Informal Learning Thrives Amid Simplicity

When undertaking informal learning try to keep the process and tools as simple as possible.

Informal learning is a topic about which I’m quite passionate. I believe informal learning and self-education generally will eventually overtake formal learning in societal importance when it comes to post-high school education.

By no means do I envision formal higher education becoming irrelevant. It will always have its place. But I don’t think contemporary higher education best serves the educational needs of many students. It most definitely doesn’t adequately serve the increasing need to continually re-educate oneself to maintain competitiveness in the employment marketplace.

With that said, I see a lot of complexity beginning to emerge around informal learning. That’s to be expected. Lots of people have a vested interest in adding to the complexity in order to justify their own systems, software, consulting services, publications, and so on. But every time you add complexity to anything you potentially diminish the results you’re trying to attain.

One of my personal mantras is simplicity. It’s one of those universal principles that tends to improve just about anything to which it’s applied. Informal learning is no different.