Navigating the myriad of social learning platforms can be daunting. You’re likely seeking a social learning platform that fosters interaction, boosts engagement, and supports transformative learning experiences.

We cut through the complexity, providing clear criteria for selection and a focused look at how these platforms can effectively meet your learning goals.

What we will explore together:

• In simplest terms, social learning platforms are revolutionizing education by combining the interactive dynamics of social media with educational content to enhance learner engagement and collaboration.
• Key features of these platforms include gamification, community-building elements, real-time communication, and integration with other social tools, which are pivotal in creating a more engaging learning environment.
• Disco stands out among social learning platforms for its comprehensive set of features, including AI-powered tools, discussion boards, member spaces, events management, chat and messaging, a mobile app, and a customizable homepage, all designed to foster a dynamic and interactive learning experience.

What is Social Learning Theory?

Have you ever found yourself in a new job, quietly observing a more experienced colleague as they navigate complex software with finesse? Can you recall how you watched their every click and keystroke, taking mental notes on how they manage tasks so efficiently?

Did you then find yourself trying out these observed techniques, tweaking them through trial and error until you too mastered the system? If this rings a bell, you've experienced social learning theory firsthand.

The concept of social learning originated from the theory proposed by psychologist Albert Bandura. He advocated that observation, imitation, and modeling are integral to learning, highlighting the significant part played by social interaction and cognitive processes.

Over the years, Bandura refined the theory, underscoring the importance of observational learning, imitation of behaviors, and the influence of associated rewards and punishments.

In the present context, modern learning methods integrate the core principles of social learning theory. The contemporary understanding of social learning suggests that social behavior is acquired not just individually, but also collectively through online learning and other modern learning techniques.

Modern social learning platforms like Disco, incorporate these principles through gamification, positive reinforcement, rewards, and the development of inclusive community-powered learning. They also enable learners to utilize social media for sharing and modeling behaviors and outcomes.

Simply put, modern social learning platforms:

• Merge the foundational principles of social learning theory with technology
• Craft an engaging and interactive learning experience
• Bring the social aspect to the forefront of learning
• Foster a sense of community
• Facilitate a deeper understanding through peer learning and critical thinking

Benefits of Social Learning Platforms in Education

Within the education sector, social learning platforms have justified their value by providing transformative learning experiences. Here are the key benefits it brings:

It empowers learners to become proactive participants

Social learning platforms empower learners to become proactive participants in societal change and transformation processes. The key here is active learning - a component that encourages learners to engage not just with the material but also with their peers. This heightened level of engagement creates a conducive environment for increased creativity and innovation.

Creating an engaging social element in your courses can be achieved by adding events. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you incorporate an event into your course seamlessly:

1. Navigate to the course where you wish to add an event. This could be your 'Mastering Zoom' course or any other course listed in your dashboard. *Please ensure you have a Disco account before doing this first step.
2. To add an event, you must first have the Events app installed. Click the '+' sign or 'Add App' button in your course dashboard. From the list of available apps, select 'Events' to add it to your course.
3. Once the Events app is added, click on 'Add Event'. Assign a name to your event, such as a 'Kick-off Session'. Choose a future date and time for your event. You can opt for the built-in Zoom integration for virtual events, link to a third-party tool, or set it up as an in-person meeting.
4. Decide who can attend your event. You can make it public, restrict it to certain subgroups, or open it to all members of the course. After setting the details, click 'Save Draft'. Describe your event, and if necessary, adjust the date and time you previously set.
5. Once all details are set, publish your event by clicking the 'Publish' button. To ensure participants can add the event to their calendars, click 'Share Event'. Registered course members will receive an email invitation where they can RSVP. You will be able to track attendance in the event section.

📺 Watch this 2-min tutorial and start engaging your learners:

It enhances knowledge retention among students

Social learning platforms enhance knowledge retention among students by providing interactive cohorts, and discussion forums, fostering collaboration, and promoting critical thinking. By leveraging social learning tools like discussion boards, video conferencing, and social media integration, these platforms foster a collaborative learning environment that is dynamic, interactive, and conducive to learning.

It enhances learner completion rates

Lastly, social learning platforms enhance learner completion rates, fostering a transformative and collaborative learning journey. This not only boosts student accountability but also strengthens the sense of community, leading to higher success rates and a more enriched educational experience.

