Social learning

Social Learning [ˈsəʊʃəl ˈlɜː.nɪŋ] (English for social learning), in English also Social Pedagogy (social pedagogy), denotes both a learning theory and the didactics that is related to this learning theory. The basic idea of social learning is not new. In practice, it is based exclusively on group work . Social learning takes place primarily through the active role of the learner, which usually results from networking within the framework of a community and its specific tasks. The design conditions of groups, their integration into a social structure or hierarchy, as well as the specific setting, play a key role in enabling social learning. The necessary structure within the groups is usually implemented through moderation , which ideally promotes the development of the group as a whole in addition to the development of the group members. One example of this is the theme-centered interaction according to Ruth Cohn . Social learning is currently being discussed in connection with or under the special conditions of social media and is often referred to as connectivism or connectivist learning theory. However, that is not the case.

Concept history and definition

Wikipedia and wikis as successful examples of social learning through active participation in a community. "In fact, the most impressive cognitive achievements of people [...] are not products of individuals acting alone, but rather individuals acting together"

The learning theory behind social learning is old and the didactics of group work is not new either. There are a number of different concepts or approaches that have dealt with and shaped this topic to this day.

History of the term

The term social learning comes from learning psychology and was first used by Julian B. Rotter . This term got its substantive expression in the sense of a psychological learning theory through the research work of Albert Bandura , especially his " Social Learning Theory " from 1963. To this day, learning on the model determines the socio-educational and educational-scientific reception of social learning and the interpretation of the socio-cognitive learning theory . The main focus here is on the emphasis on the practical learning objective and the development of social skills through role models in the group. The central importance of the surrounding social community and the structures of the group for social learning became particularly clear in the discussion about " Communities of Practice ". The theory of situated learning , with the emphasis on negotiating the meaning of knowledge in groups, can also be referred to as a social learning approach. Finally, various connectivist approaches also represent a specific approach to social learning. They particularly emphasize the active parts that learners bring in social learning and that become part of the learning process.

Social learning and social media

This picture shows the basic function of social learning and social media in terms of networking within a community.

Social media or more generally social software have many basic properties that can promote social learning, such as the (sharing) of information . They therefore represent tools for joint learning and can enable didactic social learning. "But social learning does not require the use of social tools and the use of such tools does not necessarily mean that social learning takes place".

functionality

The theoretical independence and functionality of social learning can be illustrated using the example of language learning . Ontogenetically , language precedes the individual. Language has always existed as a social means of communication . Individual language learning is the product of shared participation in social life practice and its social activities, which are essentially conveyed through language. After all, with language you not only learn a way of speaking, but also a specific way of thinking and thus an individual canon of knowledge. The reverse process also applies to social learning: the respective language community determines the meaning through their common use. And thus in many cases only constitutes socio-cultural reality . This fact has been made particularly strong in the discussion about learning in organizations . Other plastic examples, especially for the many implicit parts of knowledge , are the collaborative use of tools and finally the enculturation of cultural behaviors .

definition

There is still no recognized definition of social learning. However, the learner's own activity in the community is always described as a prerequisite. In this way, certain aspects of the knowledge to be learned are generated, which flow into the learning process.

There is currently no scientific or broadly shared definition of social learning. Therefore, above all, specific conditions are described that must be given for social learning or from which social learning can be derived, such as in the English language Wikipedia. Accordingly, social learning is learning that is to be seen in a larger context than purely individual learning or mere group learning. Especially with the emphasis on the importance of the community, social learning goes beyond the approach of social learning. Social learning results from the active social interaction between peers in the context of a social network. As a learning theory, it is to be distinguished from didactics or the methods for achieving a social learning process, which is not always made clear.

Anthropological foundations

What has developed most in the human brain in the course of evolution and in contrast to its closest relatives is the prefrontal cortex. This regulates the situation-appropriate control of actions and the associated cognitive processes. This brain region also develops individually at the latest and is most technically developed through socialization and upbringing.

