Informal learning insight of the week: An inspirational quote

I found this quote in a blog at Forbes, which I thought offered great advice for people who are feeling stuck in their career:

"Wherever you are today, reclaim your power in it.  Make your situation better by repairing broken relationships, building more respect, finding your voice, growing our skills, and becoming more competent.” (Kathy Caprino.)

From http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2012/04/14/the-5-biggest-mistakes-career-changers-make/.

Informal Learning Insight of the Week: Recognizing Informal Learning with “Badges”

For those looking for ways to recognize informal learning, consider “badges,” which recognize learners for participation in informal learning events, helping other learners, and similar types of learning tasks. Many online learning providers, such as online universities, nonprofit learning sites, and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) provicers already use badges or a similar systems of recognition. 

To learn more, visit  'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas by Jeffrey R. Young in the Chronicle of Higher Education online at http://chronicle.com/article/Badges-Earned-Online-Pose/130241/.

Informal Learning Insight of the Week: Osmosis Is Not On-the-Job Training

In a recent column in the New York Times, entrepreneur Paul Downs admits that he failed to train people:

“At that moment, output was much more important than training. I was putting a lot of pressure on my cadre of experienced workers to get jobs out the door — and at the same time dumping a crew of inexperienced warm bodies on them.

“I told the old heads to train the new people, but I didn’t relieve anyone of their production responsibilities. And I didn’t put a single person in charge of training. “

Later, he admits:

“Frankly, I was stupid, and I was setting up all of us for failure.”

Yes—even on-the-job training needs some level of oversight. 

Tip:  See Chapter 4 of Informal Learning Basics for some guidance on how to avoid this trap.

(To see the entire column, visit http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/figuring-out-a-better-way-to-train-employees/?src=recg).

Tips for Consciously Learning in Museums (without Killing the Fun)

by Saul Carliner

The summer travel season, when many of us explore new places and experience new things, is ripe with opportunities for true informal learning—that is, learning where you, as the learner, set the objectives and determine for yourself when you have achieved them. 

(This differs from informal learning for the workplace, which represents more of a partnership between employers and workers on the process, content, location, and purpose of learning, and—like other types of informal learning—can happen consciously or unconsciously. See Chapter 1 of Informal Learning Basics for more about these definitions.)

Some might learn a new sport. Some might try a new artistic activity, like journal writing or painting.  Some might try their hand at cooking a different type of cuisine.  Some might hike new paths. 

And some, like me, might explore new museums.  Museums captured my imagination at a young age, fostered my intellectual awakening, and provided many hours of wonder about—and engagement with—art, history, science, nature, and even music.  More immediate to the point, museums fostered my interest in informal learning, because that’s what they do.

So how can you get the most from your museum visit—without killing it?  Here are some tips.

Start with a flexible agenda.  From the get-go, give yourself permission to wander and explore whatever strikes your fancy. This museum visit isn’t a business meeting where you have specific tasks to accomplish; it’s supposed to be fun.  So don’t kill it by over-planning it.

Once inside, focus on what interests you.   See something that catches your attention?  Go to it.  Gaze at it. Read about it.  Linger all you want, or leave in an instant if it doesn’t seem to be what you thought it was.  You have free choice to explore; that’s why museums call the type of learning that goes on within their walls free-choice learning.

Follow the efforts to attract your attention.  Part of the fun of a museum is the unexpected discovery and exhibit designers go out of their way to provide you with opportunities to have one or two of those.  Enticing you to the museum to see a special exhibition, designers purposely place it in the back of the museum so that you’ll have to walk past the permanent exhibition—and perhaps, wander into it (much like grocery stores place the milk at the back to entice you to purchase something else along the way).

Within exhibits, designers try to beckon visitors to explore by effectively using sight lines and sizes of objects to catch your attention.  Or they might use sound or similar audiovisual devices to attract visitors to other parts of the exhibition or building. 

Get a general sense of what’s going on.  Unlike a casino, where they shut off access to daylight and remove all the clocks so you’ll keep gambling, museums are not trying to disorient you. 

