Trends in Distance Education and Open Learning: Policy ... - ADEA

7. Formal and informal training settingsFormal learning is all about recognition and accreditation (award and qualification) fromauthorities and institutions whereby the content has a clearly defined syllabus andpedagogy.Below is a framework in an attempt to define a roadmap for support in informal settings.In the context of life long or continual learning, learning in informal settings is most of thetime the ideal way to complement over and above the qualifications obtained throughformal learning.Figure I.8, the conversational framework for supporting learning in informal settings(Laurillard, 2007).However, m-learning in informal settings is highly contextualized and individualized. As amobile learner learns in all circumstances and places; the environment in the case ofinformal settings being private and without specific learning outcomes and assessmentpredefined.Research on informal and lifelong learning recognizes that learning happens all of the timeand is influenced both by our environment and the particular situations we are faced with.Informal learning may be intentional, for example, through intensive, significant anddeliberate learning ‘projects’ (Tough 1971), or it may be accidental, by acquiringinformation through conversations, TV and newspapers, observing the world or evenexperiencing an accident or embarrassing situation. Such a broad view of learning takes itoutside the classroom and, by default, embeds learning in everyday life, thus emphasizingthe value of mobile technologies in supporting it. An example in this category is the system27