Social learning networks: A brief survey

Social Learning Network (SLN) is a type of social network among students, instructors, and modules of learning. It consists of the dynamics of learning behavior over a variety of graphs representing the relationships among the people and processes involved in learning. Recent innovations in online education, including open online courses at various scales, in flipped classroom instruction, and in professional and corporate training have presented interesting questions about SLN. Collecting, analyzing, and leveraging data about SLN lead to potential answers to these questions, with help from a convergence of modeling languages and design methods, such as social network theory, science of learning, and education information technology. This survey article overviews some of these topics, including prediction, recommendation, and personalization, in this emergent research area.