On the contrary, museum design teams want you to know where you are and what you’re seeing.  That’s why most designers place orientation labels in each gallery so you’ll know the topic addressed in that gallery and why it’s significant. 

When something interests you a bit, go a bit deeper.  Some galleries strike a chord and motivate visitors to learn more about the topic.  That’s why most museum exhibition designers—especially in science, history, technology, cultural, and similar museums—provide a second set of labels, each of which explores a key theme within the broad topic of the gallery. 

These labels usually define the key theme and explain its relationship to the main topic of the gallery, and provide additional context.  In some exhibitions, thematic labels highlight some key or signature objects in the gallery. 

If something interests you a lot, go even deeper than that.  In some instances, either because you have an innate interest in the theme of the exhibition or because the exhibition designers inspired interest, you want to learn even more—about the broad themes and about individual objects. 

So many museums provide additional labels that go into further depth about the topic.  Section or case labels describe a sub-theme within a particular theme; object labels provide details on each object. 

When you’re not sure what to do, get “help.”  Most museums offer guided tours by trained guides, called docents. The tours are usually free, so if you’re not sure where to begin your visit or what to view while in the building, try this option.  Docents are trained to make sure you see key highlights of the collection on display, but most add a personal story or two and in the process of doing so, share their infectious enthusiasm for the museum.  So even though you might start a visit with little interest, the docent might inspire some. 

Docent tours also make sense when you face a language barrier .  Most museums display labels in a limited number of languages.  If yours isn’t one of them, you might miss out on the experience because you can’t get information about galleries and objects that interest you. Many museums offer tours in languages other than the ones on display. 

But some people still feel uncomfortable with docent tours.  Ask if the museum has a translation of the exhibition labels.  Some have special books that you can use within the museum; others have “apps” on the iPad or audioguides (that is, audio devices you can use while in the museum) that provide information in your language. 

And if nothing interests you, don’t read anything.  You can just look at the objects and appreciate them for what they are—something to look at.  Or just sit on a bench and observe the other visitors interacting with the exhibition. 

That’s the key characteristic of free-choice learning: you’re free to choose whether or not you feel like learning about something—or learn about anything at all.

And to be honest, most museums have so many exhibitions and so many labels that you couldn’t read everything on a single visit if you wanted to.  (That also gives you a reason to return.) 

Continue your learning.  Over the next several posts, I’ll share some thoughts about museums I’ve recently visited.  Maybe that will spark your interest in visiting one of the ones mentioned—or another one of your choice. 

Tip: For more information about the links between informal learning and museums, see the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Informal Learning Basics.   

Informal Learning Insight of the Week: Informal Learning in Groups

In case you missed it, check out Juana Llorens’ summary of opportunities for informal learning in groups. 

http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/L-and-D-Blog/2012/06/Thinking-About-Promoting-Informal-Learning-in-Groups.aspx

Slides from Recent ASTD Webcast

In case you missed the webcast, Informal Learning: What ARE the Basics? here's a link to the slides: http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/L-and-D-Blog/2012/07/Slides-from-Webcast-with-Saul-Carliner.aspx

Informal Learning in the News

Social media has sparked interest in informal learning; the topic is addressed throughout Informal Learning Basics.

 I recently came across some articles online that clearly and effectively introduce some popular tools. Although the articles are written for members of the academic community, they’re actually valuable to anyone interested in learning more about these tools:

• Utilizing Pinterest as a Learning Tool by Rochelle McWhorter, published in the June 2012 issue of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) digest describes the excitement generated by Pinterest—a social bookmarking tool that McWhorter identifies as a “social bookmarking tool” and is the “third most-used social media [sic] behind Facebook and Twitter,” then suggests ways that readers might use Pinterest. To see the article (membership might be required), visit http://ahrd.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=179. 
• Why are you on Twitter? By Liz Meyer and published on the Freire Project blog, explains not only why Meyer uses Twitter, but then proceeds to provide a primer on how to use Twitter. She explains the @ and # symbols, how to organize tweets, and Twitter etiquette. View the blog post at http://www.freireproject.org/blogs/why-are-you-twitter.

Are You an Informal Learner?