Anthropologically it is assumed that the biological makeup of humans has not changed for about 40,000 years. This also applies to the basic neural equipment for learning such as attention control. With its different components, attention is one of the most important basic functions of the brain. Higher cognitive processes such as learning are based on intact attentiveness. In a social context, attention has to do with being made aware of something by others - or making others aware of things. In humans, attention control goes right into the biological features. For example, the white part of the eye, called the sclera or dermis, is about three times larger than that of the more than 200 species of non-human primates . This enables people very well to follow the direction of other people's gaze - and thus the direction of their attention. The "eye tracking" has evolved in groups that worked cooperatively and "in which it was advantageous for everyone to keep an eye on the attention of others to solve common tasks in the truest sense of the word". In biological anthropology it can also be shown that in the course of evolution of all areas of the human brain, the neocortex has developed most strongly and has increased in size by around 80 percent. Since the neocortex is also responsible for social interactions, reason and other cognitive functions, this increase in size suggests that the emergence of social interactions among humans represented a great evolutionary force.

The increase in size of the neocortex further shows that in the course of evolution the ability to live together socially has become more and more important for the survival of individual people. Social learning lays the phylogenetic foundation for the ontogenetic development of the individual through learning. In other words, the group advantage became an advantage for the individual. This means that group learning has been an integral part of human learning from the start. Comparative behavioral research has recognized and highlighted important relationships. Another central finding, namely that there is a close connection between body, actions and abstract or theoretical thinking, also accumulated later in psychological research on learning. In particular, philosophical anthropology pointed to related human characteristics very early on. The most important characteristic for the context of social learning is the need for feelings in learning and in particular the phenomenon of empathy , the cosmopolitanism of people, as Adolf Portmann put it. Compared to other species, people have the opportunity to take the perspective of others and thus look at issues with different eyes.

Learning theory basics

Social learning as a learning theory has many approaches and different theoretical bases. The most important aspects result from philosophical considerations ( philosophical anthropology ) as well as from learning psychology and media didactics .

Collective intentionality & mutual knowledge

Social learning using the example of a participation act as shown here in the picture of the fire brigade. The shared intentionality associated with this, which is characteristic of cooperation, cannot be reduced to a form of “I do X + You do X”.

The cooperation competence of people represents the anthropological basis of social learning. The concentration and "common attention" is directed towards what is necessary to achieve the goal, as in the example of the fire brigade in the picture. From this, your own perspective is derived in such a way as to make the contribution necessary to achieve this role-specific, i.e. coordinated with the partners, to make partial steps. Neither in the case of a participatory act nor in social learning, the result can be ascribed to a single or (retrospectively) isolated person. An act of participation must "always be attributed to two or more people at the same time [...] in order to take place at all". This requires something that Michael Tomasello (2010) calls mutual knowledge and collective intentionality. This type of competence development can only be observed in the context of problem-solving processes and mutual, i.e. reciprocal actions, and it differs significantly in acquisition, i.e. in terms of learning theory, from imitation learning or also from stimulus-reaction learning. Mutual, i.e. mutual knowledge, on the other hand, often represents tacit knowledge and is only accessible through reflections on the actions in the group. It is the basis of the “ wisdom of the many ” and of learning in organizations based on the processes there ( learning organizations ). The philosopher John Searle examines the phenomenon of shared intentionality in relation to people's communication skills. Through the common intentionality and language it is ultimately possible for people not only to open up reality, but also to constitute it in the first place using the concepts developed in the process. Social learning emphasizes this creative-active process that groups (can) have in generating knowledge.

