The document discusses informal online learning and its implications for professional development, highlighting the distinctions between formal, non-formal, and informal learning. It emphasizes that informal learning comprises a significant portion of job knowledge acquisition and fosters co-learning, critical thinking, and collaboration across organizations. The text advocates for empowering learners to take responsibility for their own learning and sharing processes, suggesting methods to facilitate informal learning such as open collaboration and reflection.

1. Informal Online Learning:
Implications for Professional
Development
Anne Mims Adrian @aafromaa
eXtension Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Karen Jeannette @kjeannette
eXtension
Sarah Baughman @programeval
eXtension Virginia Tech
#ExtPSDP December 13, 2012

2. Learning results in changing
- Way of thinking
- Perspective
- Understanding and making sense
of life, humanity, and morality
- Possibly behavior
http://www.psu.edu/dept/site/2010/04/more-thoughts-on-social-learning-and-context.html

3. Formal learning –
- is intentional, organized & structured
- usually arranged by institutions
- guided by a curriculum or other formal
program.
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development /
Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques
(OECD), n.d.; Werquin, 2007)

4. Non-formal learning –
- may or may not be intentional or
arranged
- usually organized in some way, even
loosely
- no formal credits granted
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development /
Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques
(OECD), n.d.; Werquin, 2007)

5. Informal learning –
- is never organized
- not guided by a rigid curriculum
- is often experiential and spontaneous
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development /
Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques
(OECD), n.d.; Werquin, 2007)

6. Informal Learning
"the acquisition of skills, knowledge,
and values from daily experience and
people around us.”
http://www.psu.edu/dept/site/2010/04/more-thoughts-on-social-learning-and-context.html
To learn by observing and doing.

7. Best form of informal learning is
in our "natural" tasks of
everyday life.

8. 85-90% of a
person’s job
knowledge is
learned on the
job.
10-15% is learned in formal training.
Raybould, 2000

9. Work is learning;
learning is work.
– taken from Keats
Harold Jarche

10. Informal learning allows for co-
learning across organizations
and outside of organizations.
Informal learning and co-learning are better
for dealing with emergent problems.

11. “In a knowledge economy, the
individual is the knowledge
creator, and relationships are the
currency”.
Harold Jarche

12. Mobile
Ubiquitous
SocialNetworks
Disruption
Emergent
SocialCapital
Interconnections
Complexity
OpenAccess
OpenScience
OnlineMedia
Collaboration
Crowd-sourcing
Democratization
PersonlLearningNetworks

13. Encourage
unlearning
Seek and connect with
others outside of areas
for which we have
traditionally drawn.
Learn from polarized
views.
Are we
hiding
and sa in sma
fe grou ll
ps?

14. Encourage Critical Thinking
Observe
Challenge & evaluate
Participate
Tentative opinions
Network unlearning
www.jarche.com/2012/12/networked-unlearning

15. Empowering learners
take responsibility for their
own learning, assessment
openly share
their learning process
learn through reflection,
reflection, and peer to
peer assessment
accept failure

16. Expectations
Immediacy
Just in time—when and where needed.
Finding through search and networks.
Have to ability to learn as I want to.

17. Learning opportunities
i ng On demand
rn s?
lea ay
ng lw
i di al Social
ov s in
pr ie
e
w unit Embedded
e t
Ar por
op

18. We used to think of ourselves
as the opportunity, but now we
have to think about how the
opportunity finds us.
Karen Jeannette v e?
wa
the
ide ng?
we
r rfi
su
Can v en ht
ee rig s?
ew the lace
Ar in p
rfing
su
we
Are

19. Incorporating informal learning
Share information and provide
access before, during, and after
meetings.
Allow others to use and remix content.
Openly share.
Make it easy for others to connect
and share among and with each other.
Use flipped classroom style.

20. Don’t forget that co-learning
and informal learning can be
fun!

21. Photo credits
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/79818573@N04/8166868668/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/english106/4357006535/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/usaghumphreys/8160453602/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6088492555/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/tylerdvorak/5138433026/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/withassociates/4008215554/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/usarmyafrica/6820535686/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocell/2118446465/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/mil8/2171507093/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/garlandcannon/4321390121/

22. Photo credits
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/4230414171/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/mil8/2171507093/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/rorycellan/3916832626/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3405811164/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/joao_trindade/6915326109/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/yel02/216662431/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/thearches/5907960975/