Although the concept of social learning has always existed in the world of education, today we are seeing it take a new role, driven by technology and online teaching.
Social learning in an LMS
What are the essential social learning characteristics of Learning Management Systems and how do they facilitate them? For any LMS there are features that are considered essential in terms of social learning.
User profile
Having user profiles is essential for students to provide personal information and allow students to get to know each other and communicate. An LMS should allow students to set up their own notifications so that they can stay in touch with work and colleagues while learning.
News feed or social stream
It is essential that our LMS integrates with other networks. This feature should be able to display student news, announcements, and updates directly on your eLearning platform. In addition, students like to share what they have learned and their successes on their social media. The LMS should be able to integrate with popular social media platforms, so that they have the ability to react to elements that appear in their feeds and communicate with other students.
Live chat
A live chat allows students to chat with other students or tutors online for private conversations, as well as allowing students to search for other classmates, form chat groups, and add relevant users. Students can use this feature to get instant help from their peers and work together to solve learning challenges.
Area of experts in the field
Students will have questions and will want answers. For this it is important that our LMS is able to segment teachers according to their area of knowledge, so students will know which teacher to go to at any time.
Gamification
Gamification allows students to be rewarded for their achievements. Things like posting a leaderboard help keep students logging in and getting recognized. Thanks to gamification, students can participate in friendly competition and compare results, which motivates them to interact and participate more actively in the course.
User generated content
Students can share what they have learned and their own resources with their learning community. With an LMS we can also request comments on topics, set up discussion groups and forums, and recognize students who create content and share what they have learned. Enabling user-generated content is a great way to promote social learning.
Content rating
Thanks to the content classification we will be able to find out what students think about the course content, thanks to comments, surveys and a content classification system we can guarantee that we are providing our students with relevant and timely information.
This is our list of must-have features an LMS must have. What are the must-have features for you?
