Informal Social Learning Research Articles

Instructional Design Models for Pervasive Learning Environment: Bridging Formal and Informal Learning in Collaborative Social Learning

In Indonesia, there is a significant gap between the skills, creativity, innovation abilities, and job awareness of college graduates as well as the demands of the modern workforce. This gap originates from a curriculum and learning design that has not kept pace with the rapidly evolving needs of society. In an era characterized by digitalization and the rapid development of technology, content, infrastructure, human, and environmental resources, it is essential to create an open and pervasive learning environment (PLE). Therefore, this research aimed to describe the design process and determine the feasibility and validity of a PLE model that integrated formal and informal cooperative social learning. Research and Development (R&D) for Education model was adopted in this study following the phases of analysis, design, development, and evaluation (ADDIE). Furthermore, the research procedure included two main stages, namely the development of the PLE model and validation of the product. The product validation process further included 13 experts in material design, 15 experts in learning media, and 95 students from state and private universities across Indonesia. Subsequently, descriptive statistical analysis was used in analyzing the obtained data from the validation process. The results showed that the developed PLE model design has utilized the power of technology, social interaction, and everyday environment, both formally and informally. The developed learning model design was suitable for implementation in educational settings. This learning design model offers a comprehensive, flexible, and inclusive learning ecosystem that is tailored to the needs of the twenty-first century.

Unleashing entrepreneurial potential: venture creation and self-directed experiential learning on social media amongst secondary school-aged business owners

PurposeThis research paper aims to explore how secondary school-aged business owners utilise social media to engage in informal learning. The authors make use of the concept of a self-directed experiential learning cycle to empirically explore adolescents’ entrepreneurial learning processes without formal guidance or curriculum.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a one-on-one interview approach with a critical incident technique in interviewing to examine the experiences of 10 Grade 9–11 business owners who run social media-based businesses on Instagram.FindingsThe results demonstrate that student business owners were able to capitalise on social media for venture creation and informal learning. They effectively engaged in experiential learning cycles with active help-seeking and mentorship in response to challenges in their business journey. A variety of resources within social media, their social circle and the internet were employed by students, highlighting the role the self-directed element plays in their experiential learning process.Practical implicationsThe research urges institutions to recognise the potential of informal learning on social media and offer more support to strengthen students’ learning.Originality/valueThis research represents the first exploratory study on the potential of school-age teens’ self-initiated informal entrepreneurial learning while testifying the theory of the self-directed experiential learning cycle in the context of social media businesses. The study offers novel insights into the fields of students’ informal learning, entrepreneurial learning and social media learning.

Measuring learning from others: The development and validation of the Proactive Social Informal Learning Questionnaire

AbstractThe present study aims to develop, validate, and cross‐validate an instrument measuring three proactive social informal learning activities, namely feedback seeking, help seeking and information seeking. Prior research mainly focused on detecting or measuring the frequency of these seeking behaviours and did not consider whether the information, help or feedback that has been sought was also used. Furthermore, although these seeking behaviours were studied extensively in different research fields, the current study takes a learning perspective and interprets feedback, help and information seeking as learning activities. The questionnaire was completed by a convenient sample of 650 professionals working in higher education, consultancy, retail and food production. We performed an exploratory factor analysis (N = 230 educators) to explore the structure of the questionnaire. This was followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (N = 230 educators) to confirm the structure. Finally, we cross‐validated the questionnaire in a sample of business professionals (N = 190) by testing for measurement invariance. The final questionnaire resulted in a five‐factor structure measuring the (1) Use of Feedback Seeking, (2) Frequency of Help and Information Seeking, (3) Use of Help seeking, (4) Use of Information Seeking and (5) Frequency of Feedback Seeking. The current study presents a preliminary, yet promising instrument that taps into proactive social informal learning.

