ICT and lifelong learning for a creative and innovative EuropeFindings, reflections and proposals from the Learnovation project
Informal learning in the era of Web 2.0
Elina Jokisalo and Antoni Riu
P.A.U.Education
Contributors:FabioNascimbeni(MENON),ThomasFischer(ILI-FIM),JoeCullen(ArcolaResearch)andWalterKugemann(ILI-FIM)
1 Introduction
Thisarticlefocusesonindividualdevelopmentthroughe-learningandlearningincommunities.Individualdevelopmentthroughe-learningrangesfromeducationtotraining-relatedactivities,togetherwithanyothertechnology-enhancedlearningactivitiesnotnecessarilymediatedbyformaleducationalinstitutions.Participationinonlinecommunitiescanproducebothintentionalandunintentionallearning.Thelatteroccurswhencommunitiesdonotforeseelearningastheirmainobjectivebutgeneratelearningasasideeffect.Thethreee-learningterritoriesthatthisarticlecoversare:
Individual development through e-learning
involveseducationandtraining-relatedactivitiesmainlyathome,togetherwithanyothertechnology-enhancedlearningactivitiesnotnecessarilymediatedbyformalE&Tinstitutions.Thisterritoryischaracterisedbynon-formallearningprocessesandespeciallybymeansofinformallearningactivities.
Learning communities
arecommunitiesorganisedbyindividualsorgroupsofpeopletomeet,shareandlearnaboutaspecificsubject.Thelearningtakingplaceisnon-formal,inthesensethatitisnotmediatedbyateachinginstitution.Thelearningpurposeisexplicitlyperceivedandagreedonbythemembers,althoughnotnecessarilyleadingtoformalrecognition.Learningtakingplaceinthesecommunitiesmaycontributetothedevelopmentofskillsandcompetencesfortheworkplace,butalsoforprivateandsociallife.
Communities generating learning as a side effect
donotforeseelearningastheirmainobjective.Establishingarelationshipwithothermembersofthesecommunitiesispromptedfirstandforemostbyacommoninterestorcommonvaluecommitmentresultingfromeithergeographicalorintellectualproximity,demographicsimilarity,commonhobbies,belongingtothesameNGOorcharity,tonameafew.Thesecommunitiesmaytaketheformofpopularchatrooms,blogsandforainwhichinformallearningtakesplace.TheconstantlydevelopingInternetenvironmenthasbeenshapedoverthepastyearsbyapplicationsandservicesbasedonWeb2.0technologies.Thisischanginghowweobtain,share,create,andorganiseinformation,communicateandparticipateand,throughtheseactivities,howwe
learn
.ThisarticlepresentsthefindingsoftheLearnovationterritoryreportsdealingwithinformallearninginbothindividualandcollaborativecontexts.Thepapershowstherecentchangesanddevelopmentsthathaveshapedinformallearningopportunitiesandthewaysinwhichinnovationisfostered.Thearticleconcludesbypresentingrecommendationsthatshouldbetakenintoaccounttoenhanceandsupportinformallearningandinnovativedevelopmentwithininformallearning.
2 Informal learning in the Knowledge Society
What do we mean by informal learning?
Accordingtothevocationaltrainingpolicy(Tissot2004)terminology,informallearningis:
“Learningresultingfromdailyactivitiesrelatedtowork,familyorleisure.Itisnotorganisedorstructured(intermsofobjectives,timeorlearningsupport).ILisinmostcasesunintentionalfromthelearner’sperspective.Ittypicallydoesnotleadtocertification
.”
Furthermore,accordingtotheEuropeanCommission(2000)“
Informallearningisanaturalaccompanimenttoeverydaylife.Unlikeformalandnon-formallearning,informallearningisnotnecessarilyintentionallearning,andsomaywellnotberecognisedevenbyindividualsthemselvesascontributingtotheirknowledgeandskills.
”Unlikeformalandinstitutionalisedlearning,informallearningisnotorganisedorstructured,norisitnecessarilyintentionalfromthelearner’sperspective,anditcanbesaidthatinformallearningischaracterisedby“unintentionallearning”contrarytoexpectedlearningoutcomes.Allofthismakesinformallearningabarely-
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