First Train regular Donald H Taylor takes a hard look at informal learning and asks if it is an opportunity or threat.
Right now, it seems everyone is talking about informal learning – at conferences, in books and on the internet. But what does informal learning mean – and what, in particular, does it mean for Learning and Development professionals?
Coined and popularised by Jay Cross in his and on You Tube, ‘informal learning’ has become a catch-all term that refers, broadly, to how we learn when we’re not in the classroom. And, if you believe the figures, it’s where most learning occurs. 80% of learning takes place informally, says Cross, and only 20% formally, while the numbers are reversed for the L&D spend: 80% of training budgets go on formal learning, and only 20% on informal.
As so often happens with catch-all terms, there has been an initial enthusiasm – “that makes sense”, followed by a backlash – “hang on, what exactly do those numbers mean? And much of “How exactly do you define this term?” Pundits jump in from every side to pull things apart to see how it works, and don’t always succeed in putting them back together again. Donald Clark in the US has had a look at the numbers, while Guy Wallace tackled the definition. Neither was entirely satisfied that the claims of informal learning were as simple as they had been represented.
Perception is everything Forget numbers and definitions, though. The term ‘informal learning’ has a currency beyond them, and has an effect on the learning profession simply by being there. Like all catch-all terms, its popularity is not random. It has generated interest because it coalesces different strands of thinking and crystallizes them.
In short, people hear it, and in some way it makes immediate sense.
The threat Informal learning’s popularity is in part a reaction against the perceived ineffectiveness of the traditional training rooms and classrooms. Research Institute of America figures show that retention of knowledge drops to 33% just 48 hours after classroom training, falling to around 10% over three weeks.
Of course formal learning (in the classroom or otherwise) is not always as ineffective as this research suggests. Mary Broad’s work, in particular, shows the huge influence of managers on training outcomes. But that message isn’t getting heard by the people who matter – those managing the budgets.
Remember L&D’s last great catch-all term? As we approached the turn of the millennium, e-learning was sold to executives on one message: it cut costs. Today L&D professionals see e-learning as an important part of the learning mix, but only a part. However, the old message has lingered up top, where e-learning is still perceived as a vague flash in the pan that has something to do with cost cutting.
Informal learning could be heading the same way.
Baldly, the figures seem to show that organisations are grossly over-paying for their training. It looks as if L&D hasn’t been doing its job.
The other side of the coin But there’s good news, too. Management interest has been piqued: are water coolers really as good as classrooms? No, not always, but where there’s interest, there’s opportunity. The opportunity here is for L&D to reach out of the classroom and make people development much more closely aligned to performance.
Conrad Gottfredson of Brigham Young University suggests that there are five critical points where there is a need for learning:
- When learning for the first time - When extending learning - When training to remember/apply learning - When things change - When something goes wrong
Formal learning – if well formulated – can be a good solution to the first two. However, points 3 to 5 require something else: support on the job.
Three immediate steps to support informal learning On the job support is where L&D can take a new role. It ain’t formal, but if it helps better learning and improves performance, we should be doing it. Here are three suggested actions to help your organisation:
First – delegates leaving formal, episodic learning events forget too much, too soon. Help them. Provide something to help them do their job better. That could range from a job aid on paper to a full EPSS (Electronic Performance Support System).
Second – not every learning intervention needs to be structured. Learners can do a lot for themselves if you let them. Try providing an online library of books (very effective in hi tech companies), enrolment in professional communities, or simply making sure that everyone has desk-top internet access and Google.
Third – people don’t always know what they don’t know. Ensure that your organisation’s job roles and associated skill sets are clearly described. Your own formal training plans can help people through this – but if they choose to build their skills in other ways, at least you have provided a road map of where they should be going.
None of this is formal learning. It is, instead, the start of an extended role for Learning and Development. From simply delivering training, L&D should be working with other departments to support workplace performance.
It’s the way of the future – and informal learning could be the stimulus for it.
This article first appeared in Issue 3, Volume 2 of First Train magazine
First Train regular Donald H Taylor takes a hard look at informal learning and asks if it is an opportunity or threat.
