Community-based learning, or CBL, is a popular teaching technique primarily used in academic settings to help students engage with real-world issues. This approach to teaching offers a wealth of benefits, including practical application, peer support, appreciation for the wider community, and a richer learning experience.
Although traditionally used in physical classroom settings, the move to online learning spaces and the increase of community platforms such as Teach.io means that educators can successfully adapt CBL to the online world, offering similar experiences and benefits for students right from the comfort of their own homes.
Community-based learning is a teaching strategy that combines academic learning with community service to create a richer and more well-rounded learning experience. Educators use community participation to offer their students practical, real-world experiences they can use to develop the skills learned during the course. For example, students might be encouraged to work on projects that improve the community, such as tackling homelessness in local areas, volunteering at pet shelters, or designing marketing campaigns for small businesses and non-profits.
The experiences that community-based learning offers can help students develop their skill sets, improve their self-reflection, and enhance their career prospects.
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Community-based learning involves students engaging with real problems that affect the wider community. This allows students to use the knowledge they’ve learned and apply it to issues that directly affect them.
For example, students may choose to work on environmental projects that help their local community, such as designing a community garden to address local food scarcity, or they may opt to take shifts at food banks, helping those most in need.
The practical nature of CBL encourages student engagement. A recent study conducted by LinkedIn found that Learning and Development professionals believe that learning together is more engaging, and those who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to engage than those who don’t.
Working on projects that actively influence the community, whether it’s keeping the streets clean or collaborating with location-specific non-profits, creates a sense of togetherness. This encourages students to become more active participants in their academic learning and their community, which enhances engagement and pushes them to learn more.
Community-based education programs help students develop skills, such as critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Free from the restraints of the classroom, students are encouraged to push the limits of their own thinking by applying the knowledge they’ve learned to practical situations.
For example, students may work on a collaborative project, such as creating a sustainable energy solution, crafting a campaign for a charity, or designing a presentation on the safety of streets after dark. All these projects require students to develop their teamwork skills. They’ll have to assign a leader, delegate tasks to each other based on strengths and weaknesses, and manage their time effectively.
Community-based activities inspire meaningful connections between community members and even potential employers. Whether students are working with local businesses to develop marketing strategies or planning a local festival, CBL creates connections that simply wouldn’t be possible through classroom-based learning alone. This type of networking opens up a variety of new opportunities for students as they chase their career goals.
CBL encourages students to reflect upon their own learning experiences and how they can apply their new-found knowledge to practical situations. Students can keep journals, diaries, scrapbooks, and even online logs to reflect on what they’ve learned from their projects. This paves the way for personal growth, as they can see what they did well and what they can improve on in the future.
With any teaching style, support and feedback are essential to helping students succeed in their practical projects. Educators and community partners should offer regular check-ins, one-to-one sessions, and feedback forms to make sure their students are on the right track.
For example, many professional teaching courses offer professional mentors who help students tackle issues, overcome problems, and grow in their role, helping them become fully qualified teachers.
Unlike other modes of teaching, community-based learning actively encourages teamwork and collaboration. Students use projects to work together. This may be on one topic, or they may be asked to collaborate with another field to work on a bigger project. For example, designers might team up with copywriters to create email campaigns. This collaboration provides a way for students to develop their teamwork skills – something that’s essential to any career they choose to take.
A study conducted by Harvard Business School found that between 2007 and 2010, job postings that listed a Bachelor’s degree as a requirement rose by 10%, suggesting that employers value academic qualifications. However, it was also found that 37% of employers ranked practical experience as the most important qualification for an applicant – not education. This suggests that a balance between academic learning and practical experience might be the most valuable way of teaching.
Community-based learning offers students real-world experiences they may not benefit from with academic learning alone. With CBL projects addressing current social issues or community needs, students learn where they can help their community and how they apply that knowledge to their own lives.
Community-based learning comes with the following benefits for both students and communities.
Community of learning doesn’t need to be reserved for in-person classroom teaching. Online teachers can successfully adapt CBL for virtual community platforms and reap all the benefits this learning strategy offers. Here is how to make the above principles relevant in a digital environment.
To adapt CBL for your online community, you must first identify real-world problems relevant to your topic or niche.
Engaging with your community regularly will help you stay updated on new and developing issues. You can even create specific forums or discussion spaces where community members are free to discuss issues that are important to them.
