Social Learning Theories

To me, social learning is exactly what it sounds like, which has students learning together in a social setting.  This is different than the traditional teaching style that has the teacher talking at the front of the classroom the entire class period while students record notes.  Social learning theory involves student working collaboratively towards a common goal, and also construct memories of what they are learning along the way.  This week in my Walden class we are making a lot of connections to constructionism, which is what we learned about last week.  Constructionism is the process where a student constructs new memories and artifacts about a subject they have never learned about before.  Social learning provides a much more efficient avenue for student to construct these new memories, because they are doing so with other students that are going through the same process as them.  In other words, they are going through the constructing process with fellow classmates, rather than alone.  One of my resources this week was a video in which George Siemens speaks about an argued learning theory he calls connectivism.  He describes connectivism as a networking process in which students link certain things together to further advance their knowledge.  It sounded to me like a snow-balling type of process, where you first inquire about something, then seek a source to find out more about it, which then leads you to another source, and so on, creating this network on information that helps you learn about a given topic.  To put it into my own terms, I relate it to how I came to brew my own beer.  I am a big advocate of craft beers, and am lucky enough to live in the great state of Michigan, which is home to some of the best microbreweries in the world!  After many different microbrews I asked myself, why can't I make my own beer?  I immediately began researching the topic, and found myself immersed in the world of homebrewing.  Once I learned that there was a homebrewing supply shop only 10 minutes from my house, I headed up there to inquire more about what it would take to make my own beer.  They taught me a few things in the store and also recommended online resources that would be very helpful.  Now this is not a story that I share with my students, because I do not condone drinking in my classroom, but the learning process that I went through in order to brew my own beer is very similar to what Siemens refers to as connectivism.  I had a network of resources that I consulted where I learned more and more as I went from one source to the next.  I used social media, whether it was the Internet, cell phone, or face-to-face interaction to learn what I wanted to do.  This is a very efficient way of learning, and I did most of it on my own.  To translate this into my classroom, I am always telling my students to consult the Internet about any question they have about anything.  The great thing about the Internet is the fact that there is usually at least one person who has something to say about just anything you have to ask.  As a result, you can explore any topic you want to learn more about, and whether the information you initially find is correct or not, you have at least started down the path of inquiry.

Moreover, in order to promote social learning in the classroom, many teachers use collaborative learning activities.  Collaborative learning activities are really just a fancy name for group activities.  In the book 'Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works', the authors have an entire chapter on collaborative learning.  They make a few critical recommendations about which include: varying the criteria in which you group students, keeping groups to a manageable size, and using appropriate groups in different scenarios.  The first two recommendations are pretty self-explanatory, although I will note that the authors strongly recommend to not group students by their ability.  The last recommendation of using appropriate groups, however, deals with finding the right type of group for a given activity.  Say you are planning a major activity in your class, this is an instance where you want to put a lot of thought into how you group students, versus an impromptu activity where you might just randomly assign groups by numbering students or having them turn to a nearby student.  Regardless of the method you use for collaborative learning activities, the process is what is important.  During these activities, granted they are well developed, you will see students working together towards a common goal.  Most of these activities have students delegating roles and responsibilities among each other and also deciding what information is important to include and what is not.  Another benefit that comes with collaborative learning is the ability for students to teach students.  Many teachers often say that they never really understood a topic so well until they actually taught it to somebody, so why not give your students a chance to do the same?  Even if there is a portion of the project that no student in the group understands or knows how to explain to the group, there will always be what Dr. Michael Orey refers to as a 'more knowledgeable other', which could either be the teacher, or the Internet.  Either way, the teacher does not need to be the first or primary resource that students consult when they are pressed with a problem.  They can ask a member of their group, then try and solve the problem together, or consult the Internet and verify with the teacher.  Either way, what social and collaborative learning have in mind is having the students rely less on the teacher, and more on themselves and their ability to seek out information on their own.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program nine: Connectivism as a learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with

       classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.