Brown & Adler (2008) explain that Social learning in this era creates alternative learning environments. People in this revolutionary age should not only master a field of knowledge but can make the effort to become a full participant in the field. According to Brown & Adler (2008), learning to be encompasses acquiring practices and norms in a certain field by interacting with the experienced people. Earlier on students used apprenticeship programs to harness skill from the experts.
Students under this program could perform work under the guidance of the experts in the field. Social learning also employ the studio system as a model of learning to be .In the studio system; students collaborate in the design process and often criticize each other to enable better performance. Currently, students apply the studio system in developing and maintaining open source software. Some of the products produced by this model of social learning includes Linux operating system that offer the solution to commercial products. Products developed by social learning are freely available to the masses that can modify to make the resource better. Open source communities invite people to contribute in the designing of better software drivers. The open source movement only requires people with programming skills in the development of software. Wikipedia is an example of open source software where a reader can modify entries or create new ones. Wikipedia enables the review of historical articles as well as debates concerning the content. The open source environment enables critical reading as a new form of literacy (Brown & Adler, 2008).
The original Web 1.0 has expanded to Web 2.0 in the access of information. The emergence of Web 2.0 has advanced tools such as blogs, wikis, social networks, and tagging systems. These revolutionized tools allow social participation to encourage focused conversation. This creates a new ecosystem that supports learning 2.0(Brown & Adler, 2008). Leaning 2.0 has facilities for innovation and experimentation that helps students build cognitive skills. Learning 2.0 has a demand-pull approach that enables participation of students. This approach provides students with access to virtual learning communities to motivate students towards performance. Learning occurs in a reflective practicum that is embedded in a community, in collaboration with the professionals and new entrants.
References
Brown, J. S., & Adler, R. P. (2008). Minds on Fire:Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0. EDUCAUSE Review, 43(1), 16-32.
Durkin, K. F., Wolfe, T. W., & Clark, G. A. (2005). College Students And Binge Drinking: An Evaluation Of Social Learning Theory. Sociological Spectrum, 25(3), 255-272.
