Learning Team B Outline and Overview

1. Overview of Social Learning

1.1. Social Learning is defined as a "process in which individuals observe the behavior of others and its consequences, and modify their own behavior accordingly" (Business Dictionary, 2015, para. 1). In other words social learning takes place when people are in a social setting and they learn from other people's behaviors.

1.2. Social media and social learning are connected because they are both social aspects of a person's life. Social media is used for a variety of different social experience, including social learning. To learn socially, one can use the tool of social media intentionally or unintentionally. For example, an employee can learn from their coworker what not to post on social media when that said coworker got in trouble for posting something inappropriate. Another example of these two being intertwined is a company using social media to train their employees.

2. 4 Social Media Tools

2.1. Pinterest

2.1.1. Description - Pinterest is a web and application online bulletin board. Pinterest is a bulletin board concept that allows for one to upload, sort, save and store images or visuals. The process of storing or tagging is called bookmarking or pinning. People create the boards on Pinterest to share their interest, topics, or themes that they may have

2.1.2. Benefits - Sharing ideas, websites and learning tools can be made easy through "pinning" information.

2.1.3. Limitations - There are analytics restrictions to Pinterest to determine who is visiting the site which could impact measurement. https://econsultancy.com/blog/62714-six-limitations-of-pinterest-for-brands/

2.1.4. Example of organizational application on behalf of social learning - Pinterest could be used as a collaboration tool for businesses and educators. For businesses, the pin boards can hold company logos, standard business forms, and project information. For schools and educators, pin boards can be used for their lesson plans and students can use it to organize their projects

2.2. Wikis

2.2.1. Example of organizational application on behalf of social learning - Through the use of this tool, an organization can benefit from an organizational standpoint as well as a collaborative standpoint. It is a great place for teachers to communicate with students and also for students to collaborate on porojects.

2.2.2. Description - Wikispace is a collaborative area where individuals contribute to a group. The application features consist of: classroom management, project-based learning, a safe social networking area, the creation of knowledge communities, and also incorporates remote learning.

2.2.3. Benefits - This tool can help with assessment by evaluating the amount of work each student does. It also allows an any place any time learning experience. It aids in the developing collaboration skills. It also allows a group to share new ideas.

2.2.4. Limitations - Anyone can edit a Wiki, which could lead to deleting information or students doing the work for others. It also requires an internet connection. http://wikiclassroomtechnology.wikispaces.com/Advantages+and+Disadvantages+of+Wikis

2.3. Slideshare

2.3.1. Example of organizational application on behalf of social learning - Students can search presentations on specific topics as a learning tool and can also upload presentations they have created to share with one another.

2.3.2. Description - users can upload presentations, infographics, documents, videos, PDFs, and webinars

2.3.3. Benefits - Documents are accessible from any computer that has internet access. Slideshare also connects with many other social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, content can also be embedded in wikis and blog

2.3.4. Limitations - when presentations are uploaded, sometimes not all of the animation is supported. There is also a size limit of uploads.

2.4. YouTube

2.4.1. o Example of organizational application on behalf of social learning - In business and education, it aids in training and classroom instruction as well as discussion. Youtube is found to have so various ways to inform, for business it is a tool that can be captured for training and a tool for presentation of projects. In education, Youtube has found its way into the classroom through tutorials and many fascinating ways to education students

2.4.2. Benefits- -Youtube can be used in collaboration with different software programs. Some of those programs are: Microsoft Powerpoint, used in presentations or presentations can be added to a Youtube channel, Documents can be embedded into projects, live links can be added to a presentation or video.

2.4.3. Description -- Youtube is used as a collaborating tool for business and educators. In the business and educational setting, it is used primarily as a form of communication and as a learning tool.

2.4.4. Limitations - YouTube is primarily used for sharing videos. There is not a place to actually collaborate with this tool asidce from making comments.

3. Who is the guide designed for

3.1. This guild is designed for employees of an up and coming franchised, health and fitness center. It will target management teams for the individual centers. Each center will be utilizing the social media training to promote the fitness center when entering a new area, to share what is offered at the center, classes that are provided, new promotions, and other activities.

4. Main Objectives of the Guide

4.1. Educate employees on what social media is and the proper use of social media for social learning and it's benefits.

4.2. Address barriers to social learning and how to overcome them including ethical issues and how to address them.

4.3. Explore 4 differ social media tools and how they can be used with professional development.

4.4. Explain and educate employees how business relationships can be strengthened through social media through topics such as accountability, meeting business goals and objectives, perception of power and sharing of diverse skill sets.

