3 emerging social learning trends

According to a recent survey by TrainingMag.com, US total expenditures in training appear to be increasing. The amount spent on training jumped about 13% from 2010, including increases in overall training budgets and payroll, and spending on outside products and services.

3 social learning trends are emerging:

1. Social Learning

For Tony Bingham, CEO of the American Society for Training and Development: “Social learning is learning with and from others, often — but not always — with social media tools,” Bingham explains. “Social learning is a powerful approach to sharing and discovering a whole array of options, leading to more informed decision-making and a more intimate, expansive and dynamic understanding of the culture and context in which we work.”

There are many benefits to incorporating social learning into an organization: “Incorporating social learning creates networks of knowledgeable people to work across time and space to make informed decisions and solve complex problems,” Bingham says. “Learning happens more quickly and broadly. Innovation happens faster. And tacit knowledge can be retained and reused.”

2. Social Networking Techniques

Many trainers are using social networking platforms to create activities and exercises for their programs. Jane Bozarth,author of Social Media for Trainers explains how using social networks can enhance training: “Social media tools help to amplify the social and informal learning already going on in organizations all the time, every day, and make the learning available on a much larger scale. They provide ways to connect talent pools and expertise in an organization or within a practice area, and can offer just-in-time solutions to problems and performance issues.”

“Participants are happy to engage with one another using social media tools for training purposes. They find it convenient, useful for learning at the moment of need, and [that it helps them] develop a greater sense of control over their learning.”

“Social media tools are just tools and can be effectively employed to support the gamut of training activities, from introductions to role plays to discussions of video clips, and anything in between.” But she does offer one recommendation: “I hope we see learning and development practitioners moving toward partnering with learners and away from feeling their role is to direct them.”

3. Gamification

A frequent training request is make subjects fun — and what better way to learn a new topic than by playing a game? Karl M. Kapp, professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University and author of The Gamification of Training: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Learning and Instruction, shares the concept of using games for learning. “Studies indicate that games, when designed properly, motivate learners, improve learner retention and encourage students who aren’t typically ‘academic’ to partake in the learning process,” he says. “There is no reason learning has to always be hard or difficult.”

“When done correctly, gamification provides an experience that is inherently engaging and, most importantly, promotes learning. The elements of games that make for effective gamification are those of storytelling, which provides a context, challenge, immediate feedback, sense of curiosity, problem-solving, a sense of accomplishment, autonomy and mastery.”

Adding social networks and games to training programs has the potential to shake up the learning experience. It can create constant learning opportunities, real-time knowledge sharing and improved participant engagement.

Source : Mashable

Louis Rhéaume
Infocom Intelligence
louis@infocomintelligence.com
Twitter: @InfocomAnalysis