When you think about learning, you probably picture a classroom, a textbook, and a teacher. But let’s be real: that’s not the way most of us learn best, especially nowadays when we have AI and all the e-books, e-notebooks, etc. When you want to learn something, you don’t go to school or university, or don’t open an encyclopedia at first, but open YouTube, ask ChatGPT, or search on Google, Bing, or Yahoo. And you get a lot of e-learning options. But they lack only one thing you need: communication. Learning is social in nature, you need to communicate to learn. And if you’re the one creating courses, it’s time to take advantage of that power, too.
What is Social Learning?
Social learning is the process of learning through engagement with other people. It’s not listening to a lecture; it’s asking questions, debating over concepts, sharing experiences, and building knowledge together.
Psychologist Albert Bandura popularized the concept, showing that people learn through observing and modeling others. In a classroom setting, social learning helps students assign meaning to information by connecting it to others’ ideas.
In other words, people learn more effectively in groups and while they speak to each other.
Why You Should Include Social Learning in Your Courses?
So, why is it important to include social learning in your curriculum?
- First of all, cooperative activities keep students engaged, not passive.
- Then, group work and discussions promote critical thinking, but not only. Communication, collaboration, and problem-solving are software soft skills being developed throughout.
- Finally, you give learners motivation. Learning in a group can enhance responsibility and motivation.
Now let’s get into how you can construct these potent pieces into your courses.
| Stage | What to Focus On | How It Builds Social Learning |
| Step 1: Group Introductions | Create early, meaningful connections | Builds trust, lowers barriers to participation |
| Step 2: Collaborative Projects | Assign shared creations and teamwork | Transforms passive learning into active co-creation |
| Step 3: Discussion Boards | Spark open conversations and peer feedback | Fosters critical thinking and idea exchange |
| Step 4: Live Sessions | Plan interactive, inclusive live events | Accelerates bonding and deepens engagement |
| Step 5: User-Generated Content | Invite students to create and share knowledge | Builds ownership, pride, and leadership |
| Step 6: Alumni Community | Keep relationships alive after the course ends | Extends learning networks and real-world opportunities |
Step 1: Start with Group Introductions
Connection must come before learning. When students step into a new class, especially an online class, there’s a fear, a silent question they bring with them: Will I be seen? That’s why group introductions are not a nice-to-have; they’re essential. They tell students right away: You’re seen. You’re here. Here, social learning begins.
So, before they’re ready to learn, students need to feel connected.
How to do It right? Get beyond name, place, and job. Make introductions human and lively. Instead of just “Hi, I’m Sam from Chicago,” try activities like:
- Two Truths and a Lie
- A “Dreams & Hobbies” thread
- A Virtual Wall of selfies, inspirational quotes, or personal goals
And, most importantly, don’t limit introductions to Day One. New students can be enrolled later, and an open “Meet and Greet” section ensures no one feels excluded. Let it stay live and welcoming.
How does this work? When students are prompted to introduce themselves in a meaningful way, they transition from “Am I here by accident?” to “Who can I meet here?”.
And it doesn’t have to close on day one. Keeping the door open for late joiners to come on in and saying hello makes sure nobody feels like they’ve lost their chance to belong. A changing, dynamic “Meet and Greet” space reminds everybody that belonging is a process, not an event.
When courses simplify and encourage these introductions, something great but quietly powerful happens: Students stop wondering, “Am I here by accident?” and start thinking, “Who can I meet here?”
Step 2: Create Collaborative Projects
Once students are connected, the problem is how to channel that energy into productive teamwork. One of the best ways to do this is by engaging them in constructing something together.
Collaboration fundamentally transforms the learning experience. It pushes learners from passive note-taking to active creators, critical thinkers, and problem-solvers. Creating a presentation, resolving real-world challenges, or building a case study, students combine their unique strengths to produce something greater than they would have otherwise created. Especially this works in terms of corporations, because sometimes a lot of people pass mandatory training for their job, etc.
But successful collaboration is not just by luck. It requires organization: clear goals, frequent check-ins, dedicated space for peer review, and frequent recognition of milestones such as drafts, prototypes, or completed projects. Rotating roles within groups, researcher, editor, presenter, facilitator, enables each student to contribute significantly and develop a range of skills.
Modern LMS platforms play a pivotal role in facilitating such dynamic collaboration. Platforms that offer collaborative functionality as real-time co-editing documents, comment streams, and group project spaces, help to learn and use LMS for your course design, enabling the natural and seamless feeling of collaboration.
Step 3: Design Discussion Boards and Encourage Peer Feedback
People say, collaboration is the body of social learning; discussion is its heart. Those courses that thrive socially don’t just spit information out; they create a venue for conversations to take place.
So, when most of us are used to asking questions to teachers only, it’s always better to have discussion groups where students challenge one another’s thinking, where ideas conflict and merge, where they do simple peer learning.
And as a course maker, instead of asking for textbook answers, ask for stories, anecdotes, and opinions. Encourage students to come not just as students but as thinkers with opinions. Show them the importance of storytelling.
Also, don’t forget to highlight feedback early on. All of the learners need timely feedback. That is, they need to know
- How to disagree with respect?
- How to build upon someone’s thought instead of criticizing it?
- How do you reward considered answers, mark active threads, and pay bonuses for thoughtfulness?
