Learning leaders give their take on how social learning fits into the workplace.
by Site Staff
March 18, 2013
“[Social learning is] about being with other people, listening to them, watching them, discussing with them … not just in the training room but also as we carry out our work. For me, the most important aspect of social learning is the learning from one another in the workplace as people do their jobs … social media can enhance a lot of that learning that takes place, but you don’t have to have technology for it.” — Jane Hart, founder, Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies
“Social learning is an exchange of ideas or information characterized by friendly interaction providing supplemental understanding via your network.” — Dan Pontefract, head of learning and collaboration, Telus
“Social learning is using Web-based and mobile technologies in the learning process. Some of these tools that are available can allow us to have, in particular in the learning process, interactive dialogue that can allow people to create and exchange content, and that can either be enterprise content or user-generated.” — Teresa Roche, vice president and chief learning officer for Agilent Technologies
“At Accenture, the key to social learning is learning through collaboration with colleagues, and it is the act of connecting people in conversations that leads to learning. These discussions are typically driven by storytelling and problem solving — personal stories of workplace challenges and new ways people have found to solve them. These types of conversations have always had a place in business, whether they happen during meals, travel to client sites or in the office. Today’s technology, however, helps us extend the conversations around the world.” — Rahul Varma, chief learning officer, Accenture
“Social learning [is] any informal learning that happens collaborating with others in a social context. The goal of using technology for social learning is so that an organization can capture the knowledge and reuse it.” — Chris Lennon, director of product management, SilkRoad Technology
“For us, social learning is almost synonymous with informal learning — where learning … is occurring outside of the formalized classroom, so it doesn’t have to happen at a scheduled time. It’s happening more in real time based on when the learners arrive, so [it’s] more learner driven versus facilitator driven.” — Michael Abrams, senior director, talent optimization, Banner Health
