Bringing social learning elements into online learning

When we were creating the Learning Circle, one of the features that was a non-negotiable for us was the inclusion of social learning elements.

This stems from Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) which argues knowledge is constructed when individuals are engaging in activities, receiving feedback and participating in human interaction.

At the core of Social Learning Theory is the idea of embracing and nurturing the interdependence between learning and interaction (Hill, Song, & West, 2009). 

This is a really important concept to consider for anyone involved in teaching and learning.

In most learning situations, there are three main interactions the learner has:

1.       Interaction with the content
2.       Interaction with the teacher/facilitator
3.       Interaction with other learners

Learning occurs through all of these interactions. 

Think about your typical communicative English language classroom. 

Imagine this:

• The teacher sets the context for a speaking task about giving opinions about the use of AI for study and assessment by asking students to discuss how they use AI.  While the students are talking, some students learn new words or grammatical structures from other students.  (Learning here is happening from interaction with others).
  
  
• The class uses a coursebook to look at functional language for giving opinions and agreeing/disagreeing (learning through interaction with content).  The teacher adds some more examples of the functional language to whiteboard (learning through interaction with the teacher) , and then asks students if they have any more to add (learning through interaction with other learners).
  
  
• The students use the functional language to discuss the topic.  While they are doing this, students hear how other students are using language to complete the task, and might change the way they respond to mirror this. (Learning through interactions with other learners).
  
  
• The teacher gives feedback at the end of the task by writing some great sentences they heard and some errors for the class to correct together (learning through the teacher and other learners).

The idea that learning occurs across these three interaction types is generally accepted in face to face teaching and learning.  However, when we transition over to online learning, sometime the only interaction on offer is with the content.  This is particularly true when the learning is asynchronous (you work through it at your own pace in your own time).

So, it was really important to us that we found ways to incorporate social learning elements (all three interactions) into the Learning Circle.

We do this by:

• Adding social learning elements in our courses.  We might ask a question about your opinion, or ask you to describe an activity you use, or upload a lesson plan or task.  Or we might ask what challenges you have experienced with a particular aspect of teaching.  You can respond in the course and see and comment on other people’s posts.  And we’ll be in there commenting too.  We all learn from each other. The best thing is that it is right there in the context of the course, not in a decontextualised facebook group or online forum outside of the course environment.  Asynchronous discussions contribute to allowing learners time to reflect and helps in the assimilation of course (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005)
  
  
• There are discussion boards by topic (example, teaching writing) or context (for example, teaching Business English) where you can generate your own questions and seek ideas from the community, or share something that really worked for you in class.
  
  
• Monthly online Hackathons allow you to interact and work collaboratively with other Learning Circle members in a synchronous manner.  You share ideas to complete a task related to a teaching topic.
  
  

At the heart of social learning is the acknowledgement that learning can come from an interaction with anyone. Everyone has something valid to contribute. 

So make the most of your learning experience and be an active participant.  You never know which discussion may lead to a teaching breakthrough or a fabulous new activity to use in class.