For example, if your community platform’s niche concerns the environment and sustainability, you can use member surveys and forum responses to identify problems such as food shortages, increased CO2 emissions, and plastic waste – all topics you can use to create projects for your community.
Introducing higher levels of learning into your online community platform is a fantastic way to enrich your student’s learning experience. Hosting virtual workshops, webinars, and live Q&A sessions with experts will offer students specialized knowledge and increased value.
For example, you could organize a monthly webinar series featuring sustainability experts who discuss actions community members can take to reduce waste. Alternatively, you could organize monthly live talks with environmental experts who discuss how community members can tackle climate change.
Whether you decide to offer monthly Q&As or weekly expert-led webinar teaching, stick to a regular schedule. This will help maintain consistent engagement. Events with irregular times will be hard for students to keep track of, and they may not end up attending at all.
Creating and offering courses with step-by-step learning modules or project guides will help your students develop their skills. For example, you could design video tutorials on home DIY projects or upcycling projects, offering your students practical experience right from the comfort of their own homes.
Certifications for completion and even badging systems will help community members feel more involved, ensuring they get recognition for the time and effort they spend engaging with your community. Certifications are tangible awards that community members can show future potential employers, giving credibility to both their skills and your community course.
Furthermore, educators should encourage community members to share their own experiences and skill sets through blog posts, video content, and even tutorials. This is a fantastic way for students to give back to the rest of their community and develop their skills further.
Networking is essential for any learning space, and CBL takes that one step further. With any community, whether online or in-person, it’s essential to build a supportive and collaborative space. According to a survey from Amnity, 77% of participants visit online communities to discover new things and connect with people.
Meaningful community culture creates a safe and positive space, helping community members better apply themselves to their learning and develop lifelong bonds. This can lead to a more valuable learning experience.
To encourage meaningful connections, develop mentor-matching programs and design collaborative project spaces where your community members can work together. Virtual meetups, networking events, and themed discussions can all help your community members nurture connections. Use industry experts or experienced community members to guide others through group projects. This will create deeper bonds, lasting relationships, and more valuable learning experiences.
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Adopting and integrating reflective learning enriches the student experience, which is why it’s used in so many different teaching practices. A study on the critical role of reflection in work-based learning found that people consciously and deliberately reflect to understand life events and enhance meaning. Furthermore, The Open University found that reflecting upon your learning experience can help you develop new skills and review their effectiveness.
Try implementing journals and personal blogs where students can write freely about their experiences. Monthly discussion threads or feedback sessions are the perfect way to encourage collaborative reflection, providing a space where students can be open and honest with each other about their feelings and offer advice. Encourage students to discuss their projects, focusing on what works and how to improve.
Self-reflection is essential for personal growth and learning, no matter your niche, but it doesn’t come easily for everyone. Providing prompts or questions can help students reflect on their journeys and projects better. Here are some starting points:
Regular feedback will make your students feel valued and supported. It’s important to design a system to help community leaders, moderators, mentors, or peers offer feedback on projects.
Design resources such as guidelines, learning curriculums, project templates, and checklists to help students manage their time effectively. You could also offer one-to-one sessions to give personalized feedback and mentorship or integrate a channel for peer feedback into your community. These ideas will ensure you provide the support and guidance your students need to succeed.
Collaborative approaches are a huge part of community-based learning, helping students improve their skills and become comfortable with group work. As a community leader, you can set up or recommend collaborative projects such as a marketing campaign or virtual presentations for your students that solve a problem the community is facing.
Project management tools such as Asana, Notion, and Trello are a great way to simplify collaborative projects. With other tools like Zoom and Google Calendar, project management and working towards a common goal has never been easier. Some community and learning platforms, like Teach.io, offer task management and video integration all in one place, so you and your students don’t have to jump between apps.
Real-world experience won’t just set your students up for success and excellent careers – it will also give your community credibility. Sharing case studies of successful projects in your niche, whether campaigns for greener energy, ideas implemented to help the homeless population, or research conducted on pet therapy, can demonstrate the impact your community can have when following the same path.
Using concrete examples will show your community that with the right mindset and effort, they can impact the world they live in. Use storytelling, infographics, or videos to make case studies interesting so members of your community feel compelled to engage.
Implementing CBL into your community is easy if you have the right platform. Teach.io combines learning and community in one place. With course builders, an integrated calendar, live event management, and one-to-one chats, you have everything you need to apply community-based learning to your virtual space.