Social learning theory

The psychologist Albert Bandura presented a very extensive social learning theory early on, in which he wrote: "Fortunately, people can benefit greatly from the experience of others". In his view, learning is a cognitive process that can be easily observed in a social context. For him, learning happens through the “mere” observation of existing norms in groups, for example through rewarding actions and / or punishing their consequences. "Complex behaviors [...] can only be explained through the influence of models". By combining the aspects of behavioral learning with that of a cognitive process, it actually triggers a further development of the classic behavioristic learning theories. “Learning on the model” via linguistic instructions, in which what is to be learned does not even have to be seen, is, as a social-cognitive learning theory, the current conclusion from Bandura's considerations.

Communities of Practice

The American educator John Caldwell Holt formulated in his theses that (joint) learning is also an activity of the respective learner.

A community of practice describes a group that continuously faces a task or challenge together and constructs communicative and mutual (mutual) meaning. A community of practice is a group in which personal projects are valued and pursued together. The members participate in the fact that their special ability is mutually recognized as a competence. They have long been mentioned in organizational literature as an example of collaborative learning and working. They have become particularly important in the context of companies. Functioning communities of practice have shown that collaboration within a community, especially at the group and team level, is crucial for acquiring and passing on knowledge in organizations. To that extent and from the very beginning, they are deeply an expression of collaborative learning.

Located learning and meaning construction

The negotiation of meaning and the context of the learning action, which is always present, are at the center of this approach. In this context, knowledge is “not copied from one head to another, but an externalization (writing, visualization) is interpreted and constructively appropriated”. Both the symbolic passing on of knowledge and the reconstruction are only possible if a meaning is given. In the approach of situated learning, this meaning is “negotiated” within the group in social interactions (meaning negotiation). The social contacts are not only an opportunity to make your own experiences, but also to shape the environment.

Teaching learners

The pedagogue Paulo Freire emphasizes in his works that all learning as “learning in relationships” always represents a social practice. Learning is not just a matter of receiving, but rather an active and procedural development ability of people. For him, the relationships that arise in groups and communities are both “educationally rich” and shaped by specific social structures (e.g. power structures). For him, reflection and action, analysis and dialogue were the didactic means that should enable a learning process that opens up freedom for those involved. From there, his focus is mainly on the other side of learning, at least what defines human learning practice: teaching. The knowledge that the learners acquire in practice can in turn be used for teaching processes. In the words of Freire: "He who teaches learns while teaching, and whoever learns teaches while learning". This is the context that brings the learner's own activity into focus in the context of social learning.

Social learning in practice

The anthropological history of the origins of people's skills for social learning is due to the fact that they work together together. As a consequence, this means that social learning is both a privileged learning process and normal and widespread. For educational practice, the question of the extent to which social learning can be used systematically and which conditions must be given in the living environment, but also in institutions and organizations, is interesting.

Social learning in the (digital) world

A very special characteristic of social learning is based on the world in which it lives: sharing and thus sharing. Also when it comes to learning.

Social learning, as far as one can safely state, is a very everyday and normal learning process that often enough happens unconsciously in the everyday world . For people, facts are usually always already interpreted facts. The experiences that are made as a result of acting in the lifeworld make it possible to refer to contexts of meaning and to develop patterns of interpretation. Its strength has been described many times and dynamics is an essential aspect of the group dynamics discipline . The enormous success of social media and Web 2.0 applications raised the question of what their everyday success criterion could be very early on . In particular, the merging factor in networks , such as on Facebook or professionally within the framework of LinkedIn , evokes the question of the connection with social learning. Social media are pedagogically (or didactically) particularly well suited to enable social learning,

because they (meanwhile) can be operated technically without any special requirements and
digitality means that they can be easily scaled or used by many people.

Mainly, however, social learning can be made so easy through them because they enable the (old or analog) concept of social coexistence and exchange in a simple way. The participation of group members in learning applies above all to sharing (sharing) information and actively contributing to the knowledge pool through their own knowledge shares. "The strength of this type of software is that it involves everyone in the process that enables group-based collection of knowledge and artifacts of specific interest to the learning community."

Social learning in higher education

In particular, the connectivist variants of cMOOCs fueled the debate on social learning in the university context.