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SOCIAL INFORMAL LEARNING IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGH INVOLVEMENT HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICE AND LEARNING CLIMATE ON EMPLOYABILITY OF STARTUP COMPANY EMPLOYEES

Startup companies undergo many changes to deal with changing economic conditions and win the competition in the market. One of the factors that can increase company competitiveness is employability of the employee. This study combines organizational structural factors, namely the application of highly involved human resources and learning culture with employee factor namely social informal learning. The research aims to identify the factors that can enhance or hinder social informal learning and subsequently improve employee employability in startups. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants who met specific criteria relevant to the research objectives. Data from 290 employees of Indonesian startups analyzed using a structural equation model. The results showed that recognition, empowerment, competitive development, information sharing can enhance social informal learning and subsequently improve employee employability, while financial rewards can decrease social informal learning and employability. Companies that want to increase the practice of social informal learning can improve recognition practices, empowerment, competitive development, and informa­tion sharing.

Informal social learning dynamics and entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition in a micro food learning network

This paper expands and contextualises social perspectives on entrepreneurial learning by considering the informal learning dynamics and outcomes in a facilitated learning network (FLN) targeting micro-entrepreneurs within the local food sector. This research builds new theoretical and empirical knowledge on the contributions of FLN as a community of inquiry (CoI) to support entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition. Our research strategy was a single embedded case study with the units of analysis consisting of 12 micro-firms within the local meat industry in Norway. In retrospective in-depth interviews, founder-managers reflected on their learning from others from participation in a local-food learning network. Three main themes emerged from our analysis, reflecting the informal regulating mechanisms for knowledge sharing and how entrepreneurs acquired new entrepreneurial knowledge: (1) cultural norms stabilising the community of inquiry, (2) engagement in the practices of others regulates access to community knowledge and (3) from community inquiry to individual entrepreneurial knowledge. Based on these themes, we built a conceptual framework showing informal knowledge-sharing mechanisms and the individual micro-entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition in a CoI. Our study contributes to the research stream on social entrepreneurial learning and how learning from others in a CoI enhances entrepreneurial learning.

Valence of formal learning, employability and the moderating roles of transformational leadership and informal learning in the public sector

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between the valence of formal learning (perceived usefulness of the outcomes of formal learning for daily work and ambitions) and the employability‐related competences of public sector employees. Furthermore, the moderating roles of social informal learning and transformational leadership (TFL) are investigated. We conducted hierarchical linear regression analyses, using secondary cross‐sectional data from Dutch public service employees (n = 8858). The results show that the valence of formal learning increases employees’ employability competences. Additionally, TFL strengthens this relationship for two of the employability competences. However, TFL also negatively moderated the relation between valence and one of the employability competences. Social informal learning was found not to have a moderating effect but to directly contribute to the development of employability competences. The results question the predominant focus in research on participating in formal learning to increase employability competences and adds new insights by introducing the valence of formal learning to the employability literature. Some implications for future research are given related to the limitations of this article, such as the use of cross‐sectional data. The findings show the relevance of formal learning with high valence for boosting employability. Therefore, employers should encourage formal learning and employees should carefully consider its expected valence. Furthermore, the results show that employers should enhance transformational leadership styles and stimulate employees to learn informally. This study provides further evidence for the relationship between formal learning and employability competences by considering the valence of formal learning rather than focusing on whether or not someone has participated in formal learning. Furthermore, it extends previous employability research by considering the moderating roles of social informal learning and of TFL.

The mediating role of social informal learning in the relationship between learning climate and employability

PurposeThis study examines whether learning climate relates to employability competences through social informal learning (i.e. feedback, help and information seeking).Design/methodology/approachMultiple regression analyses and structural equation modeling were used to test direct and indirect effects in a sample of 372 employees working in two Dutch governmental institutes.FindingsThe analyses confirmed that learning climate has an indirect effect on employability competences through feedback, help and information seeking. More specifically, the findings suggest that learning climate is important for employees' engagement in proactive social informal learning activities. Engaging in these learning activities, in turn, relates to a higher level of employability.Originality/valueThis study employs an integrative approach to understanding employability by including the organization's learning climate and employees' social informal learning behavior. It contributes to the extant literature on professional development by unraveling how proactive social informal learning relates to employability competences. It also provides new insights on learning climate as a determinant for social informal learning and employability.

