Social Learning in practice
Taking an English or Dutch as a second language training course and want to learn (partly) online? If so, you’ll be using our Social Learning platform. You will contact your trainer through the platform and learn in various ways.
A training course consists of three parts:
- E-learning
- Lessons with a trainer
- Social learning
1. E-learning
Learning in your own tempo and environment
After an introductory session, you will start independently with e-learning. You will view content such as videos or podcasts, and do exercises on the platform. You can see the correct answers with explanations immediately. You’ll also have a personal mentor, who will follow your online progress during the course and help you where necessary.
This part of the training is completely self-paced: all content is immediately available and you can decide how fast you want to go through the different modules.
2. Lessons with a trainer
The e-learning will be combined with sessions with a trainer. There is a one-hour introductory session followed by two-hour sessions spread over the course. In these sessions you will have the opportunity to practise your skills, discuss any difficulties you may be having with the e-learning, and look at subjects in more depth.
Taking an individual training course? In that case, you and your trainer will plan these sessions yourselves at times that suit you both. The sessions may be online in the virtual classroom, at one of our locations, or in-company. If it’s a group course, we will make a schedule with the client.
3. Social learning
3a Learning in practice and from each other
The third part of the training is social learning. Social learning involves learning through interaction with others: on-the-job, but also with fellow students and a mentor. This is an important aspect of the course because learning in practice and learning from others together make up 90% of our learning experience.
Social learning is partly done on-the-job. We stimulate this by giving you concrete assignments. By communicating on the work floor you will put new skills into practice. You will also receive an immediate response from the other party.
You will then share your experiences on our online platform in the form of concrete assignments. Your mentor and fellow students will give you their feedback and you can give your feedback on their cases. Giving and receiving focused feedback is proven to help you master the material more quickly. In this way our platform stimulates you to learn with and from each other.
3b Learning from a mentor
Each student has a mentor with specific professional expertise in their particular field. While the trainer is focused on the results of the online course and on providing elaboration and reflection during the lessons, a mentor provides support in the practical on-the-job part of the course. The mentor will monitor your progress online, give feedback on practical assignments and answer questions. You can also schedule mentoring sessions with your mentor, for example to discuss documents or practical cases.
Mentoring hours can be used in different ways: in the form of mentoring sessions or online support.
Continue independently
Completed all the sessions with the trainer and used all of your mentoring hours? Then you will complete a final assignment and receive an overview of your results so far.
However, your training doesn’t end here. There are still various activities on our platform for you to do and you will continue learning independently and with your fellow students. Depending on your tempo and input, this will take you a couple of hours a week for 3 months or so. By actively working on your new skills, you will get the maximum out of your training .
During this post-course period, you can participate in optional fortnightly online conversation sessions to actively practise your speaking skills with your trainer and fellow students.
Need extra hours with the trainer or mentor? You can always buy them separately. Once you have completed all the activities on the platform, you will take a final test and receive a certificate.
Your subscription to the platform is valid for 6 months from the starting date of the course. This may be extended if necessary.
Experience it for yourself and request a free demo.
