Social media: the digital learning glue

Digital learning has developed dramatically over the last 40 years alongside technological advances. From distance education of the 80s, to Massive Open Online Courses of the 2010s, there is one aspect that is finally getting the attention it deserves in 2021 - the social aspect of distance learning.

What is Digital Learning Design anyway?

Digital learning design is the art of designing learning experiences using evidence based pedagogy through the delivery of digital tools - with no expectation that learners will ever be in the same room or learning at the same time.

Currently, the terms asynchronous (not at the same time) and synchronous (at the same time) are buzzing words in the education world which help us talk about the variety of digital learning experiences. Ultimately, this shift to digital is reinforcing what we already knew - learning doesn’t have to be synchronous to be meaningful.

“A day in the life of a digital teacher” - Lexi Keeton

How does learning even happen?

Learning does not occur in a vacuum - it takes place in the interactions which occur in the learning experience (Hillman et. al. 1995). Interactions between the learner-teacher, learner-content and learner-learner occur naturally in a classroom setting.

The digital learning space however, includes a fourth type of interaction: learner-interface, which requires the 21st Century Skill of digital literacy (Adachi, Blake and Katrin, 2018).

This may seem troublesome as not all students arrive to the learning space with the same level of digital literacy - and access to digital tools is another issue that deserves it’s own blog.

How can students learn using tools that they don’t understand though? The good news is - using digital tools to connect and communicate with other learners actually increases the speed and ease (Hillman et. al. 1995) of learning digital tools! Evidence also shows that gameifying the experience (check out episode 1 of my podcast) makes the process of learning new technology even more enjoyable learners.

Connectivism - a modern understanding of learning

While digital literacy is still finding itself in this new educational landscape, Prof. Chie Adachi and her team at Deakin University have identified an important aspect of digital literacy - “Communication, collaboration and participation” (Adachi, Blake and Katrin, 2018) which perfectly aligns with Connectivist principles.

The rise of the MOOC in the 2010s was based on Connectivist learning principles (Siemens 2004) which places emphasis on the learner, their environment and relation to one another within the current technological context.

Connectivism has nothing to do with traditional didactic teaching models and everything to do with continually connecting to one another.

This suggests that using social media tools may be our ticket to increasing learner-interface comfort, digital literacy and place the learner in the centre of the learning experiences even more effectively than, we do face to face.

Social media to connect us all

Many of us already engage with communities online through social media in ways that address Constructivist principles such as maintaining currency, nurturing connections and achieving learning through observing a diversity of opinions.

You have even likely engaged in some type of online learning since mid 2020 which was delivered somehow through social media. Was your experience enhanced through connecting with others through your digital interface?

But does social media support learner-content interactions?

To investigate further I’ve had a chat with Stuart Jay Raj, an Australian linguist living in Thailand who has been teaching languages on digital platforms for over a decade.

Stuart has seen many iterations of digital learning, however his language school, Jcadamy and brain building course, Mindkraft have been booming since his addition of the social media tool, Discord in 2021.

References

Adachi, C., Blake, D. and Katrin, R. (2018) ‘Exploring digital literacy as a graduate learning outcome in higher education: An analysis of an online survey’, pp. 292–297.

Hillman DCA, Willis DJ and Gunawardena CN (1994) 'Learner‐interface interaction in distance education: An extension of contemporary models and strategies for practitioners', American Journal of Distance Education, 8(2):30-42, https://doi.org/10.1080/08923649409526853

Siemens G (2004) 'Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age', Ekim, 6:2011.

Podcast

Intro song: Funky Upbeat Loop by ispeakwaves (CC BY 3.0)

Guest contact details: Stuart Jay Raj on YouTube and Jcademy