Thursday, February 22, 2007

Informal Learning -- Getting Learners to Ask the Right Questions

In a post on informal learning by Ray Sims (thanks to Tony ), he lists out a whole bunch o' good things "to do on behalf of increasing informal learning aligned with company strategy and goals."

This got me musing on some of the issues that have been bumping around in my head as I read all the blog talk on the topic of informal learning as well as Jay's book (which I have admittedly only gotten partly through). The biggest question I have is how do organizations ensure that the right content is in all the right places? You've got your wikis and your blogs and your rapid e-Learning pieces and your social networking tools, but should someone be making sure that the right stuff is out there?

As an occasional classroom teacher, I have always been extremely aware of those students who don't even know what questions to ask. The role of the teacher in the classroom is often to guide these students to asking the right questions.

In the world of informal learning, who can be the teacher/the mentor? How can organizations ensure that the right questions are being asked by the informal learner?

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