Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/50188
IMPLEMENTING A SOCIAL LEARNING COMMUNITY • When you are trying to apply what you have learned and it doesn't work, or something goes wrong; and • When you need to learn more. When there is a learning need, do you call a co- worker or the helpdesk, or do you open up a browser and perform a search to find the answer? Do you crowd-source the question to ILTA peers, a LinkedIn group or the Twitterverse? " " The point is people are learning all the time. I've heard lawyers say, "I love to learn, but I hate to be trained." Lawyers are great learners, but how do we get learners committed to learning the right things? One way is to connect learners through learning communities. QUALITIES OF A LEARNING COMMUNITY According to Wikipedia, a learning community is a group of people who share common values and beliefs, actively engaged in learning together and from each other. Like any community, a learning community provides its members with the following: • A sense of belonging • A shared sense of purpose • A place to influence the behavior of others • An environment where individual needs can be fulfilled • Share stories and experiences • Express personal opinions and findings • Ask for help SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS FOR LEARNING Pairing social media tools with learning provides yet another opportunity for the creation of learning communities, for improved facilitation of learning and for increased user adoption of technology. There are many options for firms when considering the adoption of a social learning community. In this quickly changing field, we suggest beginning by researching the following tools: Elgg: Elgg is a free and open-source application that includes a social networking engine and publishing platform for running your own social networking site. It brings many social media technologies to its one platform and includes the ability to build and display profile information, blog, create and join groups, connect with co-workers and microblog. People can also share content by adding pages, tagging pages and uploading presentations, documents and multimedia files. Yammer: Yammer brings together all of a company's employees inside a private and secure enterprise social network. It has both a free and subscription model. Key features include enterprise microblogging, profiles, www.iltanet.org Tech Potpourri 29 • A way to feel emotionally connected A good learning community should be a safe zone for people to: The best learning happens in r oblems and r pr eal people and not in classr eal life with r —Charles Handy eal ooms.