2010 has already been identified as the decade of social networking and social learning. When you add the word social to learning, it refers to learning which is collaborative and relevant to each student. Social learning tools foster creativity, innovation, and encourage students to collaborate, communicate, and think critically; the goal of every educator and educational institution.

Today’s students, and educators, need tools for collaboration, personal learning spaces for individuals to collect and reflect on their course work and personal interests, and community areas for group projects, and departmental and administrative collaboration spaces.

A social learning platform, like Learning Object’s Campus Pack, provides tools for users to create wikis, blogs, and podcasts for assignments or around personal interests, build a portfolio of academic work across time, and collaborate online with self-organized groups or campus-sanctioned organizations.

Personal Learning Spaces allow users to create their own Web 2.0 content and share it with instructors, peers, advisors, or anyone in the world. Personal learning spaces can be used for course assignments, as well as co-curricular and self-initiated study groups.

Community areas provide spaces and easy-to-use social software tools that groups can use to collaborate on work, build and publish knowledgebases, and maintain websites. They provide academic and department spaces to collaborate on lessons, syllabi, and curriculum. Clubs, teams, and cohorts can share information, network with members, and coordinate activities.

Course tools include wikis for collaborative projects, blogs to foster personal reflection and writing skills, and podcasts, which enable students to take their learning on-the-go. Campus Pack’s unique assessment features provide the instructor a window into the students’ learning, their progress, and any potential areas of weakness that could require extra attention.