Can learners participate in the learning environment at their own level of expertise?
For those of us who spend a substantial amount of time integrating technology with learning, it can be hard to imagine how foreign and confusing some social media interfaces can look to new users. Especially to new users who don’t see how to navigate to the functions they expect to perform at work, like word processing or spreadsheets. On the other side of the coin, some learners have spent a lot of time in social media, but are new to the subject matter and uncomfortable making their lack of expertise obvious to the rest of the group. Learners need a challenge if they are to stay interested, but if you can’t make them comfortable enough to participate, they won’t spend time in your learning environment. For both groups of learners, it can be helpful to create some structure. Giving the group some suggestions on where to focus their attention helps set their expectations of the environment and make it a more comfortable place to learn.
