Social learning is the process of learning through collaboration and interaction with others. Social learning isn t limited to just direct or indirect contact, as it enables learning to occur in a classroom setting, corporate work environment, online, or really anywhere at any time.
The increasing use of elearning, mlearning, and social networking technology over the past decade has resulted in a dramatic rise in both social learning tools and opportunities, both at the educational level and in corporate training and learning environments.
Specific examples of social learning include face-to-face interactions, collaborative work projects, online classes, team-building outings and exercises, interactive chat sessions, social networking, and more.
How Educators Are Leveraging Social Learning in Their Curriculums
By leveraging social learning techniques in their teaching and training curriculums, educators are able to reach larger audiences and better connect with a wider variety of students. Social learning also creates a greater variety of opportunities for engagement and continued discussion and learning beyond the classroom setting, and it helps students learn from each other and better assimilate the educational content.
Social learning also represents a key component in the 70:20:10 model for learning and development, which espouses that students and employees learn best (70%) from doing (on-the-job learning or direct involvement in projects), followed by social learning from interactions with peers (20%), and finally just 10% from traditional, instructor-led classroom settings.
