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You are here: Home / eLearning 2.0 / Informal Learning: An Interview With Jay Cross

Informal Learning: An Interview With Jay Cross

by Connie Malamed

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A funny thing happened while we were learning informally. A few astute people noticed it, wrote about it and brought it to the forefront of the learning arena. In fact, the buzz about informal learning seems to grow every day. You’ll find it discussed in training forums, featured in conferences and the subject of many presentations.

Social learning technologies, which often facilitate informal learning, seem to have paved the way for greater interest in this approach. So I think readers of The eLearning Coach would appreciate an interview with a person who wrote the book on the subject … literally. Meet Jay Cross, author of Informal Learning, speaker and consultant.

Coach: What is your definition of informal learning?
Jay: Learning is that which enables you to participate successfully in life, at work, and in the groups that matter to you. Informal learning is the unofficial, unscheduled, impromptu way people learn to do their jobs.

Formal learning is like riding a bus: the driver decides where the bus is going; the passengers are along for the ride. Informal learning is like riding a bike: the rider chooses the destination, the speed, and the route. The rider can take a detour at a moment’s notice to admire the scenery or go to the bathroom. Learning is adaptation. Taking advantage of the double meaning of the word network, to learn is to optimize the quality of one’s networks.

That said, all learning is part formal and part informal; neither exist in pure, unadulterated form. The issue we’re really addressing is whether the learning is mainly formal (imposed) or informal (sought).

Three hallmarks of formal learning are: a curriculum, a schedule and recognition upon completion (even if only a checkmark in an LMS).

Coach: What are examples of offline informal learning?
Jay: Learning to walk, talk, eat, kiss, smooch, run or ride a bicycle.

Coach: And examples of online informal learning?
Jay: Getting an answer from the Help Desk, asking Twitter friends for an answer, looking at a FAQ on a wiki.

Coach: What motivational factors underlie informal learning?
Jay: The primary motivation is needing to learn something in order to do something. There are so many forms of learning, it’s tough to generalize. I might want to learn Italian to foster my relationship with Sophia. I might learn to program Cisco routers in order to get a raise. I might seek an answer to a customer’s question.

Coach: How do you think cognitive processes differ when someone is learning informally as opposed to formally?
Jay: Generally informal learning is demand-driven. I’m more interested because I’ve chosen the subject matter and extent of the learning. It’s likely I’ll reinforce my learning almost immediately and that will make it stick. (Can anybody really remember the content of their high school coursework?)

Coach: Formal and structured learning can potentially promote efficient organization in long-term memory. Would this be an advantage of formal learning over informal?
Jay: Organization in a curriculum isn’t efficient unless it’s the right stuff. Generally, informal learning will take less time and effort to learn an equivalent amount of material.

Coach: Is there more potential for picking up incorrect information or developing inaccurate mental models when learning informally?
Jay: There’s potential for picking up incorrect information from informal learning or formal learning or newspapers or television or one’s brother. Learners need to be able to apply tests of reasonableness. Can the information be substantiated? Do others agree? Has it been vetted by thousands of others? Does it make sense to me?

Coach: Are there advantages to informal collaborative learning as compared to informal individualized learning?
Jay: Learning is social. Most learning is collaborative. Other people are providing the context and the need, even if they’re not in the room. Relative advantages would depend on the nature of what’s being learned. I don’t sense that there are absolutes.

Coach: How can organizations optimize the workplace for informal learning?
Jay: I’ve written books on this, but in short, organizations need to trust their people. People confronted by high expectations tend to live up to them. (And when confronted with low expectations, they tend to sink down to a low level.)

There are hundreds of smaller interventions that nurture informal learning. Examples might be setting up facilities to encourage conversation, providing time and encouragement of reflection, displaying graphics that explain company processes, building a social network infrastructure, setting up ways to share information, and viewing learning as part of every job.

There’s a lengthy summary of this at Internet Time Wiki. That’s the “informal learning page” I set up just for people who are curious about informal learning. You can download book chapters, watch a video, find white papers, etc.

