Is informal learning just another flavour of the month that tries to be all things for all learners? Tony Karrer states that: I’m becoming convinced that folks in the informal learning realm are quite willing to live with “free range” learning. It’s way too touchy-feely and abstract for me. If this stuff is important, then… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Informal Learning
Learning through Storytelling with the PPCLI
Via Luis Suarez is this story on CNEWS [dead link: see comment below] about a cultural anthropologist, Anne Irwin, who has been studying soldiers in the field and how they learn and bond through storytelling. The soldiers of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry battle group are in Afghanistan and Prof. Irwin is there to watch… Read more »
elearning session at CCL shows significance of informal learning
Stephen Downes is blogging the Canadian Council on Learning’s Conference on Adult Learning in Canada. Stephen’s report on the presentation (see my last post) on e-learning shows, among other findings, the significance of informal learning: Griff Richards: on four functional areas: – e-learning as an extension of military education – e-learning as distance education –… Read more »
Informal Networked Learning
We’re currently in our second Informl Learning Unworkshop, using various web tools that didn’t exist several years ago, with participants around the globe. My initial experiences in the learning field were from the point of view of methods of instruction (how to get subject matter across to captive students) and later, the systems approach to… Read more »
Adobe Informl Learning eSeminar Today
Yesterday, we had our third session of the Informl Learning Unworkshop, with about 10 participants online and the rest watching the recording later. Many are blogging for the first time, and there are some natural storytellers and artists. This is our second unworkshop series and it’s beginning to hit a natural learning rhythm – many… Read more »
Next Informl Learning Unworkshop Starts Soon
Jay Cross has just announced the next Informl Learning Unworkshop, set to start on June 8th. If you’re uncertain whether this is right for you, follow the links to the FAQ, or Jay’s online audio/slide presentation, or the excellent informal learning synthesis that Jay recently posted. We look forward to another interesting group learning experience… Read more »
Elgg update
I’m a great fan of the Elgg learning landscape and feel that this blogging, eportfolio, social networking platform is an excellent vehicle for informal learning and filling in the cracks created by those pesky LMS/LCMS that academic institutions insist on using. This past year David Tosh and the Elgg community have been busy with several… Read more »
A Learning + Web Unworkshop
Interested in how to use blogs, wikis and other web tools for specific learning applications? Then join Jay Cross, Judy Brown and me for an informl learning unworkshop. The format of the unworkshop is different from a typical online course or webinar and is focused on the working professional. First of all, it’s based on… Read more »
Quotable Comments on Learning
Here is a random selection of some quotes that I’ve been collecting. This collection is one example of why I focus my efforts on informal learning rather than more formalised education. “… curriculum is a solution to a problem we created.” —Brian Alger “No generation in history has ever been so thoroughly prepared for the… Read more »
Jay Cross on Informal Learning
Jay Cross has posted a Breeze presentation that you can watch and listen to online. It’s a review of his research over the past year that informed his in-press book on informal learning.
There’s a lot here and worth the time (35 minutes) to sit back and learn. Jay and I share perspectives on many things, including the importance of performance & the power of networks. In this presentation Jay gives a lot of food for thought on the important role of informal learning.
His statement that only 0.4% of behaviour change is attributable to formal learning should make training organisations and educational institutions shake in their boots, but of course it won’t (until it’s too late).
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