As the pace of change in the workplace accelerates and training budgets are challenged, it becomes essential for employees to learn as they go along. In this connected world, new ways of learning are emerging all of the time, whether the learning is planned, unexpected or self-directed. For those responsible for learning and development in organizations, understanding how this kind of informal learning can be utilised and measured is key to providing efficient and cost-effective ways of delivering on organizational objectives around people development. Informal Learning in Organizations offers practical tools, including checklists and action plan questions, to guide the Learning and Development practitioner in how to design and implement an informal learning strategy that is personalised to the needs of their own organization. It combines the latest thinking on new technology and practices with established theory and research to provide an evidence-based review of informal learning and its true impact. It offers an overview of how and why informal learning resonates with people, how it works and when and why it doesn't. This book will assist the reader in making sense of their connected environments to create a continuous learning culture in their organizations.

Most learning on the job is informal. This book offers advice on how to support, nurture, and leverage informal learning and helps trainers to go beyond their typical classes and programs in order to widen and deepen heir reach. The author reminds us that we live in a new, radically different, constantly changing, and often distracting workplace. He guides us through the plethora of digital learning tools that workers are now accessing through their computers, PDAs, and cell phones.

Informal Learning in Youth Work offers fresh perspectives on all aspects of informal education in the youth work setting. Designed to develop the reader′s knowledge and skills, this comprehensive textbook explores key issues such as communication, power relations, ethics, gender exclusion, sexuality, race discrimination and social class. The author places particular emphasis on conversation as a key means of promoting informal learning and engaging effectively with young people. Other key features include: " case studies that illustrate the application of theory to `real-life′ practice " an emphasis on critical reflection, including reflective questions " an easily accessible style, with key terms and tips for further reading " a four-part structure guiding the reader through different stages of conversations and relationships in informal education. Informal Learning in Youth Work provides a unique combination of theoretical analysis and practice tips. Satisfying training and course requirements in the area, it will be essential reading for all students on youth and community work courses, as well as those in allied fields such as education and social work. It will also be a valuable reference for practitioners working with young people on a daily basis.

This scholarly book in SIOP’s Organizational Frontier series looks at research on enhancing knowledge acquisition and its application in organizations. It concentrates on training, design and delivery given the changing nature of work and organizations. Now that work is increasingly complex, there is greater emphasis on expertise and cognitive skills. Advances in technology such as computer simulations and web-based training are necessitating a more active role for the learner in the training process. In the broad context of the organization systems, this book promotes learning and development as a continuous lifelong endeavor.

"Discover how the role of anybody involved with workplace learning, enhancing capability and improving performance must change to successfully manage the critical shift in the way organizations need to cater to the learning needs of their employees. Despite millions spent on training, surveys show that the majority of workers are disengaged and delivering far less than they are capable of. Deliberately harnessing the power of informal learning is the new way to tangibly improve worker capability and performance, right at the point of work. This book shows you how, using practical advice from workplace learning experts, and examples and case studies from around the world. It establishes the relationship between informal learning and employee engagement, knowledge management, organisational development, performance support and competence." --Publisher description.

Work-related learning can be broadly seen to be concerned with all forms of education and training closely related to the daily work of (new) employees, and is increasingly playing a central role in the lives of individuals, groups or teams and the agenda’s of organizations. However, as this area of study becomes more prominent, debates have opened about the nature of the field, as well as about its configurations and effects. For example, some authors have a broad definition of WRL and define it as learning for work, at work and through work, ranging from formal, through semi-structured to informal learning. Others prefer to use the concept of WRL mainly in connection to informal, incidental learning processes during work, leading to competent workplace learners. Formal and informal learning are distinguished from each other with respect to the level of intention (implicit/non-intentional/incidental versus deliberative/intentional/structured). Another point of discussion originates from the different ‘theoretical backgrounds’ of the authors: the ‘learning theorists’ versus the ‘organizational theorists’. The first group is mainly interested in the question of how learning comes about; the second group is predominantly interested in the search for factors affecting learning.

In much of the developed world, learning is synonymous with the formal, structured processes that involve teachers, lecturers or trainers. Yet it is experience that is by far the most influential teacher that any of us will have, from the very first moment we are born. Lloyd Davies puts forward a new way of looking at experiential learning; a model that identifies the elements, and points to some of the dynamics. The book highlights the characteristics that are common to the learning process, explains how we learn from experience and why each of us sees our experiences in different ways and, consequently, learns different lessons. It provides advice and guidance on how each of the various elements of the process can be used to greater effect, both for individual and group learning, as well as in mentoring and counselling. The book, which is based on the author's research, is written for a wide readership that includes both learning practitioners and students. If individuals and the organizations within which they work, as students or as employees, understand the basis on which they learn and can turn the process from a passive to an active one, the implications for their development are profound. Lloyd Davies' model for Informal Learning provides a relevant, flexible and significant tool that can offer a sea-change in the way we all learn.