Business Administration

Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Some of the earliest Learning Management Systems (LMS) were designed for military and corporate personnel to be able to take classes online. Online classes are especially suitable for military personnel on active duty, who are subject to deployment or transfer with little notice.

Corporations that have employees in many different locations can save large amounts of money on training by offering classes that do not depend on the instructor and the students being all in one place. A learning management system helps organizations to manage instruction by making it possible for students to access all course materials at one online location, and by allowing instructors to organize online class meetings as well as grade papers and tests through one system.

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The Social Approach To Learning
The increasing popularity of social media has forced organizations that use LMS to incorporate social media networks or even use social media sites as a model. Instructors who use LMS have discovered that students are much more comfortable asking questions in an online forum than they are in a traditional classroom setting.

The anonymity of an online forum helps students to overcome their fear of appearing foolish when asking questions. Instructors also find that students enrolled in online classes like to contribute or recommend resources that they think are relevant to a course.

If students hear or read comments from other students that the textbook or other course materials do not help them understand a certain subject, they may suggest alternative texts that they find to be more helpful. They may post videos that they found on the internet or class forums if they think that a video helps to answer a question posted on the forum.

The willingness and desire of students to impart as well as receive information has inspired some LMSs to operate on the premise that everyone is an expert at something. They blur the line between students and teachers by inviting students to design and teach their own courses if they feel confident enough in their knowledge of a topic.

Such LMS configurations can be especially suitable in corporate settings. An employee may take an online training course to advance in his or her career. The instructor or other students in the class may recognize that the employee has unique work experience that could be useful if shared with other employees.

The Social Approach To Results
A LMS built on a social media model gives corporate employees a high degree of flexibility in giving and receiving information and training.

They do not necessarily have to be enrolled in a formal course to receive information, and do not necessarily have to be designated as an instructor to allow other employees to benefit from their experience.

Options in a LMS built on a social media model can range from posting one question to help complete a work assignment, to establishing mentor relationships, to formalized courses necessary for certifications.

Many people use their own social media pages to ask friends where they can find information, experts and resources. A corporate LMS as social media network can channel this activity to gather information and distribute knowledge for the benefit of the enterprise and help employees improve their job performance.