Formal supervisors' role in stimulating team members' informal leader emergence: Supervisor and member status as critical moderators

SummaryTeams can benefit markedly when formal supervisors stimulate their individual members' emergence as informal leaders. Combining insights from informal leadership research and social learning theory, we cast supervisors' role modeling of initiating structure and consideration behaviors as seemingly straightforward means of achieving this—but we suggest that the success of such role modeling critically hinges on supervisors' as well as members' status in the team. Results from a study of 220 nurses across 48 teams showed, accordingly, that a supervisor's initiating structure promoted individual members' informal leader emergence by increasing members' respective behavior. This indirect relationship only materialized, however, among relatively high‐status supervisors and relatively low‐status members. Moreover, although supervisors' and members' consideration were positively related (among relatively high‐status supervisors and largely irrespective of a member's status), such behavior did not influence members' emergence as informal leaders. Together, these findings offer novel insights into how, when, and why formal supervisors may aid their team members' attainment of informal leader roles. They shed new light on the complexity of formal–informal leadership linkages, with both supervisors' and members' standing in the team representing crucial, yet heretofore largely unexamined boundary conditions for formal supervisors' respective influence.

Social informal learning and the role of learning climate: Toward a better understanding of the social side of learning among consultants

AbstractThis research examines the social side of learning among professionals in the fast evolving and knowledge intense field of consultancy. Its first aim is to unravel social informal learning by proposing a new, integrated framework of workplace learning. Its second aim is to explore the role of learning climate for social informal learning behavior among consultants. Our qualitative inquiry using interviews based on the critical incident technique illustrates that consultants engaged in deliberative and reactive learning, thereby indicating a clear intention to learn. The source of learning was often the direct colleagues and direct supervisor, which highlights the relevance of close proximity of other individuals. The consultants mainly learned from others in a passive manner, followed by proactive and collaborative learning. Finally, this study shows that granting professionals responsibility and autonomy in their learning process as well as having a leader who facilitates learning are important elements of a learning climate that enhances social informal learning. We conclude with recommendations for organizations and directions for future research.

Spatial openness and student activities in an atrium: A parametric evaluation of a social informal learning environment

The use of atria for students' informal learning activities is becoming a common architectural design strategy in contemporary higher education buildings, especially in dense urban settings. However, while researchers have focused on the relationship between students’ perception, preferences and behaviours in social learning spaces, the spatial attributes themselves tend to be neglected in the literature.By exploiting digital spatial analysis tools, this paper uses the parameters of ‘viewing volume’ and ‘viewing area’ to compare the spatial openness of different spaces within an atrium in a higher education institution. Timeframe capture and interviews are also employed to record the distribution of student activities. The spatial attributes of the atrium and the distribution of student activities are analysed to explore links between the two. The results indicate that the viewing volume in the two-storey-height space is the highest, while viewing area in the staircase space is the highest. These spaces tended to coincide with higher frequencies of ‘see and be seen’ activities, such as students waiting and looking around (71.54% and 56.32% respectively). The standard deviations of the mean viewing volume and viewing area are the greatest in the three-storey space, suggesting a diversity of spatial openness. This coincided with the highest frequency of activities that require social interactions, such as gathering and group study (92.40% and 58.10% respectively). These findings suggest that spatial openness can impact student activities in an educational setting, and an atrium specifically. These novel methods also open new horizons for interpreting spatial structure in architecture.

Purposes of Using Informal Social Learning Spaces by Students: A Case Study of Business School in Sri Lanka

Business Schools are more than mere collections of classrooms and offices, rather destinations for studying, collaboration, group discussions, and they contribute to developing a sense of community among students and faculty. The literature illustrates almost zero essences on how managerial decision-making about space concerns affect students or faculty. In fact, it is been noted o reflect their understanding of the purpose of physical spaces mostly in its outward form which then interpreted by observers following their socially constructed decoding. The main objective of this study is to examine for what purposes students are using informal Social Learning Spaces. This is a qualitative case study based on a Business School in Sri Lanka. The data were gathered through focus group interviews and observations held at three different purpose-built informal social learning spaces at the selected Business School and analyzed using the thematic framework. In this exploration, the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and judgments of students are brought into the discussion. The findings revealed that students use social learning spaces for their studying, leisure, and networking purposes. Therefore, by providing informal social learning spaces for students to engage themselves in educational activities can make an influence on higher learning outcomes in academic, personal, and social aspects of their life.

