Serving Education and Training Markets Since 2006

Social Learning

Promise of Communities in Education

Authors: Stephen Gilfus Foreword the Gilfus Education Group predicts that over the next few years, educators will make great progress in combining existing technology capabilities with the practices and theories of learning communities to develop a vigorous community learning platform which enables a richer set of educational experiences and facilitates the positive effects characterized by …

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“Social Learning” Buzz Masks Deeper Dimensions

As social learning experts have proven again and again, learning can be more productive if there is clarity about which role models to emulate. This is analogous to being informed about which news sources can be trusted for their reliability and credibility. Moreover, tools are also needed to administer and deliver rewards and incentives whether they are compliments, stars, stickers, points or grades.

Academic and Administrative Education Technology Marketplace Expected to Consolidate within 12-24 Months

“ Today’s release of the ‘Enterprise Education Platform’ marks a milestone moment in redefining the current possibilities of transformational technologies for our educational institutions. The convergence of ERP and LMS technology into a single holistic platform can, and will, increase individual and organizational intelligence, reduce total operational costs and improve institutional outcomes and student success.”

Social Learning Buzz Masks Deeper Dimensions, An Industry Whitepaper from the Gilfus Education Group

August 14th, 2009
While on the exhibit floor at NECC 2009 (The National Education Computing Conference) in late June in Washington, DC, I overheard an intriguing conversation about “social learning.” A very distinguished looking university professor was talking with a small group of graduate students. The professor pointed out to her younger colleagues that scores of exhibitors were promoting solutions for “social learning,” but that the vendors were misappropriating a term that had been established in the education field for a very long time.

She complained that today’s technology companies were simply cobbling together social networking tools such as blogs, wikis and bookmarking tools, pawning them off as “social learning” innovation. As an
e-learning innovator with over a decade of experience in the education sector, this conversation reminded me that several core educational principles were not being thoughtfully considered.

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