Many instructional arrangements seem “contrived,” but there is nothing wrong with that. It is the teacher’s function to contrive conditions under which students learn. It has always been the task of formal education to set up behavior which would prove useful or enjoyable later in a student’s life.
— B.F. Skinner (http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm)
I feel that informal learning plays an important part in my personal development, but still I hold the notion that informal learning cannot completely replace formal learning. Here are three of the reasons why.
Audience
Informal learning is not suitable for all kind of learners. Though Jay Cross is a big proponent of informal learning, he mentions in his blog that “novices learn best through formal learning, for it provides the structure, signposts, and scaffolding a newby lacks.” Being a student myself, it is sometimes hard for me to filter valuable information from the vast available resources. In such an environment, formal education through coaching and active feedback provides me with the capacity to further educate myself. Carmen in her blog “Formal Learning is here to stay” backs up on the reason for such behavior by explaining it in context of lack of prior knowledge (schemata), and cognitive load. Flora, Jane and Paul in their presentation try to explore which form of learning is preferable and explains with the help of a matrix that people who have more autonomy over learning would benefit from informal learning whereas formal learning is for those who have less self control over learning.
Accountability & Quality
Formal learning would be preferred when there would be no scope for trial & errors, meet certain standards, and have to be 100% accurate. Karl Kapp in his blog discusses examples where formal education would be most effective. He says “Without formal training if someone does something right, it is most likely by chance” and in high risk environments there is no room for chance. Formal learning would also be preferred in an environment where there needs to be quality mass production of certain product or services in a restricted time. The best example that is coming to my mind right now is the training of American soldiers during WWII.
With the new emerging policies and procedures, where effort is being made to help students to prepare for a future that does not exist yet, is commitment and responsibility involved with formal learning. Also, today formal learning opportunities are provided in such authentic environments that it would be hard to believe that it is still the 70/20/10 principle. Don Clark in his website discusses the importance of both formal & informal learning and is of the opinion that “informal learning should NOT replace formal learning activities as it is this synergy that produces effective growth”
References
Clark, D. (2010). The true cost of informal learning. Retrieved from: http://bdld.blogspot.com/2010/02/true-cost-of-informal-learning.html
Clark, D. (2010). Knowledge jump. Retrieved from: http://www.knowledgejump.com/learning/informal.html
Cross, J. (2005). To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season. Retrieved from: http://metatime.blogspot.com/2005/04/to-every-thing-turn-turn-turn-there-is.html
Informal Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.infed.org/biblio/inf-lrn.htm#tacit
Kapp, K. (2010). Formal learning all the way…baby. Retrieved from: http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2010/07/formal-learning-all-waybaby/
Learning. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning
Weaver, C. (2010). Formal learning is here to stay. Retrieved from: http://viral-notebook.com/blog/2010/02/17/formal-learning-is-here-to-stay/
Guest Blogger
Smita Jain is a doctoral student in the department of Instructional Design and Technology at the University of Memphis. She assists faculty in designing online courses for the department of Health and Sport Sciences. She enjoys her work very much as it is also her area of interest- Online/Web based teaching and learning. She has tutored middle school children and helped pre-service teachers to prepare them to integrate technology in their classrooms. After completing her degree she wants to become a faculty, researcher and consultant in the field of Instructional Design and Technology.
Image courtesy of Mully Children’s Family at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mullychildrensfamily/4926260794/
Smita-I think your blog post raises a lot of interesting questions. I would agree that formal learning plays a very important role to a certain extent. I also think that learners should be given opportunities to develop their own schema based on informal learning.