Online Learning Communities in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Learning Network Analysis of Twitter During the Shutdown

This paper presents a social learning network analysis of Twitter during the 2020 global shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Research concerning online learning environments is focused on the reproduction of conventional teaching arrangements, whereas social media technologies afford new channels for the dissemination of information and sharing of knowledge and expertise. We examine Twitter feed around the hashtags #onlinelearning and #onlineteaching during the global shutdown to examine the spontaneous development of online learning communities. We find relatively small and ephemeral communities on the two topics. Most users make spontaneous contributions to the discussion but do not maintain a presence in the Twitter discourse. Optimizing the social learning network, we find many potential efficiencies to be gained through more proactive efforts to connect knowledge seekers and knowledge disseminators. Considerations and prospects for supporting online informal social learning networks are discussed.

Supporting newly-qualified teachers’ professional development and perseverance in secondary education: On the role of informal learning

ABSTRACTHigh percentages of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) drop out during their first 5 years in the classroom. Often, formal support systems are put in place to overcome ‘practice shock’. However, in this research, it was hypothesised that it is not the formal support structure put in place that determines whether starting teachers feel satisfied in their job and show perseverance but rather the amount of knowledge exchange that takes place. This was confirmed by the results of a first quantitative study. Then, a follow-up qualitative study showed that having the principal in the role of a mentor is often experienced as a mechanism of control or evaluation. Starting teachers prefer to choose their own mentor. They prefer their mentor not to be a superior but a close colleague whom they trust, who is teaching the same course in the same year. Our results have especially implications for onboarding of novice teachers. Since social informal learning (e.g. through the exchange of feedback with colleagues) benefits newly qualified teachers, it is important to create a safe and warm learning climate in which knowledge exchange can flourish. Also, NQTs should be given the opportunity to choose their mentor.

Facebook group dynamics: an ethnographic study of the teaching and learning potential for secondary school teachers

ABSTRACTThis study examines the role of social networking sites on the learning processes, teaching practices and professional development of secondary school teachers. By conducting observations and in-depth interviews with active participants, we present an ethnographic study of the Facebook group Teaching ideas secondary education [author’s translation], which is hosted and primarily employed by Flemish teachers. By drawing parallels between the study findings and the theory of affinity spaces we aim to gain greater insight into emerging group dynamics and social informal learning processes. According to respondents, the Facebook group has the potential to address teachers’ needs with respect to the exchange of teaching ideas, experiences and materials. The findings point to a number of emerging developments in the educational landscape, highlighting that social media environments present a new source of inspiration, and combined with a collaborative atmosphere are able to stimulate cross-fertilization, social informal learning processes and self-management and -reflection. We hold these findings up to the light of current education discourses.

On the Relation between Task-Variety, Social Informal Learning, and Employability

Fluctuating demands and fast changing job-requirements require organizations to invest in employees so that they are able to take up new tasks. In this respect, fostering employees’ employability is high on the agenda of many organizations. As a prerequisite for creating employability, many scholars have focused on the role of social informal learning. In this study, we extend this perspective and examine the relationships between task variety, social informal learning, and employability. We hypothesized that task variety is a catalyst for social informal learning, which in turn enhances employees’ employability. We contribute empirical evidence for this mechanism. However, while task variety leads to social informal learning and, subsequently, the competences needed for employability, task variety also may have negative direct effects on employability. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research and practice.

