Using Social Networks for Learning

There’s a new video available from CommonCraft called “Social Networking in Plain English.” I highly recommend that you give it a watch (see below). The video explains the power of networks and how people can benefit from them (ex. finding a job from a friend, finding a mate, etc.). Then it goes into detail about social networks and how they work.

After you watch the video, take the concept a step further and think of social networking in terms of learners and subject matter experts. As an eLearning professional, I always look for ways to help people find the information they need either before they need it or in real-time (as they need it). How can we create social networks for learning? How can we more directly connect people of a particular trade or job function via social network? LinkedIn is the closest example I’ve seen of this, particularly the LinkedIn Answers service. I think this is the start of something very cool.

I highly recommend the other videos available from CommonCraft. Wikis in Plain English and RSS in Plain English are excellent, especially for people new to these technologies.