In a world of exploding online growth, online communities have become one of the most popular connecting methods. We connect through Facebook Groups and business sites like Linkedin, Discord chats and forums. These online communities have allowed a greater sense of flexibility and connection to one another than ever before.
Finally, we can bridge the gap between all different groups, even across the globe, to reach one another. And in a time when Covid has broken down real-life communication, these communities are more important than ever before, especially as we continue to learn and grow.
Reflection is a crucial element of learning because it allows us to receive and grasp new information while also considering it in the context of our previous experiences, allowing us to build meaning and knowledge that can be utilized to enhance performance. How can your Learning Management System (LMS) assist you in incorporating reflective learning into your educational programs in this current environment of instant information everywhere?
A well designed learning platform or Learning Experience Platform (LXP), paired with the right digital features, can revolutionize how others learn and experience. It is conducive for coaches and trainers, as they often need some more profound way of managing those they are in contact with, and helping them become more reflective learners.
The first step is connection. A good LXP such as DreamSeeDo (DSD) can help connect the right coach to the right people and give them a place for back and forth feedback. DSD allows outside ‘supporters’ to follow along on the learning journey, giving the individual even more incentive to work hard at what they are doing.
The next important step is to ensure there is room to practice whatever is being learned. Practice is a fundamental part of learning any new skill, even for those with natural talent or who are particularly interested. Tests, puzzles, quizzes, recordings; any chance that the learner can take to integrate their current learning into their daily life in a non-boring way, is essential to reflective learning. An LMS or LXP should have a place provided for practice, where individuals can come on and interact with different modalities to hone their skills.
And finally, reflection. Some Learning Platforms now include social learning features such as discussion boards, group learning, and sharing online learning content with social media, but many of these can be disjointed or silo’d from the natural learning journey. It’s critical that you select a platform that has a natural flow to the features for reflection, and something that matches your learning objectives.
You can encourage and reward learner engagement in idea discussion, whether formally or informally incorporated into the course, to facilitate social reflection, processing, and understanding of the course content. Some businesses are also utilizing their learning platform to establish mentor-mentee connections, particularly for learners who must include a practical or experiential component in their training or certification programs.
By permitting private discussion forums between mentor and mentee or the ability to easily schedule online or face-to-face encounters for a more formal interview to inspire and promote reflection by the learner, the LMS can facilitate reflective learning in this relationship. Self-reflection is also important to this entire process, as without self-reflection and the learner knowing where they are in the learning process, they cannot continue to proceed down their path to knowledge. Self-reflection empowers a person to think critically about how their approach and behaviors are impacting their learning journey and overall growth as a person.
DSD actively uses reflection as a major part of its learning and training processes. By engaging in self-reflection, group reflection, and peer reflection activities, we can allow learners to not only access information in smaller, easier-to-learn chunks but to process and understand what they’ve learned so that they’ll be able to fully integrate it into their lives.
With a bit of support from your learning management system, we can ensure that we take time to analyze, reflect, and understand new concepts from online learning to improve our professional performance, even in this fast-paced, always-on-the-go modern society. Contact us today to explore how DreamSeeDo's unique features and approach can support your company on its reflective learning journey.