Enhancing digital intelligence through communities of learning

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to explore how students described as "millennials" or "digital natives" approach online education and how social constructivist pedagogy can be incorporated mindfully into online business education programming to help these students refine and transfer their innate understanding of digital networking language and principles to business and professional communities of practice. Foundational literacies, competencies, and character qualities such as critical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration, and curiosity identified as being key to business success are discussed. Methods of incorporating authentic learning activities that develop tacit skills in conative and affective learning domains are also presented. Online business education, designed using a social constructivist collaborative learning model such as the Community of Inquiry, has the potential to heighten inculcation of cultural norms and transferable knowledge of digital language and social practices to business environments. In particular, criteria for rethinking learning outcomes or goals, instructional design, learning activities, teacher and student roles, technological advancements and assessment are discussed.