As we take off from where we left in earlier posts about learning: - learning has to be like harnessing the flowing river of knowledge that has been there for long.The only regret being that we have ignored it saying it is only for geeks and celebrities who get mileage through publicity, but we cannot ignore the plethora of tools that social media has empowered us with so that we are a part of a global community, that thrives on invention and novelty.
The pursuit of getting involved is the basic concern of any learning professional and many headways have been made by moving learning grounds from classrooms to virtual environments.The example of Ajab in Junagadh where the dilapidated state of school did nothing to hamper the spirit of learning for the children there. Check this link for this motivating story
Most of the times the learning often encounters the biggest hurdle and that is of self motivation and self direction. Getting the learner to participate or rather planting the seed of desire in the learner to want to participate is the greatest victory achieved.
Enter Social Media. This medium of learning has made inroads into the very basic traits of a community that is to participate, cooperate and remain connected by means that were impossible to imagine even a decade ago.
For a very long time training modules have so been constructed that the learning profession has been trying to find the ideal environment in which we can ‘Get learners to’ participate. Suddenly, here was a learning podium given to us for nothing, but better still, most learners were already participating and contributing to these new online communities.
The paradigm has now certainly shifted because creating the right environment is no longer the primary focus; now the focus is on nurturing the community within the environment that technology has served us in a platter.
Social learning is not new to us we have had iterative learning from the stone ages where we learnt by copying the apes, but what made us a race to stand apart is to add new technologies and dynamics to the essential skeleton of invention.
Also our brain being so wired that we lean towards adapting ourselves the newer and sleeker module when logically explained the benefits of the same. Social media is a term to debate on if it really is a gaping hole in the security of information leaked or a right tool to harness the capabilities and empower the individual. In any case I believe that social media is like the internet of yesteryear. Internet has now opened so many ways of meeting people, linking organisations that our world of opportunities has expanded exponentially; yet at the same time, the world is getting smaller every day as the barriers of physical distance are eliminated.
Social media has achieved through human beings what internet had then done with machines. Definitely, we at AttendByVideo.com have empowered this very thinking in our protege’ of ABV smart* where we link your talent and question to the right expert and allow us as humans to come closer to banishing our imperfections and become a more perfect race.
Looking forward to see and learn from this vast community of experts !