This is a guest post from Tiffany Fary, a Senior eLearning Instructional Designer in the corporate sector.
When it comes to the terms “Social Learning” and “Communities of Practice”, many people in the corporate learning realm are confused, myself included. We think we know what these mean one day, and then the next day a new theory or idea emerges that turns the whole idea of each upside down and inside out. Are Social Learning and Communities of Practice different? I think they are, but do you?
Social Learning
People in corporations are picking up Social Learning as one of the latest learning “buzzwords” without really knowing what it means. They hear it mentioned mostly through their own social networks and immediately think…”This is new and innovative! Let’s do this!”. It’s up to us then to figure out what to do with it. The scramble for research begins.
Here’s what I think Social Learning means:
Social Learning – Learning by observing, conversing, or questioning. This can take place in an informal or formal setting and sometimes may even occur without the learner realizing that learning is taking place or without making a conscious decision to learn. It’s organic ...