There have been attempts to make “informal learning” a new buzzword in the training world, and while there’s some obvious sense in looking at how learning “happens” in informal situations (since most of our lives are “informal”), there probably isn’t much new in the term. That said, it probably is worthwhile for trainers to put knowledge and content into multiple forms and have them available in different media.
Actually, what you are doing right now is informal learning. You are learning something even without the intent to do so, because learning is a function of the organism. One cannot stop learning until one is dead. However, what one learns can be presented in a formal structure and with the intent to cause learning, or in a less formal structure that isn’t really intended to cause learning.
In any event, we are playing with the informal learning idea with respect to management and supervisory learning. We (Manager Pat Stark and I) have developed a toolbar that sits in your browser, and from which you can choose to read articles for managers, listen to management related audio programs (ie. a series featuring former GE CEO Jack Welch) and access video (ie. Harvared Business videos). It’s free, but the things that strike me beyond that involve the versatility and JIT (just in time) aspects of the tool.
Really, all it is is placing learning “stuff” in front of those that might be interested. But it’s under learner control, and it’s technically simple.
If you are interested in seeing how this works, you can go to The Management Development Toolbar page
I’ll be coming back to this in future posts.
