Though there has been a good deal of research done on informal learning in the workplace, I haven’t seen an attempt to put structure around it (that’s why it’s called informal, right?) But perhaps informal can still have parameters and structure, and it would be interesting to see how they fit with the literature. This blog post is from the E-Learning Curve Blog, and covers initiatives such as Lunch & Learns, ‘Brown Bag’ , and Information Sessions.” It goes on to say they are a great way for organizations to enable staff to find out about (current and proposed) procedures, standards, and best industry practice implemented in any project they are might be involved in. Both the initiative as a whole and the individual events themselves adhere to a comprehensive project plan. There are three phases in the project lifecycle, and each discrete Information Session event is a ‘micro-project’ that broadly adheres to project parameters of the project-at-large (see Table 1).
I might say that Lunch and Learns or brown bag/information sessions are not truly informal learning – but they definitely are less formal than other types of workplace curriculum, so they become something in between that can be planned with overarching goals and defined learning outcomes.
via Creating a structure for non-formal learning events | E-Learning Curve Blog.
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