How companies like Tigerhall are pushing social learning forward

It is indisputable that higher education has changed over the last twenty to thirty years.

Where once a Bachelor’s degree guaranteed employment within a short time of graduation: now it can barely get a second glance.

Even a Master’s Degree no longer carries the respect it once had. Factors have changed to make these once-vaunted degrees a simple facet of one’s career. 

We no longer live in a world where going to college is an achievement, it is now an expectation.

Employers have vast quantities of educated applicants, and hundreds of thousands of bachelor’s degrees sit unused due to this hyperinflation of education.

Getting a degree can often mean another few years in school instead of a successful career being within reach. 

Part of this comes from the fact that millions of students embark on the classical learning journey every year.

Federal student loans and relaxed acceptance policies mean that most people can be accepted to a school regardless of their financial or social background.

While this is a significant step, it has had the unfortunate side-effect of making a degree worth less to a hiring company. 

Additionally, traditional teaching methods are becoming increasingly marginalized in a world that continues to advance at a staggering pace.

What was once seen as cutting-edge technological and social development only five years ago is outdated and detrimental to further advancement.

Universities struggle to keep up with these trends. For example, too many of their students find themselves woefully underprepared for the jobs that they apply for upon graduating. 

With these facts in mind, it is no wonder many students feel embittered towards the classical learning methods that worked for older generations but failed to produce results for the newer ones.

This is where the new ideas of education, of a social approach towards learning, are coming into their own. 

Tigerhall, a social learning platform that specializes in this new form of education, sees the classical form of education as no longer meeting the demands of modern business.

Employers no longer value past degrees; they love the ability to get things done and learn on the fly. That is where social education comes into its own. 

Social learning means that people learn from people, mainly from experts. They educate one another as time passes, learning new trends and new ideas as they develop.

The objective is that all learners will be prepared for the developing demands of the industry of their choice instead of learning the old methods taught by universities.

Everyone grows and learns together, and the community strengthens its weaker members while ensuring that all members know together. 

In this regard, it more closely resembles the old universities, before it became more mass-appeal oriented and the value was watered down.

People can communicate new ideas and teach one another organically instead of reading a textbook of teachings laid out years ago.

And I am only applying it to one specific facet of a topic that is now outdated and functionally useless in the career. 

An idea can originate from one person in the learning community and spread, being tested and refined through each person.

Discussions inspired by that idea contribute to further development, and soon the conversation encourages everyone in the network to participate. Through this ideal, the whole community develops instead of a singular person. 

Reskilling is a significant factor of social learning, where people can build on or become more versed in new skills they can leverage for their careers.

It is already a given fact that people must go to conferences or back to school to improve their skills. Social learning takes this idea and tries to make it more streamlined and accessible for interested learners.

Skills that may have developed in the industry can be easily spread through the community.

In contrast, older ones that may not be taught by schools and universities, but are still valuable, can reach people who could benefit significantly from knowing them.

Everyone learns from one another, while those with something to teach can reach those who need to hear it the most.  

While a traditional mindset sees this as a pain or a requirement, social learning is designed to benefit those who follow it from the outset.

TigerHall, in particular, believes that the traditional mindset is one of the biggest obstacles in how people try to improve their careers in this unorthodox method.

They stand by their motto: “Where you come from should never get in the way of where you want to go. We imagine a world where employers recruit, develop and promote talent based on meritocratic data, mindsets and skills; not on university brand names.”

The central tenet of social learning is that the orthodox methods are outdated and ready to be replaced.

With major events like student debt forgiveness and the folding of some major universities and colleges, the atmosphere is ripe for a new educational path.

Fortunately, there is already an existing framework for people who want to pursue change. Everyone has the right to a successful future and the right to education.

Social learning is the idea that people also have the right to learn new ways and continue to build on their education for their careers.

No longer is stagnation the inevitable outcome of going to school; instead, there exists a new path for success that has come out of necessity as much as it has emerged from development. 

The future is here for people to grasp, and it is through companies like Tigerhall that people will get the knowledge and means they need to succeed in a rapidly changing and fast-paced economy. 

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