In the context of colleges and universities, the “ Massive Open Online Courses ” (MOOCs) are now viewed as a particularly important variant of digitized knowledge transfer and the collaborative generation of knowledge . The Anglo-Saxon discussions on the use of MOOCs, especially in a connectivist variant, have enormously fueled and positively stimulated the debate about social learning. If participants become active as part of a (connectivist) cMOOC, the central course objective will be that they themselves create contributions that are available to the course (or lecture), for example in the form of blogs, tweets, videos or podcasts. The fact that this participant-generated course content can be commented on, discussed, modified or expanded, creates a close interlinking - and thus a learning community - between learners, their communicative content, the learning object and finally also the teachers ( networking or network). It is noteworthy that the turn towards social learning has started in a core area of university teaching or higher education , namely lectures .

Social learning in an organizational context

This graphic shows the relationship between social learning, social collaboration and implicit and explicit knowledge.

The form of collaboration via social (collaboration) platforms or social software , which is currently strongly favored in the corporate context, has the same roots - and the same effect - as social learning. With the introduction, an attempt is now being made to transfer the positive effects, which can easily be realized in cooperation via social media, to work organization and, above all, learning in organizations. Due to the way it works, which is relatively exclusively linked to groups and teams, it is necessary to take into account the relevant framework conditions of social learning. From a purely technical point of view, social collaboration platforms combine or re-integrate a split that is based on a very limited understanding of work in the sense of a separation of manual and mental work ( Taylorism ). However, they do not automatically remove this organizational separation in the sense of real cooperation and communication about it. Nevertheless - and this is where the history of social learning comes full circle - see it as a consistent continuation of the work, communication and, above all, the learning processes of groups. A social collaboration in organizations must be organized around the processes and groups - and thus removed from the hierarchy. Then social learning, especially through communities of practice , forms the basis for what is referred to as learning in organizations or learning organization in the field of organizational literature and science .

On the didactics of social learning

Social learning is not really new in the field of didactics either, because the topic of group work is a very old concern in the field of education. What is new, however, is the reflection on the possibilities that social media and social software offer in this context. The most important didactic task is to form a real group or community for the respective teaching and learning context. In order for the group members to contribute their experiences, perspectives and also skills when working on or learning a topic, elementary steps are necessary:

Autonomy: The right task . It must not only refer to formal requirements, such as working on a topic. An adequate task is only available when the group members are allowed to independently decide on the perspective of the content, the process of creation, for example in terms of a division of labor, and the choice of means, for example writing in a wiki.
Time and free time . Time freedom must be granted for the group processes as well as for the creation of the content. Above all, this means that there is a correspondingly longer period for the groups to consolidate and work. But also, especially for the group members, that they can freely allocate the time for processing. This is where social media show their full strength.
Participation: processing and processing results . Social learning thrives on the participants making their own contributions. Self-activity is not only an activating element, but also produces results. It is crucial that the results obtained can flow into the teaching / learning process in the further course. Ideally, they do this by building on the results and being able to continue working with the results. At least, however, it must be possible to present the results. This usually also includes the condition of having a vote on the desired topic so that there is motivation to work on the material.
Trust: Identity formation and role finding . Getting to know each other is a particularly important event in terms of building trust as part of social learning. The identity formation or presentation that takes place can also be organized via a digital profile. However, a pseudonymous identity must be stable and recognizable. Ultimately, based on the activities in the group, the participants develop a picture of the people “behind”.
Structure: moderation is important . In the context of autonomous work in the communities, tangible conflicts can also develop. These must be regulated, otherwise the group will no longer be able to work. However, it is not just the case of conflict resolution that is an occasion to suggest moderation to the groups by a group member. It is generally necessary to ensure that the right structures for the work of groups are in place. A recommended methodology for moderation is topic-centered interaction .

