Social learning tools are tools used for pedagogical and androgogical purposes that utilize social software and/or social media in order to facilitate learning through interactions between people and systems. The idea of setting up "social learning tools" is to make education more convenient and widespread. It also permits an interaction between users and/or the software which can bring a different aspect to learning . People can acquire knowledge by distance learning tools, for instance, Facebook, Twitter, Khan Academy and so on. Social learning tools may mediate in formal or informal learning environments to help create connections between learners, instructors and information.These connections form dynamic knowledge networks. Social learning tools are used in schools for teaching/learning and in businesses for training. Within a school environment, the use of social learning tools can have an impact on not only the user (student) but his/her caretaker as well as the his/her instructor. It brings a different approach to the traditional way of learning which affects the student and his/her support circle. Companies also use social learning tools. They used them to improve knowledge transfer within departments and across teams. Businesses use a variety of these tools to create a social learning environment. They are also used in company settings to help improve team work, problem solving, and performance in stressful situations.
Social learning tools are used for people who are willing to share their good ideas/thoughts with someone else. The ideas can be related to either the academic studies or any other daily skills that we want to share with others. Social learning tools connect learning to our daily lives. It creates a learning environment more truthful to today's society. There are a couple of common elements that should to be present in a social learning tool. Technology should be involved to allow physical and cognitive learning. There should be interactions between the people who use the tool and interactions with the software. Another element is trust. Users should trust the software and what other people created.
Frequently Used Social Learning Tools
Social Learning Tools -
Social networking such as Facebook, has been ranked as the top 100 examples of learning tools that people use most frequently. The director of Customer Support for Articulate, Gabe Anderson said that he uses Facebook to check any updated information that are happening nearby. And by clicking the link that people share on their Facebook page, he is able to seeing how his friends feel about the information and what the opinions are. Furthermore, an instructional designer, Pennsylvania said that what learners on Facebook do are just to create an account with a profile. Right afterward, people find someone who are also fascinated in what they are interested in and share different ideas through Facebook. As an example of the use of Facebook, if the teacher manages a classroom page viewed by students and parents, they can post homework assignments-both students and parents know what is expected for the next class (reducing excuse-making for students); share updates, changes, humorous stories, etc; increase the feel of community in classroom; and increase communication between teachers and parents.
Twitter, a free social online networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and receive messages of up to 140 characters. It is funded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone. Media outlets in particular use Twitter as a way to broadcast breaking news. Therefore, people use Twitter as one way to know the updated information about the society. As an example, of the use of Twitter, if the teacher manages a classroom account received by parents and students, they can post reminders for test, assignment due, field trips, conferences, supplies needed; post lesson recaps; answer homework questions; connect students to other classmates and the teacher; and increase communication between teachers and parents. As teaching ideas, the teacher can have students tweet their teacher what they learned that day in class in 140 characters or less, or they can create class discussions over Twitter-studies show that engagement increased more than twice as much for students that were asked to contribute to class discussions and complete assignments using Twitter over a semester, than those students that were not.
Pinterest is a web and mobile application company that operates a software system designed to discover information on the World Wide Web, mainly using images and on a shorter scale, GIFs and videos. For the use of Pinterest in schools, for example, the teacher can manage a classroom account viewed by parents and students to show and tell for teachers and students to parents and to pin students’ work and classroom projects.
Blogger
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. For the use of Blogger in schools, for example, the teacher can moderate a classroom blog written by students and read by teachers, students and parents in order for the students to practice writing (writing a blog requires students to map out their thought and express themselves); for the students to conduct broader application beyond a writing assignment for the teacher (writings to be read by parents and classmates); for everyone to create a community feeling by providing a record of the year. As teaching ideas, most interesting essay or submission on the weekly topic can have the students’ work published on the classroom blog (giving a sense of achievement and inspire hard work for the future reward of online application); or the teacher can create a friendly competition between classes for the best essay or paper.
Skype
Skype is a telecommunications application software product that specializes in providing video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices, the Xbox One console, and smartwatches via the Internet and to regular telephones.[9] This popular, widely known platform provides for group meetings tools that can be particularly effective for remote participants to come together. For example, if you’re thinking about collaborating with a remote classroom, Skype can be huge asset in doing so. Skype is also great from bringing students who might be stuck at home due to illness or other situations into the classroom to join the class for a collaborative dialogue or other activity.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a communication platform developed by Google which includes instant messaging, video chat, SMS and VOIP features. Google Hangouts in becoming an increasingly popular alternative to Skype for bringing remote groups of people to together to communicate and collaborate. A couple advantages Google Hangouts has is the potential to have a Hangout recorded, and the fact that you are less likely to have the occasional availability issue that the free version of Skype can have. Combine Google Hangouts and Google Drive or other similar tools and you can collaboratively edit content while you’re “hanging outâ€!
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website founded in 2005 that was created to for users to share, like, upload and comment on videos. Nowadays, YouTube can be used on many deceives through applications like its YouTube app. Though it is mainly used for music, videos on reviewing items or how to do something, it may also be used for educational purposes. There are many accounts just for specific educational subjects like Crash Course, an account that focuses on subjects like anatomy, biology, chemistry and physics. YouTube can be a great social learning tool in education in many different ways: showing videos on different subjects in class or having students researching how the something works to answer questions, for homework or even to seek further knowledge. There are many platforms of YouTube that lead to other useful social learning tools for educational purposes. TED Talks created its account on YouTube that provides videos of the best ideas from trusted voices discussing different issues, sharing knowledge or facts and opinions, sharing poetry and spoken word. For education, TED has created its own platform called TED-Ed, which is essentially short TED Talks videos that may be used for information or insight purposes on many different school subjects. There is even such thing as TeacherTube, which is another type of social learning tool similar to YouTube though initially created for education teachers. It may be used for teachers, students or parents through the use of published educational videos with a library of different content filled with videos, audio and pictures.
Instagram, founded in 2010, is a social networking app that was created for sharing photos and videos. Used very frequently in today’s society, Instagram can be seen as a great social learning tool through reaching the majority of the populations that have access to the Internet. It has become one of the most popular apps in the social networking world and is now used as a way to campaign companies or organizations. It may be used for educational purposes by post photos or 1-minute videos of information or subject content. It may also be used use for photo essays or creating an organization or lesson.
Types of Environments
The different environments in which social learning tools can be used may influence the connections between learners, educators and the knowledge or information being acquired. These environments can be formal, informal or virtual.
- Formal learning, is the planned process of acquiring knowledge that happens within a structured educational or institute setting. Lecturers in the university setting may use Moodle to post class lectures and the latest information to students, e.g. courseware used during lectures, coursework, quizzes, and forums. Students can both prepare and review for lectures based on what professors have posted at any given time.
- Informal learning (or non-formal learning), is when information is gained inadvertently or unstructured, which usually happens on a day-to-day basis. Informal learning happens outside of the formal classroom during conversations among people, through exploration and personal experiences. Many circumstances can be considered to be part of an informal learning environment, e.g. the casual watching of videos on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube feed.
- Virtual learning, is when learning is done via the use of web-based platforms in and out of school. This learning environment is almost always used for any social learning tool. The virtual learning environment (VLE) encourages students to explore, discover and exchange information quickly, creatively and independently.
There are many social learning tools created with for the sole purpose of education. The education system has adopted technology as a way to educate students in school and outside of school settings, where students have shown to work well in the VLE. Social learning tools including Moodle, Khan Academy, TED-Ed and TeacherTube can all be used both in school and at home through the use of the Internet. This goes to show that social learning tools can be both used within the all learning environments while being used for educational purposes. However, it is important for these social learning tools to first be introduced in the formal learning environment, e.g. in the classroom, in order to established as first an educational tool and second a social media platform that may be accessible outside of school.
The majority of informal learning environments are directly related to the use of social media, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Television Channels and so on. For instance, there are many of Food TV or YouTube Channels that allow people to self-teach themselves how to cook. This is done through the informal and VLE where a person can simply learn from the comfort of their own home and according to their own pace. Not only does social software or media allow society to gain new knowledge or information, it is easily accessible and can even happen without the desire or intent of learning.
Effectiveness in a Classroom Setting
Convenience
Social learning tools provide people a platform to utilize "distance education", people can no longer spend too much time on transportation in order to learn in somewhere. They don't need to be face-to-face communicate with teachers anymore. For the business, they can use the internet or some particular technological systems to improve knowledge transfer within departments and across teams. It can encourage communication and the exchange of knowledge and ideas throughout the department, with the introduction of social learning tools.
What's more, they can use the social learning tools, e.g. Yammer to share their working experience with others, they can also discussing the project process by posting their ideas on the forum. They don’t necessarily to have a meeting which makes their working more convenience.
Cost-efficient, save money
People can use social learning tools to gain information they want. For example, people who watch "MasterChef" learn how to cook dishes without paying anything. They don't need to go and have training in the Food Institute, which help them to cut their daily budgets.
Another example is that students who want to get a higher mark in IELTS examination or SAT need to memorize many new vocabulary words. What those online learning apps do is to teach them different ways for memorizing the words they are unfamiliar with.
Promote commerce
If the business creates a forum for customers to write their feedbacks, they can have more ideas about how to improve their products, which helps the company to create better marketing strategies
Students in the TV learning education environment achieve better learning performance than their counterparts in the traditional environment
Social learning tools have some special functions, such as computer self-efficacy, which means that the people can designate different types of performance according to their capabilities and choose different ways to learn things on computer according to their personal demand. Students can learn at different steps and different speed according to their personal understanding and learning capability.
Drawbacks in a Classroom Setting
Inappropriate or Offensive Use
A major concern among educators regarding social learning tools is the lack of control and monitoring. When students are giving access to the internet, they may post inappropriate content or use these sites in a way that can be disrespectful or damaging to others. Educators do not always have the means to be able to monitor every students’ usage of these social learning tools, therefore students may be able to take advantage of this privilege for their own personal benefit and amusement. Posting pornography or using foul language are just a few examples that highlight the offensive and inappropriate behaviour that can be exhibited by students through social learning tools in classrooms. Â
Distraction from Learning
Social learning tools give students access to the internet, where they can take advantage of other irrelevant websites and interfaces. It is very easy for students to get distracted by other social platforms that can divert their attention away from information being presented in class. This ultimately results in a disruption to the students learning process which is a common concern for the majority of faculty members. Some research has shown that disruption to the learning process can significantly affect a student’s ability to retain information into their long-term memory. Educators should be made aware of the potential risk for technology to be a distraction and set clear guidelines for their students to follow.
Cyberbullying
As the use of technology increases, cyberbullying is becoming more prevalent among students. Although social learning tools give students the ability to interact with teachers and peers, it also provides a them with the opportunity to bully others online. This type of malicious behaviour can be seen at every level of education, including college campuses. Educators should plan to intervene on any incidents of cyberbullying that they see in order to prevent more serious offences. They should also encourage respectful and positive behaviours towards peers when in the classroom and online.
Lack of Face-to-Face Communication
There is much speculation about whether or not social learning tools can provide enough opportunity for the development of real-life social skills. Some educators are concerned that students will not fully develop the ability to communicate effectively or command attention if they are constantly learning through a screen. Although social learning tools create opportunities for students to interact with others via web interfaces, it does not offer them authentic real-life interactions where students are forced to express themselves verbally or connect with others face-to-face.
Protection of Students’ Privacy
Social learning tools such as Facebook and Twitter are online networking websites that are public and can be accessed by anyone. Parents and educators alike have expressed their concerns about students using these platforms, as they could expose students’ identities. Protecting students’ personal privacy should be a top priority for educators, however this can be a challenge when using social learning tools. To prevent these issues from arising, schools should develop a system which ensures that students stay anonymous when posting content online.
Stress for Teachers
Social learning tools give students the ability to communicate efficiently with teachers outside of regular classroom hours. Although this may be a benefit to student learning, excessive stress is placed on teachers to respond quickly and provide feedback. Many faculty members have expressed that technology has negatively impacted their work environment, as digital communication increases their stress levels. Furthermore, they have reported that digital communication has increased the number of hours they work in a day. Educators can also experience added pressure to learn how to teach with social learning tools. Many teachers are skilled with using technology, however they do not possess the knowledge on how to implement social learning tools in teaching. Educators need to be taught how and when to use technology, so they can effectively implement it within their curriculum.
Plagiarism and Student Integrity
Academic integrity is an important part of learning in all educational settings. Plagiarism is a concern for teachers that can be amplified when students are using social learning tools. The internet is a database that holds a multitude of resources available to online users. Unfortunately, direct access to all of this information when using social learning tools makes it easy for students to copy the work of others and use it as their own.
Cost of Equipment
Social learning tools would not exist without the technological devices that harbor them. In order to implement social learning tools into the classroom, the school or school board must invest a large sum of money in order to purchase technological devices for its students. Depending on the budget available, there may not be enough money to buy devices for every student to use. Furthermore, personal cell phones are a popular device that can be used as a vehicle for teaching using social learning tools. However, not every student has the money to buy to a cell phone.
See also
- Social learning (social pedagogy)
References
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