Thanks for a great interview, Jay!

Related Articles and Resources:
Social Media And Learning
10 Ways To Learn In 2010
10 Social Media Tools For Learning
Buy Informal Learning on Amazon
Download free chapters on Internet Time Wiki

Comments

  1. Connie Malamed says

    February 25, 2014 at 11:00 am

    Good to know! Thanks for clarifying that, Jonathan.
    Connie

  2. Barry Anderson says

    February 10, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    Fantastic article!

  3. Connie Malamed says

    February 8, 2010 at 8:21 am

    I agree, Cheryl. It’s a pretty exciting time to be a learning specialist. I’m psyched about the future.

  4. Cheryl McNeil says

    February 8, 2010 at 5:57 am

    Nice interview, Jay! Thanks for sharing the link to your informal learning Wiki page.

    I recently read that “Formalizing informal learning is an imperative for all training organizations in 2010.” Josh Bersin, the principal and founder of Bersin & Associates, states “The coming year will bring dramatic changes to corporate learning.”

    I look forward to what this year will bring.

Trackbacks

  1. Interview with Marcia Conner, co-author of The New Social Learning | Take It Personel-ly says:
    December 8, 2015 at 11:47 am

    […] “To learn is to optimize the quality of one’s networks,” said Jay Cross. “Learning is social. Most learning is collaborative. Other people are providing the context and the need, even if they’re not in the room.” [From C. Malamed, “Informal Learning: An Interview with Jay Cross,” The eLearning Coach, https://theelearningcoach.com/elearning2-0/informal-learning-an-interview-with-jay-cross/]  […]

  2. When it comes to e-learning how do you see yourself? Learning Designer, Writer, Architect? | My Mind Bursts says:
    February 14, 2014 at 6:38 am

    […] New Learning Architect says he got the idea of the new learning architect at presentation gave by Jay Cross on informal learning. […]

  3. Try Yammer; Maybe You'll Learn Something - The Yammer Blog | The Yammer Blog says:
    September 18, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    […] guru, Jay Cross, defines informal learning as, “that which enables you to participate successfully in life, at […]

  4. Are you the learning architect or the learning builder? | My Mind Bursts says:
    November 27, 2012 at 9:08 am

    […] New Learning Architect says he got the idea of the new learning architect at presentation gave by Jay Cross on informal learning. […]

  5. Try Yammer; Maybe You’ll Learn Something | Yammer Blog says:
    February 4, 2012 at 5:33 pm

    […] guru, Jay Cross, defines informal learning as, “that which enables you to participate successfully in life, at […]

  6. Integrating Informal Education into the Classroom says:
    June 30, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    […] interview below has been reprinted from The Learning Coach […]

  7. No One Learns Alone | Welcome to the Roosevelt University Training and Development Blog says:
    May 9, 2011 at 10:31 am

    […] Cross (https://theelearningcoach.com/elearning2-0/informal-learning-an-interview-with-jay-cross/) believes that workers learn more in the coffee room than the classroom. They discover how to do […]

  8. In The Know v 1.06 | HR Examiner with John Sumser says:
    March 18, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    […] Informal Learning: An Interview with Jay Cross In a nutshell, it’s informal learning if you want it and formal when it’s shoved down your throat. Jay Cross, the hidden gem of the Learning Marketplace, says it more eloquently in the interview. Basically, we are moving into an informal learning period. That’s part of the reason that training budgets are declining. […]

  9. 10 Ideas for Integrating Social Media with Formal Courses « Creating Understanding says:
    January 31, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    […] Media tools support Informal Learning which is recognized as the primary way that people learn (an interview with Jay Cross author of “Informal Learning”). However, some of this buzz reminds me of the early days […]

  10. uberVU - social comments says:
    February 3, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by e_learningaudio: RT: Informal Learning: An Interview With Jay Cross: A funny thing happened while we were learning infor… http://bit.ly/9C24KA #e-learning…

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