Comments on: What is Informal Learning

By: Zack

Zack — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:27:07 +0000

“Isn’t it important to help facilitate informal learning so learners continue to learn even after they have attended a class?”

I strongly agree.. plus, informal learning would enhance creativity

By: gminks

gminks — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:35:45 +0000

@Kevin Jones, cool! Thanks!! I’ll check it out when its available.

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:02:28 +0000

Gina, because of the great discussion here and on @slqotd on Twitter, this became our topic for the next episode of the Social Learning podcast. Dave & I just recorded it and it should be out on Tuesday next week. I mentioned your blog and some of the stuff we talked about in the comments on your blog.

The podcast will be available on iTunes and at http://www.box.net/shared/anl7j5g4nc

Hopefully that will get more people coming to your blog and talking about it!

By: Unpacking the Informal Learning definition | Adventures in Corporate Education

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:00:44 +0000

[...] is a quick post coming from comments on my last post about Informal Learning. Just to recap, I used this this definition as a starting point for trying [...]

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:04:19 +0000

@gminks, I would have to agree with you. The way in which it is delivered is very formal, structured. Even the way it is consumed it is structured. You may do it whenever you feel like it and maybe not with a specific purpose but the way you learn it is still structured by the person / group who created it.

But this does open the question… Is the definition of “informal learning” from the learner’s perspective or those that create the content?

By: gminks

gminks — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:50:20 +0000

@Peter Quirk, I think you & Ernie may think along the same lines, but I disagree that MIT Open Courseware is informal learning. You may consume it in an informal manner, but those courses were designed by one entity trying to get a set of learning objectives across to the learner.

By: gminks

gminks — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:44:50 +0000

@Michael Hanley, Mike that post is great. Lots to digest!!

By: Ernie Kahane

Ernie Kahane — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:53:08 +0000

Interesting posts. I agree that with informal learning, learning just happens. And I like where the discussion is going – in any situation learning just happens. And then the big question: what are you learning?

In the late 1960’s, a sociologist went into the school systems to study the daily life of students. He found that the defining characteristic of the classrooms that he researched was a pervasive sense of boredom (Duh!) Additionally, there was a set of rules, some of which were never explicitly discussed, that governed the organization of the classroom. The rules are familiar ones to many of us: the teacher taught and the students listened. The teacher determined what took place in the classroom and distributed rewards and punishments. If you talked without permission you might get scolded or worse. Etc. Phillip Jackson, the researcher, called these rules the “hidden curriculum” because they were never written out somewhere, they were just the way things worked, unnoticed and unchallenged (like the air we breathe!). The hidden curriculum suggests in any learning situation (formal or informal) there’s a layering of rights and responsibilities, deep and surface learning, what’s permitted and what isn’t. Learning is complex

If all organizations have a hidden curriculum that defines the meaning, scope, depth, expectation and impact of formal and informal learning it’s important that we dig into what it is and a strategy to deal with it. Maybe having clear distinctions between formal and informal learning (given the definition Gina uses) means there’s a problem for your learning organization i.e. a hidden curriculum that serves to compartmentalize learning..

By: Peter Quirk

Peter Quirk — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:34:02 +0000

This might be a little provocative, but I’ll argue that the education industry defines formal learning as that which cariies the logo or brand of an institution and is paid for. Informal learning is that which you didn’t pay for.

For example, I can study the MIT Open Courseware and that is called informal learning. If I do it with a group of friends, we call it social as well as informal learning. If I pay for the same courseware as part of an MIT branded degree we call it formal learning.

By: Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:42:11 +0000

HUGE difference. One major one I didn’t realize (although it was too obvious) until today. Informal learning doesn’t require anyone else besides the learner. As Jane Bozarth said on the @slqotd today, “Like last night I informally learned that if I catch my finger against the wheel of a can opener, it will cut me…ow.”

Social learning requires interaction with others and, more often than not, it has some structure as I stated before.

Yesterday I wrote a post on learning like breathing (http://tr.im/gA4r). I see informal learning more like this.