{"id":3192,"date":"2016-04-27T15:47:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T15:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/cel\/?p=3192"},"modified":"2016-04-27T15:54:29","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T15:54:29","slug":"informal-learning-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/2016\/04\/27\/informal-learning-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Informal Learning in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor John Cook of UWE gave a fascinating\u00a0keynote address at the recently held CELebrate 2016 on the subject of\u00a0Informal Learning in the Workplace<\/strong><\/em>. The address drew on\u00a0a large European project on Learning Layers intended to develop technologies that support informal learning in the workplace, with particular focus on Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) within Regional Innovation Clusters. The technologies developed act as \u201cscaffolds\u201d so that individuals can scale up technology for informal learning by sharing knowledge in the right context and at an appropriate time.<\/span><\/p>\n

To set the scene, a recent PEW publication (PEW, 2014) drew on expert predictions to report on the impact of the internet over the next 10 years. One pessimistic claimed: \u201cOur educational system is not adequately preparing us for the work of the future, and our political and economic institutions are poorly equipped to handle these hard choices\u201d.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\/2014\/08\/06\/future-of-jobs\/<\/a><\/p>\n

An innovative response from the Learning Layers Project is the development of social web tools such as ZoP and Confer to mediate. These tools capture digitally mediated work-based practice and ease learning as people work. \u00a0\u00a0For instance, the application of the Zone of Possibility (ZoP) \u2013 a concept of informal learning can enable\u00a0the following:<\/p>\n