Abstract
Learning does not stop when an individual leaves formal education, but becomes increasingly informal, and deeply embedded within other activities such as work. This article describes the challenges of informal learning in knowledge intensive industries, highlighting the important role of personal learning networks. The article argues that knowledge workers must be able to self-regulate their learning and outlines a range of behaviours that are essential to effective learning in informal networks. The article identifies tools that can support these behaviours in the workplace and how they might form a personal work and learning environment.
Highlights
Traditional conceptions of learning focus on the formal learning that occurs in contexts such as school, college and university education
The workplace is increasingly recognised as a key locus for informal learning (Harteis & Billet, 2008), in knowledge-intensive domains where classroom training approaches are unsuitable
We consider the context of informal learning in the workplace for knowledge workers in knowledge-intensive environments (Davenport, 2005; Drucker, 1999)
Summary
Traditional conceptions of learning focus on the formal learning that occurs in contexts such as school, college and university education. Workplace learning is fundamentally social (Brown & Duguid, 2000; Eraut, 2007) and is supported and occurs through practices that are more open, recognising the expertise held by the individual and the personal networks they maintain. We identified four key learning behaviours that knowledge workers use when learning in informal networks. Connecting with people and resources (information sources) in a learner's personal learning network.
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