(Excerpted from my book, Informal Learning Basics (ASTD Press, 2012.)

Before Training and Development professionals can effectively provide and promote informal learning for others in their workplaces, they need an awareness of their own interests in, and preferences for, informal learning.

This activity, which is excerpted from the new ASTD Press book, Informal Learning Basics, is intended to help sensitize you to your informal learning preferences.

Instructions:  Answer these questions.  For responses, see the answer key below.

1.   One morning when you start your e-mail program, everything looks unfamiliar.  You quickly notice a special notice at the top of the screen, “We’ve unveiled a new look. Click here to learn more.”  What do you do first?

a.     Click where indicated to learn more about the changes to the program.

b.    Ask the person in the office next to yours to explain what’s going on. 

c.     Ignore the invitation to click here and fumble your way through the interface. 

d.    Sign up for a class to learn about the new e-mail interface.

2.   You’re the new coordinator of vendors for your department, which has never used vendors before but plans to start using them in the future.  To prepare for this new role, what do you do first?

1. Ask your friend in the Purchasing Department what to do.
2. Find the company policies and procedures on managing vendor relationships on the Intranet.
3. Sign up for a class on managing vendor relationships.
4. Start the job and figure things out as you experience them.

3.   Your partner was recently diagnosed with pre-diabetes and the doctor has urged your partner to start eating a healthy diet.  Although you thought you knew what healthy eating was, apparently your daily diet of bran muffin breakfasts and meat-potato-and-salad dinners isn’t producing healthy results.  To learn about healthy diets, what do you do first?

1. Continue cooking but remove fat and sugars from the diet. 
2. Join a local diabetes support group and ask for help with questions related to diet.
3. Register for the “Diabetes Diet” class offered at the hospital. 
4. Visit a website or buy a book with dietary recommendations for pre-diabetes patients.

4.   In a meeting this morning, the executive makes several comments related to the company’s most recent annual financial report.  You’re embarrassed to admit this: you don’t know how to read a financial report.  To correct this problem, what do you do first?

1. Ask your friend in the Finance Department to give you a crash course in reading financial reports.
2. Buy Financial Reports for Dummies at your nearest bookstore—and read it cover to cover.
3. Read the report line-for-line and try to figure out what it’s saying.
4. Take the e-learning course, How to Read a Financial Report, available through the library of e-learning courses in your company.

5.   You have accepted the invitation to serve as webmaster for your neighborhood association for the next year.  OK, so you have no experience with webmastering.  To prepare for this new role, what do you do first?

1. Ask the outgoing webmaster to provide step-by-step instructions.
2. Start your job and figure things out as they arise.
3. Take an introductory course for webmasters through your local continuing education department.
4. Watch a series of videos on YouTube about how to be a webmaster.

Scoring

Compute your score using Table 1-B.

Table 1-B: Scoring the Exercise

Assign Points as Follows	Tally Points Here
1--a-4, b-3, c-2, d-1 2--a-2, b-4, c-1, d-3 3--a-3, b-2, c-1, d-4 4--a-2, b-4, c-3, d-1 5--a-2, b-3, c-1, d-4	______ ______ ______ ______ ______
Total	______

Determine what your score by checking Table 1-C. 

Table 1-C: Interpreting Your Score

If You Scored:	You Are a:	Which Means that:
5 or below	A formal learner	You generally prefer formal situations for your learning.
6 to 9	A social learner	Although you're able to learn on your own, you often prefer to learn in groups or from other people
11 to 14	A go-with-the-flow learner	You use a variety of means to learn new skills, sometimes just trying things out to see how well you can perform.
15-16	A self-directed informal learner	You develop new skills on your own, but to make sure that you correctly understand them, you frequently refer to outside sources to do so.

With this awareness of your own preferences, you can begin to appreciate the different preferences of other informal learners.  You can use that awareness to better identify which activities might work with which learners—and which ones won’t—so you can use informal learning to achieve given goals.

To more about informal learning, check out the book Informal Learning Basics. For ordering information, visit http://saulcarliner.blogspot.com/2012/05/order-books-including-informal-learning.html.