Social Learning

Posted by: Bri on: September 20, 2010

• In: Crayonbox
• 3 Comments

Though we don’t often feel like we have much time to do it, Grant and I love to sit down with each other and share what we learned from our classes each day. Being able to share this not only strengthens our relationship because we are giving and taking, but it also builds our knowledge. The things I learn from the day are more firmly set in my mind when I share them with another who asks questions, shares insights, and expounds upon my set of knowledge from his own.

Another trick we’ve picked up is sharing our papers with eachother and family/ friends on google documents. It becomes a collborative effort when you have 3 or 4 editors taking a quick glance at your work, and we end up with far more insights and perspectives.

I think professors need to focus more time on what I have heard coined social learning. In many classes we do a lot of reading on our own, a lot of memorization, a lot of assimilating the great thoughts of others. But next semester most of that will be forgotten; why? Not because it doesn’t apply to my life, but because it wasn’t applied to my life; I did not expound on great ideas and add my own interpretation.

I love it when professors put us into groups and have us share and expound on each other’s learning, but it happens far too infrequently . . . and look at all the tools we have to do so! The internet is all about connections and collaboration. We can learn so much more from each other if we would share. How do you share your learning?