On the Relation Between Teachers’ (In)formal Learning and Innovative Working Behavior: the Mediating Role of Employability

Teachers’ innovative work behavior and professional development is receiving more attention lately. More precisely, it is argued that teachers’ formal and informal learning is crucial to anticipate and deal with continuous changes and innovations in technology and didactics, for example. Therefore, this study researches the teachers’ innovative work behavior by studying relations between (in)formal learning activities, employability (i.e. five competences: occupational expertise, anticipation and optimization, personal flexibility, corporate sense and balance) and innovative working behavior (IWB, i.e. ideas generation, promotion and realization). Furthermore, the mediating role of employability between learning and innovative working behavior is studied, too. Based on path analysis conducted on questionnaire data from 301 primary and secondary school teachers from the French-speaking community of Belgium, findings conclude that employability competences are related to both formal and informal learning, but the relationship between informal learning and employability is stronger. Next, making a distinction between the frequency and use of social informal learning is relevant given the differentiated role the different components play. Feedback use in particular seems to play an important role in teachers’ employability and IWB. Finally, it can be concluded that employability partially mediates the relation between the undertaking of (in)formal learning activities and dimensions of innovative working behavior. Results imply that schools should pay more attention to supporting teachers’ informal learning since it’s crucial for improving their ability to innovate and to be able to deal with changes in the dynamic world of education.

Toward Enhancing Collaborative Learning Groups Formation in Q&A Website Using Tag-based Next Questions Predictor

The advent of informal social learning environment has provided the necessary platform for realising of lifelong learning. The basic platform of learning in an informal environment is the learning groups called online Community of Practice (oCoP). This study proposes a predictor for predicting the topics most suitable for the formation of oCoPs for the users adopting the roles of co-learner and mentor in a shared domain perspective. Proposed predictor operates based on Naive Bayes prediction and collaborative filtering and uses educational social tags for realising the learners' roles and behaviour. The predictor is evaluated with the dataset of the website StackOverflow. The results show that the proposed predictor can predict the next question of learners with high accuracy. Therefore, the system can facilitate the formation of suitable learning groups around the predicted users' interest topics.

Build as you earn and learn: informal urbanism and incremental housing financing in Kumasi, Ghana

The continuous evolution, proliferation and resilience of informal housing in cities of developing countries defy all attempts by their formal planning processes to marginalise and relegate them to the periphery. In most instances, their rapid and uncontrolled growth has overwhelmed city planning authorities. More importantly, strategies for financing these informal housing units present complex networks of sources not clearly discussed in the housing literature. Using two informal communities—Ayigya-Zongo and Dakodwom—in Kumasi, Ghana, this paper explores the nature and characteristics of these non-conventional housing financing strategies. The study reveals an evolving and enduring non-conventional informal housing financing system effective for providing convenient and affordable housing for the urban poor; but this system is continuously sidelined by the conventional urban planning and housing financing systems. We argue against these attitudes of formal institutions towards these non-conventional housing financing strategies, and submit that these strategies are the gradual, incremental, and collective responses of residents in informal communities to a hostile formal urban planning and housing environment. Hence the dynamics of these non-conventional housing financing schemes point to a complex and fluid network of informal housing financial sources and structures, which are co-evolving with the processes of informal urbanisation and social learning among residents in informal settlements.

Working on professional development of faculty staff in higher education: investigating the relationship between social informal learning activities and employability

In this study, we examined how social informal learning and formal learning of faculty staff in higher education relate to their employability. Data were collected from 209 faculty staff members working at a Dutch university. Results showed that social informal learning was related to the employability of faculty staff. Further analysis revealed that especially external information seeking and acting upon feedback from colleagues and not formal learning predicted the employability of faculty staff. The finding suggests that institutes of higher education should especially foster the professional development of their faculty staff by stimulating exchange of information and seeking and using feedback with colleagues in a proactive manner.

SOCIAL LEARNING IN NONFORMAL EDUCATION IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

he article highlights the problems of big cities, majority of which come from industrial and modern societies. The author points out that due to the insufficient management of the process of informal social learning and low quality of education in the city of Tehran, it is necessary to re-view the processes of social learning. The author be-lieves that the reason for the people’s dissatisfaction with the urban lifestyle is a lack of quality informal social learning, aimed at developing social skills of people. In the contemporary Iranian society interpersonal relations have not reached the necessary level of development; between the attitude of Iranians to the current conditions of informal social learning and optimal conditions there are significant differences.