Harm told me about his team’s experience with informal learning in an engagement with Sara Lee. Sara Lee wanted to invest in technology in the domain of learning. At the beginning of this century, learning management systems were quite dominant, and therefore dominant on the radar screen of Sara Lee. That’s why we suggested to set up a meeting, in which we would explore where the learning takes place within the organisation, more specific, within the sales and marketing department, for which the technology was meant. Informal: - Experiences on the job. MORE >>

It is well documented that the vast majority of learning in the workplace is informal. According to extensive research undertaken by the Center for Creative Leadership: • 70% of learning occurs “on the job” • 20% of learning occurs by interacting with other people. • 10% of learning occurs via formal training (eg classes). This 70:20:10 breakdown has since been supported by subsequent research , though sometimes the ratio is represented as 80:20 to reflect informal learning and formal training respectively. MORE >>

This post first appeared at Learning Solutions Magazine. It’s 70/20/10, the oft-quoted model from which we derive that the majority of learning happens from on the job experience, as opposed to learning from peers or in a formal learning environment. That’s not to say that I think the importance we give to informal learning is wrong, far from it. Unfortunately, “seems to fit” is a trend that we don’t need any more of in workplace learning. Learning Styles “seemed to fit.” In work, as in life, informal learning has always been present. MORE >>

It captures my current thinking about informal learning. Tags: Informal Learning YouTube of Jay’s UMBC ISD Now! webinar. Warning: This sucker is 64 minutes long. MORE >>

It was a fantastic event with some great speakers and an opportunity to learn drumming. spoke (for 5 min) on how mobile enables informal learning. Informal Learning. Even though informal learning has been around for as long as we humans have been, the use of the term ‘Informal Learning’ in corporate has grown significantly in the last 5-8 years. One of the challenge L&D staff has had is to understand Informal Learning and what can they do something about it. So, Informal is important. MORE >>