With Disco's social learning platform, you can easily track the learner's progress using our analytics and insights tool. Apart from that, you can also track their engagement through our engagement scoring system connected to our leaderboards.

📺 Take a look at this video to set your member engagement score in just 2 minutes!

Social Learning Platforms VS Traditional LMSs

As we explore the world of social learning platforms, comprehension of their distinction from traditional Learning Management Systems (LMSs) becomes important. While both encompass similar features such as analytics, efficient course design, SCORM compatibility, and user management, there’s a marked difference in their emphasis.

A traditional LMS focuses on course creation and management, centralized record keeping, and monitoring course completion and learner progress. Yet, a social learning platform has advanced a step beyond. They incorporate distinguishing features such as video conferencing tools, social media integration, and convenient notifications, all within a design that offers a human context to the learning experience.

This encourages more active and dynamic learner participation, differentiating social learning platforms from traditional LMSs, and positioning them as a comprehensive social learning management system.

Within an educational setting, social learning platforms offer substantial benefits, including:

• Enabling face-to-face learning
• Endorsing online and blended learning solutions
• Simplifying course design and analytics
• Cultivating learner engagement through interactive elements like forums, discussion boards, and group projects

These features help foster collaborative learning among students, making social learning platforms a preferred choice over traditional LMSs.

Advantages of Social Learning Platforms over Traditional LMSs

Social learning platforms offer numerous advantages over traditional LMSs. Here are some of the benefits:

• Enhanced learner engagement by emphasizing learner interaction, collaboration, and feedback
• Facilitate a more engaging and interactive learning environment
• Cultivate a sense of community and motivation among learners
• Increased collaboration among learners

From a business perspective, employing social learning platforms over traditional LMSs leads to improved learning flexibility, consistency, productivity, and cost reduction. Additionally, these platforms enhance student engagement and creativity, better retention of information leading to academic achievement, and significant positive business outcomes.

They acknowledge and utilize the influence of social interactions to create a more engaging, enriching, and impactful transformative learning experience.

Key Features of Social Learning Platforms

What makes social learning platforms stand out? At the core of these platforms lie white-label social media-like functions that enhance learning by facilitating communication and collaboration. They enable:

• Interaction with mentors, coaches, instructors, and other learners
• Creating a dynamic and interactive learning environment
• Underpinning both social and collaborative learning experiences.

These platforms also incorporate essential characteristics that facilitate collaborative learning. Some of these characteristics include:

• Video conferencing tools
• Social media integration
• Convenient notifications
• Capability to manage and deliver other types of educational programs

💡 Social learning platforms, also known as collaborative learning platforms, are equipped with a wide range of collaborative learning tools that create an engaging and effective learning experience. Discussion threads and live events are other integral social learning features, facilitating knowledge sharing, collaboration, and engagement among participants.

Top 5 Social Learning Platforms for 2024 (Free/Paid)

With the progressing digital age, the panorama of social learning platforms is consistently evolving, with the emergence of new platforms and continuous innovation of existing ones. So, which are the top social learning platforms for 2024? Let’s take a closer look at the frontrunners in this space:

1. Disco. Voted by the World's Top Virtual Academies as the #1 Social Learning Platform
2. Eduflow. The Second Best Social Learning Platform
3. 360 Learning. Ideal for Workforce Development
4. Miro. An Interactive Whiteboard Platform
5. Noon. A Gamified Learning Platform for Teachers and Students

Each of these platforms brings a unique set of features and benefits to the table, catering to a wide range of learning needs and preferences. Whether it’s the Disco AI tool that helps educators create courses 10x faster or Eduflow’s polished and user-friendly interface that streamlines course creation and attendance processes, these platforms are a testament to the transformative potential of social learning.

#1. DISCO: Voted by the World's Top Virtual Academies as the #1 Social Learning Platform

Disco reigns supreme in the domain of social learning platforms, securing the top spot with endorsements from leading global virtual academies such as AltMBA, XPRIZE, Course Hero, WeAreNoCode, and many others. Its innovative suite of AI-driven tools, comprehensive learning programs, and integrated community features position Disco not just as a platform but as a transformative learning partner.

