Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

This week we took a look at social learning and connectivism in practice.  We explored cooperative learning as an instructional strategy with a focus on social learning.  As a Physical Education Teacher, I utilize cooperative learning frequently in my classroom.  Students are grouped in squad lines or base groups at the beginning of the school year and remain the same throughout the duration.  However, there are times throughout the year where modifications to groups must be made for the benefit of all group members. 

When considering the Social Learning Theory and how it applies to learning, we have quickly learned that it certainly provides a unique opportunity in our classroom.  Social learning has many benefits because it allows students to collaborate and when combined with the cooperative learning instructional strategy each student plays a role and has a responsibility within the group. 

Cooperative learning directly relates to the social learning theories that we explored this week.  One of our focuses is with the use of technology, social learning and cooperative learning.  "Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members to of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face." (Pitler, p. 140).  When I think about cooperative learning, I envision students working together to create some sort of a final product.  Additionally, when we consider the role that social networking has on learning, the possibilities are limitless.  Through the use of technology, students can interact with one another from home and with other students all over the world.  George Siemens shared that within the theory of connectivism there is an abundant amount of information and that our networks are rich.  With this knowledge and the careful consideration of technology our students can connect with one another and other students all over the world through blogs, wikis, Facebook, WebQuests and many other avenues.  Through their connections students have the opporutnity to interpret the material and information that they are discussing in their own way, but can also learn something additional through their interaction with others.  The social learning theory directly targets and allows the benefits of social networking.  Our students are engrossed with the use of social networking in their everyday lives, why not include it in our instruction? 

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References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Social Learning Theories. [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory Instruction and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author
Pitler H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.