There is no denying the fact that humans learn from people around them. Humans are social animals who love to interact and communicate with other people. Social learning occurs every second, every minute, every hour, and every day, without us realizing that we are actually learning.
The idea of social learning was propounded by Albert Bandura. According to him, learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context. Observations, imitation, and direct instruction facilitate social learning.
Today, many organizations are incorporating social learning features into their eLearning platforms. The presence of millennials on social networking platforms has made it inevitable for organizations to adopt eLearning. This can be helpful in several ways. Like-
- Increased motivation
- Increased engagement
- Increased retention
- Increased productivity
Thus, infusing social learning into your training efforts is a must. It improves the quality of your online training content by making it more collaborative for online learners and instructors. Today, learners like to connect, stay informed and share experiences on social media platforms. This needs to be leveraged by the organization to market its products and services and cater to the needs of a wider audience.
Facilitating social learning has never been easier. You can use tools like Auzmor Learn, which is a learning management system to make learning more engaging, accessible, and collaborative.
But what features does an organization need to make social learning possible? Well, here’s a list of 6 essential social learning features that your LMS needs:
- Live chat-
Live chat is a fantastic social learning tool as it connects online learners quickly. Also, it gets their burning questions answered immediately. Online learners can communicate directly with their peers, online instructors, seniors, and other subject matter experts, to raise queries, and get feedback and recommendations related to eLearning courses. Since there is instant communication, one need not wait for others to see their post or email. Everything happens swiftly.
- Social feed-
If you’re a social media user, then you must be familiar with the term “social feed”. Social feeds are widgets created by users to express their views, queries, and achievements. Such a social learning tool can be incorporated into your LMS that will allow online learners to connect. For instance, an ex-employee can share his training experience and let others know about the quality of your online training programs. Other learners or employees can simply like, share, and comment on such social feeds. The most liked and shared post will appear on the top, which can be a great technique for marketing and brand-building your organization’s training programs. You can also use social feeds to share company news or announcements.
- Social clubs-
A social club is a perfect spot for like-minded people to share their experiences and views. It is similar to those book clubs or swimming clubs that bring together people with similar interests and passions.
You can create social clubs for online learners who can discuss and debate on a specific topic or collaborate on a specific eLearning project. Also, such clubs can be created for sales teams who can share their strategy for escalating sales of the products.
- Battles-
Battles are quizzes that pits one online learner against another. It is a remarkable social learning tool that can build healthy competition and ignite the learning spirit among online learners. The battle’s score can be displayed on the leaderboard to give a sense of contentment and satisfaction to online learners.
- Experts area-
Knowledge transfer is very essential for ensuring continuous learning. However, knowledge transfer can be challenging when knowledge is hoarded, and the exchange of knowledge isn’t promoted by the organization.
The subject matter experts in your organization can do wonders for online learners by helping them improve their weaknesses. They can guide them, answer questions and help online learners to grow.
You can dedicate an area on your LMS to subject matter experts, who can be reached out by online learners easily.
When a learner asks a question that is asked by the other learners as well, you can post such questions with answers to your FAQ section. This will help even those online learners who face similar problems.
- Rate, review, and comment-
Rate, review, and comment is a perfect strategy to build your presence in the eLearning market. When the existing and previous learners and employees rate, review, and comment on your eLearning courses, it can be beneficial in several ways.
For example
- It helps organizations to attract more customers.
- It helps online learners to pick up the best and most useful eLearning content and courses.
Conclusion-
In the work from home age, social learning is becoming more and more popular. This way of informal learning in your formal online training setup can make online learning more fun. The dull online training sessions can be lightened up by incorporating the aforementioned social learning tools. It makes online learners feel more valued and respected. Thus, social learning is an engine of growth for your organization.