With Disco, educational businesses can customize their branding and learning experiences, while its robust engagement tools ensure that learners are part of an interactive and vibrant educational ecosystem.

Real-time communication, personalized notifications, and a user-friendly interface are the pillars supporting active participation and a collaborative learning journey. Here's why Disco is the unparalleled choice for a social learning platform:

Disco built its own powerful AI native tool inside the Disco LMS, a total #gamechanger.

Among thousands of LMS out there, Disco is one of the few that has built its own AI native tool inside its social learning platform. By using Disco, you can easily navigate the Disco AI chat where you can ask it to generate lesson plans, curriculum outlines, images and graphics, and activity prompts, and ask it to help you answer member queries.

With just one click, you can get things done in seconds with the power of artificial intelligence inside your LMS. That's how powerful Disco can be for educators, instructional designers, and course creators.

📺 Watch this 2-min tutorial to see how easy it is to create a learning program using an AI tool:

Disco combines learning and community perfectly in one powerful platform, unifying your data in one place.

When it comes to social learning, the presence of community features is indispensable. Learning devoid of a community is uninspiring and lacks transformational impact, as it fails to provide opportunities for learners to interact and collaborate with their peers. Disco stands out with its cutting-edge tools for community building, management, and engagement, all elegantly organized within a single platform.

Disco's sophisticated member management system allows for the automatic grouping of members, enabling users to create detailed profiles and display their credentials within a unified directory. Moreover, learners can engage in meaningful interactions, sharing insights and knowledge through Disco's discussion boards, ensuring a vibrant social learning environment.

📺 Here's a short tutorial from our co-founder, Chris, on how to navigate the new nav of Disco 3.0:

In addition to these contemporary features, Disco provides seamless integration and automation tools with your preferred social tools, making it a truly comprehensive solution for creating a transformative learning environment for your learners.

Disco makes social learning accessible and possible with its mobile app and engagement scoring tool.

Disco's mobile app and engagement scoring system simplify learner engagement. Learners can access educational content and participate in discussion forums anytime and anywhere using their mobile devices and gadgets. Just ask members to download the Disco Learning App either on iOS or Android:

Aside from this, you can monitor each learner's engagement based on the activities they participate in--from completing a lesson, commenting in forums, posting in social feeds, reacting with emojis, attending events, and so on--thanks to Disco's scoring system and leaderboard.

📺 Learn how to set up your engagement scoring in 2 minutes:

Successful instances of learning communities implementing Disco for their online learning programs in 2024, resulting in the creation of interactive and engaging virtual learning experiences, serve as testimonials of its effectiveness.

Whether it’s educators looking to heighten engagement or learners seeking transformative experiences, Disco offers a dynamic and immersive learning experience.

Here's what Top Communities are saying about Disco:

💡 Sign up with a 14-day free trial and start building a social learning experience for your members!

#2. Eduflow: The Second Best Social Learning Platform

Next on the list is Eduflow, a social learning platform known for its polished and user-friendly interface. It streamlines course creation and attendance processes and prioritizes social learning by facilitating learner feedback and promoting interactions among participants.

Eduflow provides a variety of features to enhance social learning, such as:

• User-friendly interface perfect for virtual academies, academic institutions, and corporate training
• The capacity to swiftly develop engaging courses
• Diverse learning activities that encourage collaborative experiences with its peer learning tool
• Opportunities for learners to generate content

Eduflow acquired by Multiverse: To shut down this 2024

In 2023, Eduflow made a strategic move by partnering with Multiverse, which resulted in closing down its operations to the public. For those invested in Eduflow, we've crafted a seamless migration process to ensure a smooth transition for your learning organization.

This means you can transfer your resources from Eduflow to the new, improved platform without the headache of a time-consuming migration. Embrace this change with excitement, as the partnership promises to bring innovative features and a stronger support network to your educational endeavors.

With Disco's easy migration process, you don't have to spend 100 hours with a whole team to do that. All you need is Disco tools such as:

• bulk invites and messaging
• course and event cloning
• automation tool
• and AI tool

Here is Disco's migration step-by-step guide. If you want our assistance, book a demo with us to talk to our customer representative.

