The Social Learner and the Social Teacher

This weeks lesson on Personal Learning Environments (PLE) was really insightful. I had never really thought much about the network I have put together to further my education. Podcasts, online tutorials, apps. Nowadays, there is a wealth of opportunities available to help us learn.

But it is not just information that is out there. No, now we are so well connected with people that we can chat and discuss anything from Pokemon to Nuclear Physics with complete strangers.

As much as some people like to comment on all the negativity they see on the internet, there is a huge array of selfless individuals uploading and creating things purely for your benefit and will to learn. From small things like Yoga instructors showing you the correct way to do a pose on YouTube, to bigger things like Harvard University offering free courses for anyone online. Or how about this course on cosmology by a Nobel Prize winning physicist? Of course, much of this stems from people looking for ad revenue or recognition, but as Buckingham Shum and Ferguson (2012: 6) note, some of this is due to new ways of attaining accreditation outside of large institutions whose stranglehold is now being loosened

"Internet services may also begin to apply pressure to one of the slowest evolving elements in educational provision: accreditation" and that "initiatives such as OpenBadges may provide new ways to accredit learning outside established institutions."

People seeking out learning are benefiting greatly from these 'Social teachers' making this information available to them and often presenting it in fun and interesting ways.  It is an interesting dynamic at play. Is the demand for such learning seeing educators flock to the web to create and deliver content to the masses online or is the availability of such resources allowing students greater freedom in their PLE's. Perhaps the most likely cause is a combination of both.

Social Learning and Technology

Social learning is not a new idea. Albert Bandura established his theory of modern social learning in the 1970's.Though while he was studying more the behavioural influences of social interactions on a human being, it is fundamentally learning at its core.

"Man's superior cognitive capacity is another factor that determines, not only how he will be affected by his experiences, but the future direction his actions may take" (Bandura, 1971: 2)

So how does the advent of modern technology affect the learning of the social learner? Bandura acknowledged mankind's ability to learn by observation and just as a child may learn not to steal cookies after seeing his brother get spanked,  so too may student's learn from the previous experiences of others. Though it doesn't take a genius to know you shouldn't eat a whole spoon of cinnamon or to try and smash your phone with a hammer, nonetheless, the internet still offers a wide array of more practical and sage advice from people who have learned from their experiences. In our last tutorial, discussing the making of our PLE's we learned some key information about what to do and what not to do, simply from viewing each other's work and discussing it. Martin Weller (2007: 21) in his discussion of socio-cultural learning and VLE's stated that "it is not just engagement with peers that is important, but also observation and interaction with established community members." While in the past this may have been somewhat limited to the layman or those living a large distance from a university, nowadays, people are able to connect with experts in almost every field with the touch of a button, be it answering questions on Reddit MMA's or simply liking a post on Facebook. Even Obama has a twitter account.

It draws many parallels with Drexler's (2010: 370) networked student which although it takes a more constuctivist approach to learning, maintains that need for social interaction, going so far as to state  "The connection to humans is a essential part of the learning process" and that connections between learners tutors and the wider learning community is key

It is the combination of these connections, especially in concert with human to human contact, that provide the most powerful learning potential (Goodyear, 2005)"

Society and all our knowledge and understanding owes greatly to those who have gone before us and those currently at work around us. Modern technological advances have allowed us to be more connected than ever before and it would surely be of great benefit to us, were we to take advantage of this in our quest for knowledge and consider creating more nodes and connections in our Personal Learning Environment's. As Issac Newton himself famously said

"If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." 

Bibliography:

1. Bandura, A. (1971) Social Learning Theory, New York: General Learning Press.
2. Buckingham Shum, S. & Ferguson, R. (2012)Social Learning Analytics. Educational Technology & Society, 15. 3. pp.3-26
3. Drexler, W. (2010) The networked student model for construction of personal learning environments: Balancing teacher control and student autonomy. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26. 3. pp. 369-385
4. Weller, M., (2007) Virtual Learning environments: Using choosing and developing your VLE. Routledge: London and New York.