Social Media Part 1: Benefits In Elearning

This is part 1 of a two-part article series about using social media in corporate elearning.

social media in elearningSocial media can be a great tool in elearning. While most of us associate it with our social life, it can have a powerful effect in corporate training programs. If you understand it well enough, you can figure out how to use it to your advantage.

What’s great about using it is that it is readily available. You do not have to do much with it. You simply have to find out how you can put important content in it and how to make sure it will reach your target audience. The social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn already have the tools available to help you integrate it into the training program.

But before you use it, you have to understand how it can benefit your training first. What good will it do to your elearning initiatives?

Here are 5 benefits that you can expect it to bring to your online course.

  1. It provides an unlimited platform for online collaboration. This is most helpful for companies with remote workers. If they have satellite offices, it is easier to connect because most of the employees probably have their own personal social media accounts. You can simply choose one platform where everyone can collaborate. For instance, you can create a Facebook page for the company and this is where you can post updates, elearning materials, initiate online training activities, etc. This is also a great platform for participants to connect with each other even after the training course is done. There is no limitation as to how much they can share with each other.
  2. It allows you to provide 24/7 support. Participants do not have to be limited to the office hours to get support from you. The training can go as long as possible and if you are willing, you can easily provide support regardless of the time. Smartphones and other mobile devices have the ability to download apps that will help you access social media sites with ease. It will not take too much effort to provide this round-the-clock support while going about your personal life.
  3. It makes updates easy to disseminate. No training program is really over. If the company intends to improve consistently, then it is important that elearning will never stop. Once you have set up a social media platform, these updates can easily be provided. You simply have to post the new information or at least a link that will lead the target participants to it. They can choose to access the new information as soon as they are able. There is no need to set up a new program or system for them to receive something new.
  4. It promotes ease in online feedback. Learning from peers is one of the most underrated training strategies. Through social media, you can use this platform to encourage participants to send and receive feedback. This is not only for the training program itself. It can be towards each other as well. This can set up a great support network between employees as they throw constructive criticisms towards each other.
  5. It is a fun way to train online. Finally, the benefit of using social media in elearning is the fact that it makes the whole training program fun. Statistics reveal that people spend a lot of time on social networking sites. It allows people to venture into a world where anonymity is possible and sharing of information is prominent. You can use this in your training because it makes participants bold enough to engage in the activities and interact with one another.

Social media in corporate elearning is a powerful tool – but it can also pose a lot of problems if it is not implemented well. In part 2, the article will discuss the drawbacks that corporate training programs should look out for when using social media.

Image courtesy of Kromkrathog for FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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