In large classes, the creation of small “discussion circles” is imperative. These intimate spaces ensure that individual voices are not drowned out, so that discussions can be rich, dynamic, and inclusive rather than being overwhelming. As Cammy Bean mentioned, “People expect to be bored by e-learning, let’s show them it doesn’t have to be like that!”.
When discussion boards are intentionally designed to create intimacy, reflection, and genuine exchange, they cease to be viewed as a routine requirement. Rather, they become central spaces for individual and collective growth. So, when students sense that their contribution is not only valued by the teacher but also by their peers, they engage more actively. Their engagement becomes less of a duty and more of a willing anticipation, driven by curiosity and a need to contribute to the discussion.
Step 4: Make Sure to Plan Live Sessions and Co-Learning Sessions
Now, what happens when you connect learners? In short, the learning process speeds up, walls fall down, and faces surpass usernames.
All of us know that live sessions are longer and tiring. LMS tools now enable to hosting of lively conversations, with ideas crisscrossing between students at lightning speed. A short lecture, no more than 15 minutes, can set up the scenario, and then you can enable students to take control. Just divide them into small groups, let them solve problems together, and riff on ideas in the moment.
You also need to add interactive elements like live polls, breakout rooms, and collaborative whiteboards, offering a chance for each person to participate. They enable students to communicate ideas without pressure, whether they thrive on speedy discussion or thoughtful silence. Remember that live lessons also enable students to show their true strengths. Some will delight in speedy debates, and others will be good at brainstorming new ideas. Great live lessons leave space for both.
Hosting live sessions regularly, weekly office hours, guest lectures, group discussions, or hackathons provides a course with energy. It turns learning from a passive experience into an interactive and dynamic one. Making it easy for students to attend, meet up in groups, or catch up afterwards keeps the momentum going even after the session has ended.
The best sign of success? Students leave buzzing, still thinking about what they heard, still laughing about a moment they shared. That’s when real social learning is achieved.
Step 5: Invite Students to Teach Too
At this point, the students no longer have to turn to the teacher for explanation alone. Now they are beginning to turn to one another and to themselves. It is here that they can be invited to make.
Student-generated content is not about increasing the workload; it’s about hearing students’ voices and ideas. It can be a thousand different things: a student-created glossary, a “how-to” film produced by a student who has cracked a difficult concept, or a learners’ collaborative resource bank, where there are articles, templates, and useful tools. The format doesn’t matter so much as the subliminal message: Your knowledge is valuable. Share it.
When students are made aware that their work will be seen by others, including peers, future students, and potentially a broader professional audience, they are more likely to stretch themselves. Creating tidy spaces in which students can post, co-create, comment, and showcase their work becomes the meta-course itself, a co-created, evolving work, far from a top-down, formal curriculum.
When students turn into teachers and creators, not only do they reinforce their own learning, but also discover that they have become a members of the wider community of learners. It is here that the process of learning is transformed.
Remember what we discussed in the article “15 tips to increase student enrollment for e-Learning courses“? Use referral programs as well!
Step 6: Foster Long-Term Community Beyond the Course
Lastly, after the final paper is submitted and the course is over, something beautiful can then begin to happen if you are willing to let it happen. Rather than slamming the door shut, instructors can invite students to remain connected: to keep on building, sharing, and learning from one another well beyond the official program’s close.
In most cases, these collaborations naturally evolve into alumni networks: groups of designers who collaborate on one project, teachers sharing innovative lesson plans, or start-up founders supporting each other’s start-ups. On others, even a modest activity, a webinar by graduates, a “Where are you now?” blog string, or a mere welcome to reconnecting, can sustain the roll and interest.
Small steps have a great impact. Alumni success stories, success story celebrations, and putting achievements into the limelight are not ceremonies; they solidify the understanding that the community is not bound by course periods but continues.
Mentorship experiences can occur at random. Mature alumni can advise recent alumni, and informal conversations, such as laid-back Q&A sessions, can turn into lasting professional relationships.
These kinds of communities are, necessarily, messy and dynamic and uncertain, and so much the better for it, really real and highly valuable.
Scholarship programs designed to serve alumni do not simply educate; they build communities for a lifetime of learning, mentorship, and mutuality.
In a world where opportunities come through networks, as opposed to knowledge, giving your students an actual community may be the most valuable thing your course can offer.
Don’t forget about LMS tools
Modern LMS systems place ever greater premium on the value of sustaining learning communities beyond the days of traditional training. Many modern systems offer facilities such as anonymous alumni forums, message boards, event calendars, and mentor pair functionality in order to assist learners in communicating upon course completion.
Innovative platforms such as FoxLMS make it easy to incorporate these features right from the start, allowing institutions to easily roll over graduating students into successful alumni communities and facilitate collaboration, development, and ongoing learning opportunities.
Key advantages of using a flexible LMS are:
- Effortless alumni community integration with private communities and vip discussion forums
- Built-in event management functionality to hold webinars, workshops, and alumni panels
- Mentorship matching features to match graduates with mentors and peers
- Resource sharing spaces where alumni can exchange templates, articles, and tools
- Customizable dashboards that evolve with the evolving needs of the community over time
So…
You can have the best slides. The sharpest recorded videos. The most up-to-date facts.
But if you build a course that unites human beings —a course where they can find belonging, share wisdom, and grow; you’ve created something that will last far beyond the final exam.
Because learning at its very best isn’t about learning facts.
It’s about having the sense that you belong to something greater than yourself. And the finest courses don’t merely teach facts.
They form families.
Contact FoxLMS now to design and launch your e-learning course with ease!