literature

S.-P. Ballstaedt: Cognition and perception in the information and knowledge society . 2005. bpb.de ( Memento from October 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
A. Bandura, RH Walters: Social Learning and Personality Development . New York 1963.
A. Bandura: Social Learning Theory. General Learning Press, New York 1971.
F. Bell: Connectivism: Its Place in Theory-Informed Research and Innovation in Technology-Enabled Learning. In: International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning , Vol. 12.3, March 2011, pp. 98–118.
L. Boroditsky, M. Ramscar: The Roles of body and mind in abstract thought. (PDF) Psychological Science Vol. 13, No. 2, March 2002, pp. 185-189.
L. Boroditsky: How language shapes thought. (PDF) Scientific American Feb. 2011, pp. 63-65
B. Collis, J. Moonen: Flexible Learning in a Digital World. In: Open Learning , 17 (3), 2002, pp. 217-230. doi: 10.1080 / 0268051022000048228
ME del Moral, A. Cernea, L. Villalustre: Connectivist learning objects and learning styles. In: Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects , 9, 2013, pp. 105 f.
F. Fischer: Common Knowledge Construction - Theoretical and Methodological Aspects (PDF) Research Report No. 142 of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Chair for Empirical Pedagogy and Educational Psychology, 2001.
P. Freire: Pedagogy of Autonomy. Knowledge required for educational practice . 2nd Edition. Waxmann, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-1870-7
J. Hart: Social Learning Handbook 2014 . Center for Learning & Performance Technologies
P. Janich: The mind readers. Reasons for the limits of neurophysiological research into causes . In: World of Reasons: XXII. German Congress for Philosophy . 11-15 September 2011 at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. Colloquia contributions. Meiner, Hamburg 2012, pp. 498-516
A. Keller: Philosophy of Language . 2nd Edition. Alber, Freiburg 1989
A. Klier: Social eLearning. About learning in groups along social collaboration platforms . In: F. Siepmann (Ed.): Lerntrends 2015. Yearbook eLearning & Wissensmanagement , 2015, pp. 22–27
J. Lave, E. Wenger: Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation . Cambridge University Press, New York 1991.
JM Lin, P. Wang, I. Lin: Pedagogy * technology: A two-dimensional model for teachers' ICT integration. In: British Journal Of Educational Technology , 43 (1), 2012, pp. 97-108, doi: 10.1111 / j.1467-8535.2010.01159.x
TG Measham: How Long Does Social Learning Take? Insights from a longitudinal case study . In: Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal , 26:12, 2013, pp. 1468-1477, doi: 10.1080 / 08941920.2013.799726
K. North, M. Franz, G. Lembke: Knowledge generation and exchange in knowledge communities. (PDF) Communities of Practice. QUEM Report No. 85, 2004.
H. Rakoczy, M. Tomasello: Collective intentionality and cultural development . (PDF) In: DZPh , No. 56, 2008, Berlin, pp. 1–10.
MS Reed, AC Evely, G. Cundill, I. Fazey, J. Glass, A. Laing, J. Newig, B. Parrish, C. Prell, C. Raymond, LC Stringer: What is Social Learning? In: Ecology and Society 15 (4), 2010, p. R1.
A. Schütz, T. Luckmann: Structures of the lifeworld . UVK / UTB, Konstanz 2003, ISBN 3-8252-2412-0
R. Schumacher: The basic underdetermination of brain research with regard to the design of school learning . In: D. Sturma (Ed.): Philosophy and Neurosciences. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2006
G. Siemens: Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning , Vol. 2 No. Jan 1, 2005.
N. Steinhübel: Social Learning. What does personnel development have to do with social media? In: Fundamentals of Further Education / Practical Aids (GdW-PH) , No. 123, March 2015.
K. Sterelny: The Fate of the Third Chimpanzee. (PDF) Co-operation revisited, 2008.
J. Surowiecki: The wisdom of the many. Why groups are smarter than individuals (“The wisdom of crowds”). Goldmann, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-442-15446-3 .
M. Tomasello: Why we cooperate . Suhrkamp, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-26036-4
M. Tomasello, M. Carpenter, J. Call, T. Behne, H. Moll: Understanding and sharing intentions: The origins of cultural cognition . In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences , No. 28/2005, pp. 675–735, eva.mpg.de ( Memento from June 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
S. Wheeler: All Changing: The Social Web and the Future of Higher Education . 2008.

