Collaboration is critical to online learning

Educational experiences which are active, social, contextual, engaging and student-owned lead to deeper learning. Ralph La Fontaine explores the benefits for HR teams

In association with Home Learning College by Avado

The shift to more collaborative learning experiences represents a significant evolution from the traditional classroom setting. Now learners are increasingly looking for opportunities to learn in a way that is flexible and convenient for their busy lifestyles. Can online learning be the key link in this evolving learning environment?

Rather than being an isolating experience, online learning can be an ideal platform for collaboration. Building communities online is now part of everyday life with the accessibility of the Internet and the rise in social media worldwide. Learning is inherently social; and collaborating online can bring together diverse perspectives.

In fact, the opportunity to collaborate is far wider than in traditional lessons, as CIPD head of L&D content Andy Lancaster explains: “Face-to-face classrooms are great, but often you’ll only have 8-12 people as part of your learning group. In an online environment the social collaboration opens up to a much larger group – mixing with learners across regions which we believe gives you a really rich learning environment, with more colleagues and more experiences which you can tap into.”

Learning with confidence

Learning online can also enable people to feel more comfortable and confident to speak out, challenge one another and ask questions compared to being in a traditional classroom, as highlighted by CIPD level three HR graduate Tristan Hassan: “There is a lot of support on hand, whether it be from the tutor, support team or my group. I was able to ask a lot of questions, and felt far more comfortable doing this online than I would in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting.

“The interaction with the people on my course was invaluable – we built a really strong online community. We were able to give each other advice on the forums, or social media groups, and ask questions if we were stuck on a particular question or activity. I ensured that I made an effort to interact with my group online, something that at first I found quite daunting, but it all came about quite easily,” he added.

CIPD Training and Home Learning College believe that learning collaboratively will give you the best chance of success, that’s why their co-created online programmes in HR and L&D are organised around group study, so students stay with fellow professionals throughout their course and keep each other motivated.

Collaborative working

Participants also collaborate in small groups on practical activities, enabling them to broaden their learning by searching for mutual understanding, while working together to explore creative solutions to tasks. These qualifications prepare you for real life workplace situations, all in an online setting.

This will enable you to make an impact in your own organisation from the start and help you more easily achieve your goal of getting CIPD qualified. Lancaster adds: “It’s not just about doing your qualification; this environment will give you a wider experience of how to operate as a professional in a digital world.”

If you or a member of your team is looking for a collaborative approach to qualification success, visit the website.

Ralph La Fontaine is managing director of digital distance learning platform Home Learning College

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