and to comment on the other student blogs.

Educators and students can use a micro-blogging service to an keep each other up to date with course news and information as and when to find it

Educators and students can use micro-blogging service as a backchannel during a live learning event

Educators and students can share their own as well as other user-generated podcasts, presentations, screencasts (software demos) and videos, embed them in blogs, websites, etc, and comment on each others resources

Educators and students can build a course library of relevant course links (to research, presentations, videos, etc) based on shared bookmarks using a course tag within a social bookmarking service

Educators can use mind maps for creating a visual organiser for teaching content for conceptual understanding with their classes or workshops

Educators can set up a collaborative class space, into which they embed videos, documents, presentations etc, and which students can interact with and contribute to.

Educators can set up a class "social network" or "learning community" for students to meet and communicate with one another - before, during and after the course

Students can have group discussions and group chat
Study/peer groups can work on team/ project activities - (see Group Directed Learning)

Reading

Four ways user generated content can make its way into formal learning, Dawn Poulos, Xyleme Insider, 20 January 2010

Social learning facilitators

Facilitators are those individuals who will be part of the delivery of the formal social course. They may be the same person as the designer (e.g. academic) or they may be quite different. However, they will have an important role in the ensuring the success of formal social learning.

It goes without saying that they will need to to be fully conversant with the design of the course, the sequence and timing of the social activities, and the outcomes to be achieved.

However, they will also need to be effective community managers, building and fostering the community. For more on this see Online community building

Preparing your learners for social learning

Many online courses now require students to collaborate, but we know that just putting people together in the same space isn�t enough? What should a tutor do to prepare students for collaborative tasks? Take a look at this resource

Collaboration online, Jenny Connected, 1 June 2009

Social Learning and the LMS/Course Management System

In corporate training, Formal Structured Learning is usually delivered and managed through a learning management system (LMS). Essentially this is a database in which companies can add a catalogue of courses - either ones they have bought off-the-shelf or bespoke courses they have developed or had developed for them. Users/learners then register for the courses and the system is able to track their activity which then provides reports on both courses taken and completed as well as users, ie what they have been studying.

Some LMS have now expanded their functionality to include content management functionality (i.e. to support the re-use of learning content within the system), these types of system are known as LCMS - Learning Content Management Systems. Some newer Learning Management systems are now even incorporating some social media applications and are often referred to as LMS 2.0.

In education, course management systems (CMS) or virtual learning environments (VLEs as they are known in the UK) are used to support academic courses. Course management systems provide the functionality for teachers and trainers to create course content which students can then enrol to access. Instructors and students can also make use of a range of tools (like discussion forums and real-time chat) for course communication purposes and there are often even blogs and wikis included as well to foster a collaborative approach to learning. Student activity can also be tracked and course statistics can be reported.

What are the pros and cons of LMS and VLE?

Pros:

LMS are suitable for tracking usage of compliance or regulatory training
VLEs are a useful way of getting educationalists started with the basics of e-learning
A VLE has a standard interface to work with all the different elements of the systems
A formal learner knows where to go to access their formal, structured learning

Cons:

LMS and VLEs are only intended for formal structured learning - i.e. delivering, managing and tracking formal courses, which means they are unable to support the other learning needs of individuals and groups, as there is limited provision for groups to build ad hoc spaces for project or team working and learning.

Josh Bersin, US Enterprise Learning Analyst stated in April 2009:

"Our research shows that more than 65% of organizations now believe that their highest value corporate training strategies rely upon informal learning: collaboration, coaching, learning on-demand, and social networking." (source)

"You do not need, nor should you expect, an LMS to solve this problem. Today you can build these systems without heavy investment, and unfortunately most of the LMS vendors still do not have much to offer in this areas." (source)

See Comparison of the technology options

Reading Lists: