Class organizers and teachers should give more and more importance to social networks and include them in the daily learning schedule. Why should educational institutions encourage the use of social networks in the classroom? According to industry experts, social media results in social learning where students have access to a common platform to share new ideas and communicate with the global audience to develop a better learning environment.
Experts believe that social learning can happen anywhere: in the classroom, at home, or via the web. Teachers create an activity, ask students to participate in it, and then collect comments and questions, if any. Social learning actually gives instructors the opportunity to decide what, when, and how the learning will take place.
I Informal social learning can take place at home or in the workplace where news, thoughts and ideas are discussed with family members or colleagues. However, in schools, colleges or universities, teachers encourage students to create accounts on various social networking websites: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. engaging in an ongoing dialogue between members of a specific group or by commenting on a blog post that is quite relevant to the topics being taught in class. Social learning basically includes the exchange and collaboration of different learning materials and useful information for the personal and intellectual development of students.
Two-way information exchange
Social media, including social networking sites, blogs, wikis, and podcasts, provide an excellent platform for students to share knowledge and network with their peers to broaden the scope of learning. They can read, write, and share relevant text, images, website links, and video clips with each other, transcending geographic boundaries and time constraints.
Facilitates effective communication
Social learning leads to effective communication with people of diverse backgrounds and teachers. You are no longer limited to talking to the professors of the institution or the students only. Social networks, blogs, etc. enable a person to converse, discuss and debate on different topics and spheres of learning with like-minded people studying at some other university in some other country. You have a golden opportunity to connect with people you have never met before.
Personalize the learning experience
Social learning allows a student to initiate learning in two ways. Help the student to collect the exact information that she is looking for; as well as creating content to share with like-minded peers. Additionally, upon successful completion of a project, students can upload their assignments to their personal blog to collect feedback and suggestions from their classmates. This way, they can improve their existing project before submitting the assignment for evaluation.