4.5. Provide and explanation of how social media aids in problem solving in a corporate setting.

5. Social Learning

5.1. Barrier: Productivity and efficiency - Solution: Education on web tools and secure a champion; Barrier: Firewall, security, and bandwidth issues - Solutions: updating network capabilities; Barrier: Intellectual property - Solution: Create an understanding of who owns what documents and information; Barrier: Confidentiality - Solution: Create understanding that everything is monitored; Barrier: Policies - Solution: research what other organizations have done, don't allow anonymous posting; and Barrier: Participation, or lack thereof - Solution: create pages that people are likely to visit, create small wikis or discussion boards on FAQs. Source: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/85/overcoming-the-challenges-of-social-learning-in-the-workplace

5.2. Since today's organization is limited in the time available to send employees to offsite formal training, social learning has become a more realistic way for employees to be trained. Studies show 70-90% of what an employee learns is from social learning. Source: https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2012/04/Designing-Learning-for-a-21St-Century-Workforce

5.3. Ethical dilemmas can be created when the work expected to be performed outweighs the amount of time or resources available to complete the task. Role modeling can be an informal way for employees to learn unethical ways of conducting business since employees are subconsciously reenacting the behavior they observe. The best way to prevent unethical behavior is for management to set a standard of what behavior will and will not be tolerated and the consequences of not following these guidelines are made public. Source: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/258153196_Social_Learning_Theory_A_Multicultural_Study_of_Influences_on_Ethical_Behavior

5.4. Social learning is becoming an important tool for training in the workplace with more organizations going worldwide and looking for solutions for knowledge sharing among employees. Studies have shown that 75% of information learned through on the job training is retained vs. 5% learned either via formal or informal learning. Source: http://elearningindustry.com/social-learning-best-practices-for-the-workplace

6. Problem Solving through Social Media

6.1. o What role does social learning play in addressing business problems? It helps businesses learn their audience, it effectively allows businesses to target their audiences effectively, helps find new customers and expand the business audience, allows the company to receive feedback from the customers/audience on the companies performance and etc..The role it plays is it helps to improve market intelligence, therefore allowing the business to get ahead of the competitors, it increases website traffic and search ranking. Businesses can share content easier and faster therefore generating leads for one third of the cost. Source:http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/

6.2. o How does social learning affect an employee’s perception of a problem? Employees see a problem as just a problem, but when social learning is involved the perception is seen differently, one reason is because employees feel as though their voice is not being heard therefore when reached out about a problem their feeling is that the company is not responding to their problems verses that of the customer. In an organization we see where employees who does not fulling understand social learning, will look at a problem differently than one who does. To understand and to change the perception necessary training is needed within a business or organization so that all employees perceptions are seen and met. Source: http://opinion.berkeley.edu/pubs/srcipd.pdf

7. Addressing Business Issues and Strengthening Relationships through Social Learning

7.1. Resource allocation and its affect on the overall effectiveness of social learning within an organization.

7.2. How is accountability handled via social learning, such as with usage or policy considerations? - In using social media, their is a responsibility to be professional with posts and sharing information. Employees can be educated on terms of use with social media and what is appropriate and not appropriate to share or post. In the event an employee were to speak poorly of an organization, corrective actions can occur up to terminations. Employees must be accountable for their actions.

7.3. Social learnings affect an organization’s goals and objectives and the impacts that it can have to drive those goals and objectives.

7.4. Some indicators of success in social learning in an organization are: affinities; social knowledge; network creation; and network development. Source: http://socialbusinessmanifesto.com/social-learning-the-organization-learns-to-learn/

7.5. How does the social learning environment establish employees’ perception of power or hierarchy? The use of social media has the ability to foster a connectedness within a corporation. The senior leaders can share messages with employees and this can aid in making the organization feel as one or as a community. It also allows employees to share their ideas with the whole organization not just their peers or their immediate supervisor.

7.6. Social learning fosters relationships among staff by giving them a place to share their knowledge via social media (social bookmarking, wiki, blogs, etc.) that everyone can access within the organization. Social learning also fosters an environment of knowledge sharing and empowering staff to share knowledge and document those learnings so everyone is in the know.