From E-Learning to Social Learning

Yesterday, at the Learning & Skills Group Conference in London, I ran a Cafe session, entitled "From E-Learning to Social Learning".  At the end of the session, Jim Potts, handed me a cartoon he had drawn.  Jay Cross took a photo of it for me, and here it is:

Thanks Jim!

Comments

[Ellen]

Jane -- Thanks for posting the cartoon! Great on-the-fly work by Jim, that's for sure.

Question for you, not having the priviledge of attending your session -- do you see social learning as a subset of e-learning?

It seems to me that if "e-learning" still means "learning via electronic means" (or more often these days, "learning via the Web") and if by "social learning" you mean utilizing the various social media options available via the Web, then isn't social learning a type of e-learning?

The distinction is important unless we're assuming that all learning should be social. And I don't believe we should make that assumption (I'm also "learning styles" non-believer). I'm a life-long learner -- currently travelling an area of the USA I haven't been to before and so I'm absorbing all I can about the birds and geology and history that I can. I'm doing this via online resources, but mostly the old fashioned way -- printed books. I look up the birds I don't know. There's nothing social about this. It's very individual and self-driven.

So all of this leads me to ask about your take on the relationship between e-learning and social learning.

Thanks, Jane!

[Jane Hart]

Hi Ellen - for mamy people e-learning = formal, content-focused only learning, whereas social learning = formal and informal, people-focused learning. See my presentations here http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/socialmedia/about.html

[mariana]

I have seen some of your presentations. I'm not really so particular about social learning since I'm just in focus with e-learning. Well what I was thinking is these 2 is associated with each other. e-learning would lead to social learning ad social learning might help on having a better e-learning for people. I think both idea is for people but of course they would always prefer the one where they could have fun while learning. Thanks Jane! -marian-"Training Management Software"

[Jane Hart]

Mariana - the point I have tried to make in my presentations is that it is not just about the content (which most e-learning focuses on) but about people - and how they can learn and wok together and learn from one another in many different ways.