Social learning translates, in simple terms, to learning with and through others. We are social beings and interactions with others are essential to our development, at all stages of our life, we are therefore facing the most natural form of learning.

Albert Bandura comes up with the theory of social learning demonstrating the importance and ability we have to reproduce an observed behavior. On the other hand, according to the 70:20:10 model, on-the-job learning occurs: 70% of everything we learn comes from observing others and experiences, 20% from interacting with others, and the remaining 10% via of structured and formal training. These are the numbers that materialize the importance of theory with the relevance of methodology within organizations, in a corporate environment.

Increasingly, organizations recognize the importance of social learning and see it as a way to offer meaningful experiences to their employees, customers and partners, due to the many benefits that this methodology brings us.

Social learning in virtual learning environments/communities

• Online social learning creates a collaborative and inclusive environment that encourages sharing. Increased sharing generates discussions and often generates ideas, solutions and/or creations that we would not otherwise achieve. Social learning promotes collaboration among employees;

• helps achieve effective communication;

• improves levels of involvement among employees;

• leverages the feeling of belonging to a community/entity.

Using social learning clearly facilitates learning through interaction with others and allows for greater application of learning in a work context.

With the increase in the incorporation of digital learning in L&D strategies, one of the challenges that organizations have faced is how to keep participants engaged in training. Social learning is a key way to achieve this.

Although there is still a strong requirement for formal learning environments to meet specific learning outcomes, the need for organizations to leverage platforms/tools (and their functionalities) that enable social and informal learning, where employees connect, share, collaborate and exchange ideas to solve problems is gaining ground. Proof of this are the requests we receive and the needs we detect in the Digital Learning Experience projects at ISQe. And without a doubt, social learning comes to answer many challenges.

According to data from the 2020 “LinkedIn's Workplace Learning Report”, 36% of L&D professionals say that social learning will continue to have an impact on online learning over the next 5 years.

So how to make the most of social learning in L&D programs?
Social learning shows us that every interaction is a potential learning opportunity. And because of that, interactions must be capitalized. Here are some ways to incorporate social learning into your L&D strategy, especially in today's predominantly virtual context:

• • Create a corporate online space and invite everyone to participate,

• • Use of social networks and participation in sharing groups;

• • Encouraging interaction and collaboration through videoconferencing and using different internal and/or external tools to respond to challenges;

• • Take advantage of the experts that exist within organizations and create initiatives, such as webinars, that promote the sharing of knowledge and discussion of a subject with free access to them;

• • Make use of the social learning features on the platforms (LMS/LXP), through the sharing of news, notifications, question and answer tools, discussion groups, forums and live chat;

• • Encouraging curation, content recommendation and communities of practice are other ways to enhance social interactions;

• • Promoting competition is a social interaction that involves and motivates. And when we have fun, we learn better. Adding gamification elements to the training, utilizing leaderboards with point systems, time-bound rewards, along with other game elements such as badges, timers and power-ups, will ensure healthy competition and drive learning;

• • Build a Q&A functionality into the learning platform to allow users to post questions that will be answered by Subject Matter Experts, the L&D department or organization stakeholders. Additionally, collecting the most frequently asked questions can serve as a basis for building microlearning content, such as an interactive PDF or infographic. This is an excellent way to involve employees in the construction of the elements that make up their training.

• • There are other ways of creating social interactions in L&D programs and taking advantage of social learning, but the basic assumption is to select initiatives that have a common objective and that facilitate the participation of the target audience. And of course, technology should be an enabler by default.

• • In summary, social learning should be seen as a crucial methodology in the learning strategy and culture of organizations as it promotes an effective improvement in learning, collaboration and employee satisfaction. And naturally, this leads to better organizational results.