Informal Learning In Organizations

As the pace of change in the workplace accelerates and training budgets are challenged, it becomes essential for employees to learn as they go along. In this connected world, new ways of learning are emerging all of the time, whether the learning is planned, unexpected or self-directed. For those responsible for learning and development in organizations, understanding how this kind of informal learning can be utilised and measured is key to providing efficient and cost-effective ways of delivering on organizational objectives around people development. Informal Learning in Organizations offers practical tools, including checklists and action plan questions, to guide the Learning and Development practitioner in how to design and implement an informal learning strategy that is personalised to the needs of their own organization. It combines the latest thinking on new technology and practices with established theory and research to provide an evidence-based review of informal learning and its true impact. It offers an overview of how and why informal learning resonates with people, how it works and when and why it doesn't. This book will assist the reader in making sense of their connected environments to create a continuous learning culture in their organizations.

Most learning on the job is informal. This book offers advice on how to support, nurture, and leverage informal learning and helps trainers to go beyond their typical classes and programs in order to widen and deepen heir reach. The author reminds us that we live in a new, radically different, constantly changing, and often distracting workplace. He guides us through the plethora of digital learning tools that workers are now accessing through their computers, PDAs, and cell phones.

Informal Learning Basics provides training and development professionals with guidance and practical lessons on harnessing the vast potential of informal learning in their organizations. While formal training has been the focus of many corporate training programs for the past century or more, much of the actual knowledge and many of the skills workers use in performing their jobs are nonetheless developed informally. Informal Learning Basics will assist you in recognizing and utilizing the informal learning possibilities in your company, and will show you how to create a framework of highly cost-effective training opportunities and a culture in which your employees are able to learn and grow in an efficient and unobtrusive way. In addition to providing an in-depth study of the concepts of informal learning, Informal Learning Basics also offers: -an analysis of how workers develop much of the knowledge for their jobs informally -real-world case examples of informal learners -an examination of the nine principles which govern informal learning in the workplace -suggestions on how to blend formal and informal learning in your organization -descriptions of specific activities for both group and individual informal learning opportunities - a discussion of the importance of support personnel in creating and maintaining effective informal learning programs - an exploration of the significant role played by technology in informal learning - information on the importance of providing a codified framework for informal learning in your organization - a consideration of the fact that traditional approaches to evaluating training are often ineffective when evaluating informal learning, and suggestions on how to best evaluate informal learning programs. In an era where organizations of all shapes and sizes are increasingly focused on cutting budgets and maximizing the return on their training investment, incorporating informal learning opportunities into your training programs will result in competent and knowledgeable employees, and great ROI for your company. With its wealth of insight and information on capturing the potential of informal learning and using it to your organization’s advantage, Informal Learning Basics is essential reading for every training and development professional.

Today, rapid change is a constant challenge in the workplace, and thousands of individuals need to be involved in continuous learning. Traditional training approaches, however, do not emphasise informal and incidental learning. Furthermore, since informal learning us seldom designed, learning outside of a structured experience may lead to mistaken or dysfunctional learning. Strategies for improving informal learning are urgently needed. This book, first published in 1990, responds to this need by taking a challenging look at many assumptions about workplace learning outside of the classroom and by proposing methods to improve it. They develop a theory of informal and incidental workplace learning based on current developments in training and human resource development which they illustrate with readable and illuminating case studies which tell vivid stories of adult education and human resource development practice. Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace is essential reading for researchers and practitioners of human resource development, and also for students of education and adult learning.

This book has two purposes: To open up the debate on the role of informal education in schooling systems and to suggest the kind of school organizational environment that can best facilitate the recognition of informal learning. Successive chapters explore what is often seen as a duality between informal and formal learning. This duality is particularly so because education systems expend so much time and effort in certifying formal knowledge often expressed in school subjects reflecting academic disciplines.Recognizing the contribution informal learning can make to young people’s understanding and development does not negate the importance of valued social knowledge: That complements it. Students come to school with knowledge learnt from their families, peers, the community and both traditional and social media. They should not have to "unlearn" this in order to enter the world of formal learning. Rather, students’ different learning "worlds" should be integrated so that each informs the other. In a knowledge-based society, all learning needs to be valued. Some contributors to this book reflect on how new educational systems could be created in a move away from top-down authoritarian and bureaucratic management. Such open systems are seen to be more welcoming in acknowledging the importance of informal learning. Others provide practical examples of how informal learning is currently recognized. Some attention is also paid to the evaluation of informal learning. A key objective of the work presented here is to stimulate debate about the role of informal learning in knowledge-based societies and to stimulate thinking about the kind of reforms needed to create more open and more democratic school learning environments.

This scholarly book in SIOP’s Organizational Frontier series looks at research on enhancing knowledge acquisition and its application in organizations. It concentrates on training, design and delivery given the changing nature of work and organizations. Now that work is increasingly complex, there is greater emphasis on expertise and cognitive skills. Advances in technology such as computer simulations and web-based training are necessitating a more active role for the learner in the training process. In the broad context of the organization systems, this book promotes learning and development as a continuous lifelong endeavor.

In much of the developed world, learning is synonymous with the formal, structured processes that involve teachers, lecturers or trainers. Yet it is experience that is by far the most influential teacher that any of us will have, from the very first moment we are born. Lloyd Davies puts forward a new way of looking at experiential learning; a model that identifies the elements, and points to some of the dynamics. The book highlights the characteristics that are common to the learning process, explains how we learn from experience and why each of us sees our experiences in different ways and, consequently, learns different lessons. It provides advice and guidance on how each of the various elements of the process can be used to greater effect, both for individual and group learning, as well as in mentoring and counselling. The book, which is based on the author's research, is written for a wide readership that includes both learning practitioners and students. If individuals and the organizations within which they work, as students or as employees, understand the basis on which they learn and can turn the process from a passive to an active one, the implications for their development are profound. Lloyd Davies' model for Informal Learning provides a relevant, flexible and significant tool that can offer a sea-change in the way we all learn.