Interface Design for Learning: Design Strategies for Learning Experiences

6. Learning Is Social

How we can design interfaces that foster social interaction, collaborative learning, and communities of practice

« The Backstory

We Learn Better Together

Training often gives people solutions to problems already solved. Collaboration addresses challenges no one has overcome before ... . The 21st century mind is a collective mind where we access what we know in our friends’ and colleagues’ brains. Together we can be smarter and can address ever more challenging problems.

— TONY BINGHAM AND MARCIA CONNER, The New Social Learning

The idea that we learn from others isn’t big news, and some educators maintain it’s the only way we learn. In Chapter 2, “How We Learn,” we looked at social constructivism and situated learning theories, ...