Informalize Formal Learning: Smarter, Closer, Simpler, and More Appealing

Ourrelationship with technology is changing the ways we live and work.We connect digitally with our mobiledevices, social networking tools, and various computer devices more than ever before.We are constantly connected, and we must manage our relationshipwith technology differently than we managed it in the past. Thispresents some challenges for users and for educators, instructionaldesigners, and others who design, create, and manage onlineinstruction.

Implicationsfor learners

Newdevices such as the iPhone and iPod have changed expectations ofusability. Users expect a very low learning curve to perform theirgoals with a product. Products that present a steeper learning curveresult in ever-greater levels of user frustration and apathy.Furthermore, users expect solutions to their problems to be ever-moreconvenient and readily available. Blogs, wikis, social media sitesand services such as YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, and others too numerousto list, have sparked user-created learning aids, tips, tricks, andworkarounds.

Usershave come to expect complex products to become more and more simple,linear, and easy to learn. The emergence of different Web media hasmade that possible.

Implicationsfor educators

Aseducators we need to put ourselves in the learners’ shoes andfigure out ways to address their needs, because their relationshipwith, and expectations of, technology has changed.

Businessesnow recognize both the challenges their products provide to users,as well as the ease with which they may deliver solutions via theWeb. Extending beyond their own support systems and sites, manycompanies are reaching into social media destinations and providingtheir own measured, structured learning aids in the form of video,cheat sheets, online help and user forums.

Thesemethods serve to provide users with quick and effective solutions totheir problems and help them to rapidly become more successful withproducts, within hours or even within minutes. The “instantaneous”character of social media is undeniable and it is creating users whoexpect to become experts in a hurry and with no barriers to entry.

Benefits ofinformalizing learning

Formallearning content is good and relevant, and repurposing it brings manyadvantages. Informalizing formal learning content brings it closer tothe learner and provides for more learning that is “accidental,”or unplanned. Doing this can require changing the learning content invarious ways. Putting it in places people visit on a daily basis,such as the sites and services named above, is one big, yet simplestep.

Increased appeal to learners

Richcontent delivery through social media sites is more appealing to theuser in appearance and content. This approach also tends to presentcomplex information in ways that invite students to learn in a casualenvironment. Users feel that they have more choice in the matter:when to learn, what to learn, and how to learn it. All of thesefactors are contributing to escalating growth rates of informallearning.

Draw learners into formal instruction

ELearninganimated assets, for example quick product demonstrations, are idealfor posting to a site such as YouTube or Vimeo. Not only do thesesorts of demonstrations provide concise, targeted training but theycan also be teasers to draw people to more formal learning, such as afull training course, of which the demonstration is just a part.

Obtain information about learners

Oneof the other key benefits of providing these short eLearning assetsonline is the wealth of information that is collected about theusers. This is data that you can access and use.

Forinstance, YouTube and Facebook offer businesses demographicinformation about their users, as well as their daily and monthlyactivity trends. The more effective and relevant your information,the more traffic your Facebook page or YouTube channel receives. Inthis way, you establish an immediate and symbiotic relationship.Users get the most relevant and up-to-date training materials. Theeducator receives valuable information about the users, in additionto receiving direct feedback from users about content.

Simplified format

Publicsocial media sites and services provide another benefit that largebusinesses appreciate – a simplified format. Every Facebook pageand YouTube channel offers the same general layout. This has provento be comforting and predictable to users, who quickly learn how tonavigate every channel or page as well as how to expand, collapse, orincrease quality of content, such as videos. The user is truly incontrol. They can build their own custom playlists, tag audio andvideo favorites, and subscribe to users and channels based on theirown needs for information.

Whenthe decision is between searching the multiple layers of a corporateWebsite, or tuning in to your own customized list of videos, thedecision isn’t a difficult one. As users flock to public mediasites to reap the benefits, educators are not far behind.

Provide advance organizers andprerequisite knowledge

Usersgain valuable and free information from online media and services. Atthe same time, instructors gain a means to gather users into formalclasses where they can truly engage the product and learn in anin-depth manner. Users can go from learning general or typicalproduct objectives online to the classroom where the objectivesbecome more complex and require more interaction between student andinstructor. In the classroom, students can ask specific questionsabout how to implement our products in their businesses to helpthem achieve their personal business goals.

Establish learner-to-educator-and-topiclinks

Aseducators “recruit” users through social media sites, theeducators can become closer to their users. Many sites and servicesoffer more than just multimedia; they are a way to capture users’attention and whet their appetite for information. Users receivelinks and paths back to more formal training, which often contains alarger sampling of the media which users have seen free online.In this way, educators persuade users to trust their educationmaterials and encourage them to pursue formal training.

Our company is now posting instructional videos that presentboth general product usage and specific product scenarios on YouTube.These videos and their objectives are included in and elaborated onas part of the formal training.

Forexample, our in-house course on Enterprise Architecture is ademonstration showing how to set up, configure and navigate theinterface. This instructor-led course presents students with ahands-on lab where they can perform what they see in thedemonstration, as well as learn how to apply it to their specificbusiness environment after leaving training. After their formaltraining is complete, the videos can serve as reference material onthe job. Our learners, who often request additional videos aftercompleting the formal classroom training, many times confirmed the value of videos as reference tools.

Reposition learning closer to themoment of need

Anothereasy way to informalize formal learning content is to reposition itcloser to a product rather than have it stand alone. It is possibleto convert portions of a Web-based eLearning course to “digitalcheat sheets” and to incorporate these in product documentation, orembed them into the product itself. These can also serve as teasersto draw people back for additional or advanced formal training.

Why bother?

Youmay be asking, “What then is the difference between informal andformal learning content?” The main difference is that informalizedlearning is simple, concise, rich, and easy to find and understand.It starts many users down the path of learning. Once their learningprocess has begun, users may choose to take advantage of more formallearning media.

Weare all learning at a much more rapid rate than before. Learning new concepts andadding new skills, on what sometimes seems like a weekly or monthlybasis, is coming to be the norm in an increasingly globalizedeconomic order. The world is full of ever-growing complexity, whileat the same time the desire for simplicity drives much behavior.Learning is no exception. Engaging users simply, directly and quicklyvia informal methods is key to recruiting them into more in-depth andtraditional learning formats.