The Year of Social Learning -

This is the year we double-down on social learning.

For too long we have seen elearning courses that end up with "click-click-click-click" progression. No interaction, no engagement. It is time for learning programmers to work towards more.

There are certain courses like compliance training don't necessarily require more than an e-learning course that is more traditional. The content is straight-forward and rarely changes and can be (to be honest) boring.

But, there are many other courses out there that would be more effective if they leveraged the concept of social learning.

It is about creating community over classes. Courses should supplement the community.

There is a way to bring new life into your course by building your own communities. Sure, it is quite a bit more complicated than creating a static course, but the rewards are far greater.

If you have raving fans then you'll get more clients - plain and simple.

Furthermore, you'll continually be provided with ideas for what you could improve on or develop new products that people are looking for you to offer. A vibrant community is like having your personal R&D department!

How do you start to explore the concept of social learning? It's easy. Start with the basics and take it further:

• Create forums
• Create robust profiles for users (similar to Facebook)
• Create an Facebook Group
• Create webinars
• Create contests for and among students

They aren't the only basic strategies.