Social learning occurs when students have to interact with each other to produce a finished product that exemplifies their learning. Think of last week's lessons on connectivism but with a group consciousness. Personally, it reminds me of the Borg from Star Trek (Oh, if only my students could work in concert like those trying to assimilate the human race.)
The theory gets its roots from the ideology that in order to work collaboratively students must understand both the big picture and small picture details. Assuming all students buy into the group accountability aspect of learning (which means they would likely have to know that they will be assessed individually for doing their part as well as have an incentive to see the whole group do well). There are numerous ways to easily and effectively add to the group consciousness: del.icio.us is a great way of sharing bookmarks and pages of interest with others; google calendar is a fun little tech fix for those that like to see their schedules written out to make sharing easier; there are dozens of different ways to hone the craft of group thought - webquests, moodle, blackboard, and a myriad of various interactive online games that allow students to build their social learning abilibities.VoiceThread is a neat way of having a presentation that can benefit from group contributions.
The strength of social learning is that it most closely resembles a real life activity. In most professions people work along side others and must come to a consensus as to how the work will be done and who will do each part. Thus, it is easy to design a real-life scenario that would use social learning techniques.
Social learning is extremely beneficial because of the way it occurs. A student who is presenting information to a group that must then use that information as a part of their project must be very knowledgeable about the information they have researched. They have to be prepared for the "what ifs..." and the "why nots..." In this manner, they develop an individual confidence that will translate to a group confidence later. Learning is not static, it is dynamic, it changes. During group work students develop a higher level of understanding that transfers short term knowledge into long term memory.
It is funny that you compare Social Learning to the Borg on Star Trek. They were so lacking in personality. I see it more like the werewolves in the Twilight trilogy. They had to work together regardless of their opposing thoughts and beliefs. Ultimately, I agree that it all resembles the successful behavior needed in the careers that they will take on as adults.
ReplyDeleteDreanna
Something that really seems to be a problem for my students when they have a project is time management. I am looking forward to trying the Google Calendar to see if that would help to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteAmy
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteInteresting posting.
"The strength of social learning is that it most closely resembles a real life activity. In most professions people work along side others and must come to a consensus as to how the work will be done and who will do each part. Thus, it is easy to design a real-life scenario that would use social learning techniques....Learning is not static, it is dynamic, it changes."
So true--the authentic context that social learning aligns with can help students prepare for the workplace--additionally concepts come to life for students when they see a real world application.
Yes--learning is dynamic--that is why it is so much more valuable to know how to find information than to memorize information (which will most likely change in time.)
Thanks for sharing.
Susan
Dreanna: I guess the Borg are the dream social learning group - since they share the same thoughts they would instantly work collaboratively to solve a problem without getting off task. Not much of a Twilight fan, I know that there are werewolves though, if that helps!
ReplyDeleteAmy: Google calendar works great for projects that take a few weeks to complete, you can put in suggested deadlines for various parts of the project to help students work on it over time.
Thanks for the comments!
Michael
This thread is a hoot to read.
ReplyDeleteSusan, you stole the thoughts right out of my head. I have gotten into more than one heated debate with colleagues over the importance of understanding HOW to find information, that our students will benefit less from memorization than they will from research skills.
I loved your Borg analogy. If only is right. I find it hard to juggle the whole group/ single focus as far as making sure everyone is accountable. How would you handle a student who doesn't care whether his group gets an F on a project?
ReplyDelete