This is an article published in December 2003 by Learning Circuits . Learning Circuits represents the source for E-learning of ASTD (American Society for Training & Development). The article author, Eva Kaplan-Leiserson, is associate editor for Learning Circuits and T+D magazine. This article is a brief one and nicely introduces the topic of social software and learning.
Social software gives supports for conversational interaction between people or groups, social feedback, and social networks. Examples includes instant messaging, collaborative workspaces, weblogs, and expert management software.
Early e-learning traded technology for human interaction. Now, the personal element is being added back in. New social software tools borrowed from business and the younger generations combine tech and touch for the best of all possible worlds (including virtual ones).
Social software takes a bottom-up approach and enables people to organize themselves into a network based on their preferences.