Participating in the Learn Trends session yesterday I was struck by the potential for social technologies such as wikis, twitter, personal learning environments and ..... to really make an impact upon how people learn within organisations.
I will admit to being on the ground floor on this, clearly there are many who are taking great strides in building more collaborative, though informal learning cultures within business environments. I know I'm not alone in being pretty new to much of this, in fact the benefits and potential of this approach to learning itself are just emerging (and continue to do so).
Twitter is one case in point, (see here and here for links to setting up and using Twitter - my Twitter link is here). Rapidly taking over from Facebook as the fastest growing social networking sites it is now showing potential in learning environments.
Jane Hart, a social media and learning consultant believes Twitter and similar mini-blogs are tools for informal learning. In a recent article she says, "the point of social media is to turn learning into a more participatory activity". Learners can send 'Tweets' to each other with questions and respond immediately with answers. Jane continues, "Micro-blogs can support collaboration and understanding".
As for Personal Learning Spaces, again I am a learner here. I am nearly finished building my personal website, michaeleury.com (soon, but not ready yet!) For me this is a bit like a personal learning space. In it I am placing links and references to pretty much all I have read and currently read. If you'd like to learn more on Personal Learning Spaces I'd recommend you try this site (I'm spending some time there now to learn more).