Creating learning opportunities:
informal learning
John CookLearning Technology Research Institute
London Metropolitan University
Structure of workshop (90 mins)
Brief introduction (15 minutes) Break down into groups (30 minutes)
– Discuss one or more of questions (negotiate with John so we get coverage)
– Appoint someone to make notes and report back Each group report back (15 minutes) Discuss issues raised (25 minutes) John pulls out main conclusions (5 minutes)
Informal learning
People are now averaging about 15
hours a week on informal learning
(Livinstone, 2000)
– Employment
– Housework
– Community work
– General interests
Yet very little of this informal learning is
supported by e-learning.
Parent
Rugby union fan
Kids
CETL Ops Manager
Principal Research
Fellow
Student
Self taught bassplayer
PhD students
John
Play5 aside football
Formal vs informal
Peel
BassB&A
No single definition Informal Learning
Attributes of informality
and formality (Colley,
Hodkinson, et al., 2003)
– location/setting
– process
– purpose
– content
Non-formal
– a tutor knows about it
Informal
– under the radar or self-
motivated
Questions for group discussion (1)
Is there a
distinction between
‘life-long learning’
and ‘informal
learning’?
Does informal learning
vary across the
difference sectors, e.g.
HE, FE, Adult and
Community Learning,
in the workplace?
More questions (2)
Measuring learning
in informal contexts
cannot be easily
linked to outcomes,
but to perceptions
of outcomes?
How can we measure
informal learning?
Do we want to measure
informal learning?
Yet more questions (3)
One problem is that a large section of people are not getting the
opportunity to use digital media for informal or indeed formal
learning opportunities and are hence being digitally excluded.
How can we design digital media that plugs into the motivations and
emotional states of 'real people' in a way that empowers them?
Is there a linkage between the digital divide and the learning divide?
What did we find out?
Conclusions?
informal learning
vocationaltraining
specific skills
course
academic course
vocational qualification
Non-formal learning
informal learning
See Cook and Smith (2004) for further reading or
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/ltri/research/informal.htm
References
Colley, H., Hodkinson, P. and Malcom, J. (2002). Non-Formal Learning: Mapping the Conceptual Terrain. A Consultation Report, Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Leeds, November 2002.
Cook, J. and Smith, M. (2004). Beyond Formal Learning: Informal Community eLearning. Computers and Education, CAL03 Special Issue, 43(1-2), 35-47.
Livingstone, D. W. (2000). Exploring the Icebergs of Adult Learning: Findings of the First Canadian Survey of Informal Learning Practices. NALL Working Paper #10-2000, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.
Acknowledgement: Aileen Ackland, Shalni Gulati. Walter S. Arnold granted me permission for gargoyle photos to be used in talk and handout, see http://www.stonecarver.com/gargoyles/
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