The social component of learning has long been overlooked from both a regulatory and a design perspective, with community formation often assumed to happen through the traditions of brick-and-mortar institutions. But as students spend less time at physical campuses, whether due to part-time status, family and work commitments, or online classes, deliberately planning how students will connect meaningfully with each other becomes necessary.
Coursera’s partnership to create “learning hubs” offers one example of how the education, business, and government worlds are exploring solutions to strengthen the tenuous social fabric that keeps students in class. Along with the basics of internet and technology access, these hubs also offer a more fundamental reason to return: social ties. Fellow classmates can offer instrumental support by sharing knowledge and experiences, but they also offer emotional support and validation when uncertainty strikes. While the time and effort required to build social ties may initially seem costly, the investment can pay off through higher enrollment and retention, as well as improved learning and satisfaction.
As these initiatives reveal, personalizing learning effectively goes beyond mere individualization to include genuine integration of the participants as people connected in a community.
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