Web links

Commons : Social Learning - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy: Mothers and Others . (PDF) Essay on the development of people in relation to empathy and compassion as constituents of social learning.
Kerres et al .: Social Learning Platforms . (PDF) On the didactic conception of “social learning platforms” for learning in communities.
Daphne Koller: in the TED Talk to learn from online courses (MOOCs) in relation to connectivist ideas.
Mark Pagel: How language transformed humanity . TED Talk on the connection between social learning and language development (English).
Richter, Riemann: Open-Use Application Software . (PDF) Article on the need for meaningful application software.
Siemens, Tittenberger: Emerging Technologies . (PDF) Article on new learning technologies.
Christian Spannagel: Do social media make learning more social? Blog post on whether social media makes learning more social per se.
YouTube video (English with German subtitles) that tries to explain why the technology and media are not important. And why YouTube is particularly suitable for social learning.
Learning in groups . Stangl-Taller.at; Worksheet on learning in groups from a psychological point of view.

Quotes and individual references

↑ Currently, social learning is often equated with social media or with learning “using social media tools”. See for example Steinhübel 2015, p. 114.
↑ So in particular Siemens 2005.
↑ Tomasello 2010, p. 13.
↑ Boroditsky 2011.
↑ See also Keller, 2nd edition, 1989.
↑ See Reed et al. 2010.
↑ Tomasello 2010, p. 66.
↑ See Sterelny 2008.
↑ For example Boroditsky & Ramscar 2002 or Boroditsky 2011.
↑ More precisely, it is about the fact that no (new) memory contents can be stored without emotions, as can be shown with the help of lesion studies.
↑ Rakocy & Tomasello 2008, p. 3
↑ Janich 2013, p. 509, emphasis in the original.
↑ The classic example of this is the example of a color in the philosophy of language. For example, the word magenta constitutes a specifically tinted reddish color. See Keller, 2nd edition, 1989 and Boroditsky 2011.
↑ Bandura 1971, p. 24; own translation.
↑ Bandura 1971, p. 5; own translation.
^ North, Franz & Lembke 2004
↑ cf. Wenger & Snyder 1999
↑ Ballstaedt 2005, p. 1.
↑ Freire, 2nd edition, 2013, p. 25.
↑ The term privileged learning in the neurosciences was chosen for the ability to learn based on genetic or neurophysiological foundations. The description refers to the way in which this learning takes place, i.e. describes the learning process itself.
↑ See Schütz & Luckmann 1975.

Quotes:

↑ “However, social learning doesn't represent a single methodology so much as a range of approaches” (Measham 2012, p. 1469).
^ "However, although social tools takes can make learning a more powerful experience, social learning doesn't demand the use of social tools, and the use of such tools doesn't necessarily mean social learning will take place" (Hart 2014, p . 13).
↑ “Social learning is learning that takes place at a wider scale than individual or group learning, up to a societal scale, through social interaction between peers” somewhere in the English language Wikipedia.
↑ “We emphasize the need to distinguish social learning as a concept from the conditions or methods that may facilitate social learning” (Reed et al. 2010).
↑ “Privileged learning exists when it is established by biological development programs which environmental conditions trigger certain learning processes and how these learning processes then take place” (Schumacher 2006, p. 178).
↑ This is not intended to relativize the problem that access conditions to social media continue to play an important role in the sense of a digital division in society.
↑ “The power of this kind of software is that it includes all in the process of creating group based collections of knowledge, and artefacts that are of specific interest to the learning community” (Wheeler 2008, p. 5).