Informal learning

Is public software helping such as Linkdin,del.icio.us to our learners? Some critical thinking we should notice about it.

1. Is really helping our kids? will they get wrong information?

2. informal learning vs formal learning

3. if public software is part of our teaching materials , How do teachers tell their students to use it. it will have problmes with freedom issue.

Those problems have been discussion for a while when you use pulic software in your classroom. you may set up those pulic software very careful for them. Otherwise, it will be just waste time it. i mean "very careful" which measn students may use public software to cheat or to do something we do not know. Internet is very popular now. a lot of crimes can learn via internet.

do you have any different views?

Informal learning...

Informal learning...

The concept of informal learning includes learning throughout life n the day-to-da processes at any time. For example, at home or office. there is more implicit knowledge than using explicit knowledge in the tasks. According to Cross (2007)"makes a case for the fact that informal learning is not the opposite of formal learning,and other analysts agree that the boundaries between formal, non-formal and informal learning are blurred and can only be meaningfully drawn in relation to particular contexts."

Formal learning can be applied by e-learning and technology. They do work together. For example, learning from websites and online discussion groups are very different from the orientation of formal course. we need to understand about "stress" is laid on learning step by step.

Kapp argues that informal leanring is just in time and just the amount necessary to put to immediate use.

"We can contemplate whether"real"learning happens with web 2.0 technologies, we can be philosophical about the value of informal learning versus formal learning, we can tout the virtues of"collective wisdom"but in the end...none of that matters. What matters is that kids are already using web 2.0 technologies comfortably and effectively. if we old folks (over 30) don't figure out how to effectively use these tools to help the younger generation learn what they need to be successful in our baby boomer-run companies, government agencies and other large organizations then we learning and development folks will be irrelevant. Conducting traditional classroom lectures for these gamers is not going to cut it and neither is our multiple-choice question, e-learning module format. we better stop bad mouthing web 2.0 or learning 2.0 and start using these technologies or be passed up by the "digital natives" as prensky calls them. (Kapp,2006)

I hope it helps