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Session Lessons: Collaboration Imperative to e-Learning
October 01, 2008
Avoid learner disengagement by embedding Web 2.0 social interaction pods in course content and facilitate interaction among learners.
By Rajini Dasgupta
Informal learning is a key learning modality that cannot
be left to accident. With learners spending more and more time online, experts believe there is a need for definitive social interaction and informal learning tools. Learners and teachers need to go beyond the presented content, either to share more interesting information on the topic or to gain valuable insights from peer contribution. This is possible only when users are allowed to collaborate and learn. This need can be fulfilled by embedding social interaction pods in course
content and facilitating interaction among learners.
Several social interaction tools have been introduced since the advent of Web 2.0 technology, and they can be classified into context-free and in-context social interactions.
Some of the most frequently used context-free social learning options are: blogs (an open-forum chronological communication tool), wikis (a collaborative Website comprising the perpetual work of many authors), social bookmarking (to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of Web pages), and forums (for holding discussions and posting usergenerated content).The problem with such forms of interaction is that the learner tends to get disengaged and lose focus due to the need for accessing several Web pages to obtain different types of information.
How to ensure that informal learning happens in the context of self-paced learning?
In-context social interactions allow learners to come together at the point of learning. Social learning tools have many applications, such as collaborating on projects, threaded discussions on a topic, group assignments, peer support, and debates, to name a few. These interactions can be in the form of polls, discussions, research, bookmarks, relevancy ratings, etc. They lead to even better learning outcomes if they happen on the spot, because it is impossible to include all the information about a topic on one page or even an entire site. Secondly, it provides a way to gain insight into what information learners find valuable. Lastly, it avoids the "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" condition. People are less motivated to participate and contribute to a topic when they leave a Website.
How to regulate learner disengagement/learner isolation?
The e-learning industry long has faced the problem of learner isolation and disengagement due to absence of an interactive media between the learners and the faculty and lack of connectivity among peers. TeemingPod, the first in-context interactivity pod, aims to transform the concept of learning into activity-based learning. The basic idea of TeemingPod is to provide an on-the-spot solution to generate learner interest and add an active ingredient to the e-learning course delivery.
The industry needs one solution that enables social learning interaction integrated in the content and updated in real time. TeemingPod enables users to utilize social data structured and updated in real time. It is one solution that empowers users to enrich and gain access to peer wisdom contribution.
Based in India, Rajini Dasgupta is an associate vice president—product sales at Harbinger Knowledge Products. For more information, e-mail rajini@harbingergroup.com.
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