I just twittered a thought - 'The benefit of Informal learning is that fish are the last to recognise water' - and then I started thinking...
This is the real essence of informal learning. People become so engrossed in what they are doing that they don't see that they are learning - until they have learnt (if this makes sense?)
So what does this mean for workplace learning?
- design opportunities to stretch your teams capabilities
- design informal learning opportunities to meet the development needs of workers
- provide easy access to organisational knowledge, preferably online
- use the skills and knowledge of the group
- embrace enterprise-based social networks
- build collaborative online workspaces
But, informal learning is not:
- an excuse for not having any plans
- the easy way out
- great, 'cause it's cheap!
- a good way of passing responsibility to others
So, let's try for a definition:
"Informal learning is the learning we do when we don't realise we're learning."