Why You Should Implement Social Learning into Your Online Training Courses

Why You Should Implement Social Learning into Your Online Training Courses

Learning is better with friends, right?

According to Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, people learn better when they do it together. By observing, modeling, and imitating the behaviour of others, people can gain new skills, knowledge, and behaviours.

Think about shadowing someone when you start a new job; you pick up far more indispensable information about the work than you can get from just reading a training manual.

But you’d be remiss to think that this type of learning can only exist in person – happily, humanity has created multiple ways of staying connected from afar.

Social media isn’t just for shouting into the abyss (believe it or not). It can also be used to share and learn new skills. When you need to figure out how to fix a broken appliance, or determine why a piece of electronic equipment isn’t working as it should, do you experiment with trial and error, or do you turn to YouTube, Reddit, or some other online message board to figure it out?

This same approach for exchanging information can be adapted into your eLearning courses. Social learning features may include:

• Discussion forums – which offer a platform for learners to engage in meaningful conversations, ask questions, share insights, and participate in knowledge exchange
• Peer reviews – which provide feedback and constructive criticism, helping learners gain new perspectives and further develop their own processes
• Collaborative projects – which can encourage learners to actively work as a team and facilitate collaboration, problem solving and communication skills
• Online communities – these social media groups, or online communities, allow learners to connect with one another and can promote continuous learning as well as a sense of community
• Webinars – interactive sessions can enable learners to connect with one another and with experts in real time, getting instant feedback

Benefits of Social Learning

Now that we understand a bit more about social learning and what it might look like in an online course, let’s explore the benefits that implementing it can provide.

Increased engagement and active learning

Learners are actively participating in social learning environments, like discussions, debates, and collaborative projects. As this fosters a sense of community, and promotes active participation as well as collaboration, it can also increase learner engagement and motivation.

Knowledge sharing

Social learning promotes a culture of collaboration. Learners can rely on the expertise of peers and share their knowledge with them.

Ongoing learning

Social learning encourages individuals to continuously seek out new information and share their ideas with peers, promoting continuous learning.

Broadened perspectives

With an array of learners from different backgrounds and cultures to connect with, social learning can expand an individual’s perspective to include different viewpoints and challenge their own ideas. This, in turn, can also enhance comprehension and retention of the course content.

Real-world relevance

Social learning gives learners the opportunity to see how the course content can be applied to real-life situations. In addition, learners who are required to work collaboratively and communicate effectively are also refining real-world skills that are needed to be successful in work environments.

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