Explore: Research trends in digital learning and select the trend that will make the most impact on digital learning over the next five years.
Answer: Which trend did you select? How do you foresee this trend impacting online learning? Will this trend be a learning fad or will it become an essential part of online learning in the future? Explain.
A big trend in digital learning is social learning. Spellman-Cann, Luong, Hendricks, and Roberts define social presence as “the ability of learners to project their personal characteristics into the community of inquiry, thereby presenting themselves as ‘real people’’ (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999, p. 89). It also refers to participants’ ability to engage meaningfully in a community, through developing interpersonal relationships that allow them to communicate openly and freely.” Social learning is even more important in an online setting to avoid isolation in the learner. They must collaborate between individuals through various modes, such as forums, informal chat sessions, sharing sessions, and learning circles.
As online learning becomes more popular through LMS, the need to find ways for students to become social learners is more important than ever this trend will increase.
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