What is the Role of Social Learning In Education?

“Man is by nature a social animal” - Aristotle (Greek Philosopher) 

Social Learning is the most important skill that every student must possess in 2021. This skill encourages students to take an active interest in their studies and learn from observing each other. In this technology-driven world, there are many social learning networks that are coming forward to provide the best learning experience to students. These networks have integrated social features like connecting with classmates and teachers, attending one-to-one classes, joining forums and discussion groups and so on. 

The Theory of Social Learning was first invented by Albert Bandura in 1977. Through years of research, he proposed the idea that children tend to learn and imitate their surroundings. This behavior is further influenced by factors such as rewards and punishments. Children may behave keeping in mind the consequences that they face. For example, children are constantly surrounded by their parents, teachers, classmates and friends. These people are referred to as ‘Models’ by Albert Bandura. Social learning encourages children to learn and then copy the behavior of those around them. 

What is the Importance of Social Learning in Education? 

Social learning helps students to learn socially with their classmates and teachers. With this approach, students can observe each other’s behavior and learn some positive things from them. For instance, if a student is good at math while the other is average, the one who is good at it can teach the other. The student can learn and observe the method and techniques used to solve a particular math problem and become better at it. 

Apart from this, students learn to develop these skills in the initial stages of learning and implement them in their future. These skills are very important in today’s workforce where individuals are required to constantly collaborate and work with other departments and teams. So, learning this skill is effective during both the initial and later stages of life. 

How to Implement Social Learning in Education? 

There are various ways with the help of which social learning can be implemented in Education. This has especially become easy with EdTech coming into the picture from the past few years. One must know that there are many online learning platforms that are available on the internet however they do not fulfill the purpose of social learning. 

To take the advantage of social learning, one must start learning from social learning network that are provided by Edtech companies. These networks have various features that inculcate social skills in children and help them learn better. 

Let’s discuss some of the interesting features of Social Learning Networks below:

1. These networks encourage collaboration between teachers and students.
2. Students can enroll in one-to-one sessions with their teachers. 
3. Various group activities like connecting with each other and exchanging educational information between students let them focus and engage in their studies better. 

Social Learning can be Implemented in Education as Follows:

1. By conducting Blended learning- Blended learning is the combination of both traditional and online learning. Here, students can learn some concepts in the classroom with the presence of their teachers and complete the related assignments or chapters on their own at home. This is a quite flexible approach to learning as it perfectly blends both offline and online learning. 

1. Now teachers need not search for online teaching platform as they can easily teach their students in the classroom or record the lessons and share the same with them. With the help of this approach, social learning can be encouraged among students as they learn from their teachers in the class. On the other hand, they get to engage in their studies at their own convenience. Students can also learn and discuss their lessons with their friends and indulge in interactive learning. 

1. One to One Online Classes- One to one classes provides good bonding between teachers and students. Here, teachers can teach their students in a real-time environment. Along with this, students can actively participate in the class discussions and learn new concepts together with their teachers. 

1. Gamification- Many social learning networks offer gamification. This can be in the form of various educational games, quizzes, flashcards and so on. Gamification is one of the best methods to engage students by letting them learn from various innovative forms of learning. Students take part in these methods and in turn earn rewards for their success. They learn healthy competition and possess the zeal to perform better for getting rewards. 

Conclusion

There are many benefits of social learning which we saw above. The role of social learning in education is inevitable. This approach is further backed by social learning networks that are available on the internet. These networks are integrated with all the essential features required to inculcate social skills among students. They can now collaborate and learn from the best teachers across the globe. Not only this but the purpose of social learning theory is fulfilled via these networks as students can learn and imitate positive behavior and learning attitude from their peers and teachers.