The Role of The Educator

in The Integrated
Classroom

William Stewart
AET/562
April 3, 2017
Dr. Sean Spear
Overview
Effects of Social Learning.

The Changing Role of The Trainer Via Social Learning.

Social Media Policies and Employee Accountability.

Improving Interpersonal Relationships, Productivity and

Professional Development.

Benefits and Challenges.

Improving Knowledge and Relationships.

Conclusion.
Effects of Social Learning

Employees develop competencies through exploration of new

information and exploitation of existing knowledge (Barkoczi &
Galesic, 2016). This improves an organizations competitiveness:

Social learning is effective at facilitating both types of learning in organizations

(Barkoczi & Galesic, 2016).

Social learning can break down work silos and create effective workflows to
accomplish organizational objectives, which represents changing an organizations
culture.

Employees gain professional development communally and independently using

social learning tools (Barkoczi & Galesic, 2016).

Through employees that are more competent and that share knowledge, organizations
are more capable of achieving objectives, possibly in less time and at higher quality
levels.
The Changing Role of The Educator

According to Bozarth (2010), the traditional concept of learning taking

place only within the classroom is quickly becoming an antiquated
approach:
This is an advantage for trainers rather than a detriment to their role because they
can repurpose their skills (Bozarth, 2010).

They must first research and then use social learning tools themselves in order to
employ them effectively.

They must work closely with other departments to create a social media policy to
guide employees on behavior using new tools.

They must develop competency at adding to the formal classroom experience

additional learning opportunities that span beyond the classrooms and without
time constraints, achievable using social media tools.

Instructor objectives have not changed, but rather the methods to achieve them
have developed to offer new opportunities in training employees (Bozarth, 2010).
Social Media Policies and Accountability
Social media increases the availability of opportunities for employee
misbehavior (Opgenhaffen & Claeys, 2017). It is imperative for
organizations to establish social media policies to guide employees
(Johnston, 2015):

Employees must be formally trained on what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable

use of social learning tools, along with consequences for misbehavior.

Employees need to be coached on the nature of personal reputation as it relates to

behaviors in using social learning tools.

The ramifications of sharing proprietary information outside the organization must be

established and communicated.

A set of social media policies must serve as a guide, specifying specifics of employee
behavior as they relate to the organization.

Formal training should be conducted periodically to reinforce employee understanding

of organizational social media policies (Opgenhaffen & Claeys, 2017).
Relationships, Productivity and Professional
Development

Learning is defined as an interplay between social competence

and personal experience (Wenger, 2000, p. 227):
The social nature of learning dictates that social learning can be an effective
catalyst for improved social relations between all levels and employees in an
organization.

Communities of practice engage employees with one other, which is an

important first step in improving interpersonal relationships.

Educating employees on how to create their own Personal Learning Networks

directly contributes to their professional development.

Encouraging collaboration between employees sets the stage for dialogue and
participation that improves interpersonal relationships (Wenger, 2000, p.
227).
Benefits and Challenges
Social learning consist of a group of learners who interact collaboratively to
develop their knowledge or expertise in order to achieve their goals (Yu-Chang &
Yu-Hui, 2012). This provides benefits:
Creates increased communication between employees.
Fosters innovation and creativity across department borders within an organization.
Increases employee competencies within their roles.
Captures knowledge from employees who are exiting the organization.
Improves an organizations competitiveness in the increasingly competitive global
marketplace (Yu-Chang & Yu-Hui, 2012).

Challenges to creating a social learning environment:

Reducing and managing employee misuse of social learning tools.
Overcoming managerial reluctance to employ social learning tools.
Protecting proprietary information.
Devoting sufficient resources (Apollo Education Group, 2016).
Improving Knowledge and Relationships
Enhancing the training department operations with a social learning
program will improve the organizations ability to meet its objectives
through:
Helping employees develop professionally by empowering them to tap into
knowledge outside of the organization through using personal learning
networks.
Improving productivity by increasing the sharing of information and
knowledge between employees by bringing them together in communities
of practice.
Saving knowledge from departing employees by capturing it through social
learning programs.
Improving interpersonal relationships and communication between
employees by facilitating collaboration and sharing between departments
and employees.
Improving employee morale by helping them develop competencies in their
work roles.
Conclusion
Implementing a social learning program changes the role of the
educator
The benefits of a social learning program are many. To harness the power
they can provide, educators must evolve.
They must be proactive and comprehensive in helping develop social media
policies and helping employees manage behavior using social learning tools
to ensure accountability.
They must ensure that the social media program achieves the goals of
improving interpersonal relationships and increasing productivity and
professional development.
They must utilize the benefits of a social learning program to contribute to
the organizations goals, and be prepared to face the challenges to the
social learning program.
In their ongoing decisions about the social learning program, they must
maintain a focus on improving knowledge and relationships.
References
Barkoczi, D., & Galesic, M. (2016). Social learning strategies modify the effect of network structure on group
performance. Nature Communications, 7, 13109.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.1038/ncomms13109
Bozarth, J. (2010). Social media for trainers: techniques for enhancing and extending learning. San Francisco,
CA: Pfieffer.
Johnston, J. (2015). 'Loose tweets sink fleets' and other sage advice: Social media governance,
policies and guidelines. Journal of Public Affairs (14723891), 15(2), 175-187.
doi:10.1002/pa.153.
Opgenhaffen, M., & Claeys, A. (2017). Between hope and fear: Developing social media guidelines. Employee
Relations, 39(2), 130-144. doi:10.1108/ER-04-2016-0086.
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2), 225-246.
doi:10.1177/135050840072002.
Yu-Chang, H., & Yu-Hui, C. (2012). Mobile microblogging: Using twitter and mobile devices in an online
course to promote learning in authentic contexts. International Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, 13(4), n/a. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/docview/1634472982?accountid=458
Apollo Education Group. (2016). AET 562r3: Social media for professional learning. [VitalSource
Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/60193-1A