It’s a small world after all

It’s a small world after all!

Traditionally, learning took place in a formal classroom/lecture setting, but in a post Covid world – virtual classrooms have increased in popularity. We now learn more than ever before from a variety of online material; e-books, podcasts, even online courses on sites such as Udemy, Alison and Futurelearn. Educational establishments use some of these methods, but learning has never been, and should never be, limited to the establishment.

Learning by sharing information between people is as old as the hills but now technology has eliminated the distance factor as well. I wrote a piece that I originally published on LinkedIn about learning from peers and how the model for learning has changed and, of course, would welcome any thoughts on this.

Learning from Social Media

In addition to learning from others from coaching, mentoring and peer networking, learning in the broadest sense is also heavily reliant on “social media”. We spend so much time on the many different platforms that the messages on them (sometimes false, sometimes real) are forming our learning.

For example, If you are a hairdresser in the UK, then the opportunity to connect with a worldwide hairdressing group can bring a whole host of possibilities in terms of learning new styles, sharing tips, latest fashions, innovative products. Get involved on social media with your passion, your work, whatever it is that interests you, and you’ll find yourself learning a host of new things.

The 1% Rule

Interestingly, various sources over a period of time show that only 1% of the users of a website actively create new content, while the other 99% of the participants only ‘lurk’. On a collaborative site, 90% of the participants of a community only view content, 9% of the participants edit content, and 1% of the participants actively create new content. This demonstrates that the majority of us use online platforms to learn, rather than to teach.

More recent statistics are showing a shift however, and suggest figures are more 90% ‘lurking’ and 10% creation as engagers gain more confidence in their opinions, likely because they’ve been learning so much from others.

So which are you and which will you be? A learner or a creator? I’m happy to ‘engage’ — let’s chat.

Why not tweet me @SafarazAli.