#3. 360 Learning: Ideal for Workforce Development

360 Learning aids in workforce planning by enabling organizations to create tailored career and skills paths, synchronize learning opportunities with workforce planning, and utilize AI to provide pertinent training for upskilling the workforce. Plus, their mobile learning app for iOS and Android is equipped with features including Collaborative Learning, cross-platform catalog, offline mode, and push notifications.

Top features include:

• Collaborating authoring
• Globalization capabilities
• In-depth reporting and analytics
• A robust feedback system
• AI-powered skills management

Pricing for 360Learning:

• The "Team" plan is designed for small-scale collaborative learning environments, costing $8 per registered user per month and accommodating up to 100 users, providing access to a suite of best-in-class resources and support.
• For larger organizations looking to harness collaborative learning for employees, customers, and partners, the "Business" plan offers automation, scalability, and integration solutions, backed by dedicated technical support teams.

#4. Miro: An Interactive Whiteboard Platform

Miro is an interactive whiteboard platform with an unlimited canvas, a comprehensive range of widgets, pre-made templates, and strong platform capabilities. Its online and app-based settings enable users to create, collaborate, and exchange ideas within workspaces.

Miro’s interactive whiteboard contributes to a more engaging learning experience by:

• Providing visual elements that support visual learners and encourage active participation
• Facilitating collaboration and the sharing of ideas in a communal space
• Offering diverse learning opportunities for education

Miro Integration in Disco!

Disco's platform stands out for its powerful and advanced integrations, seamlessly connecting with a suite of essential apps to enhance the learning experience. Among these, is the integration with Miro.

In the dashboard, go to any of your learning products. From there, go to modules and click on the "+" icon to add content.

After that, choose "text" as new content to embed your favorite social tools like Miro, as a use case.

In the blank canvas, type in "/Miro" and select Miro to embed your code.

Paste your code from your Miro account to the Disco dashboard. Click embed, and after that, your Miro tool is now embedded in Disco!

This collaboration allows learners to engage in real-time brainstorming, diagramming, and project planning within the Disco environment, fostering a more interactive and visually stimulating learning experience that mirrors the dynamic nature of modern education.

Pricing for Miro:

Miro's pricing structure is designed to cater to a wide range of needs:

• Starting with a free tier that offers a single workspace with 3 editable boards and basic features.
• The Starter plan, at $8 per member per month when billed annually, provides unlimited boards and additional features like high-resolution exports and unlimited public board visitors.
• The Business plan, priced at $16 per member per month annually, includes everything in Starter plus advanced security and collaboration tools for larger teams. For organizations seeking comprehensive support and control, the Enterprise tier offers custom solutions to fit their specific requirements.

#5. Noon: A Gamified Learning Platform for Teachers and Students

Noon is a gamified learning platform that enriches the learning experience through the provision of live interactive classes, gamified peer learning features, and opportunities for competition and socialization with friends, which are reflected in its user interface and design.

It offers:

• Free live, interactive tutoring sessions
• Live interactive classes with gamified peer learning features
• The opportunity to challenge friends and master essential concepts using fun, interactive features

This positions Noon as a prominent collaborative learning platform. With over 12 million students and 100k teachers across eight countries, Noon has a solid footing in the world of online learning!

Pricing: Free of charge!

Our Final Note

Social learning platforms are transforming the educational landscape by infusing learning experiences with social interaction and collaboration. By integrating the principles of social learning theory, these platforms provide a dynamic learning environment that fosters engagement, creativity, and knowledge retention.

Start engaging your learners with Disco's 14-day free trial! If you have any queries and want to talk to our customer support, then book a demo with our team and we will assist you!

As we move into the future, the role of social learning platforms will only continue to grow. If you’re in the education business, now is the time to harness the power of these platforms and pioneer a new era of learning. After all, learning is a social endeavor, and it’s time we embrace it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a Social Learning Platform?

A social learning platform is an online space designed to streamline the creation and delivery of educational programs. It combines the interactive nature of social media networks packed with social learning tools to foster engagement and collaboration among learners.

What is Social Learning Theory?

Social learning theory, introduced by psychologist Albert Bandura, emphasizes the importance of social interaction and cognitive processes in the learning process, suggesting that learning takes place through observation, imitation, and modeling.

What are the examples of social learning?

Direct social learning examples include participating in group discussions and collaborating on group projects, while indirect social learning involves observing without direct interaction. Both forms of social learning can be effective in training.