Futurelab's 2008 Ideas Incubator sought ideas on how to use new technologies to showcase and support young people's informal learning. This page contains a summary of the themes which emerged from the submissions. If you'd like to read a more detailed analysis, you can download a longer report - see box below.

Informal learning

What does informal learning offer? Why is it seen as important?
Throughout many of the 108 submissions was the view that informal learning could be more relevant to young people’s 'real lives' – using the technologies that they are already familiar with, building on their personal interests, and developing skills that will be valuable for the rest of their working and learning lives.

Interface with formal education
Throughout the submissions, words associated with formal learning appeared frequently: 'schools' and 'students' both appeared 274 times and were jointly the 16th most frequent keyword, with 'teachers' appearing 189 times and 'staff' 169.

Many ideas supported formal school learning, for example, accessing course content at home. School has much to gain from informal learning, and evidence suggests that young people engaged in informal learning do better in their formal education too. However, if school encroaches on voluntary informal learning, undertaken purely for the pleasure of the experience, and seeks to measure, control, and set objectives, then learning is likely to become a very different thing. It is important to recognise informal learning as a valuable activity in its own right.

Context for learning – virtual, home, school, public space, youth clubs
Informal learning can take place anywhere. Many ideas were set in 3D virtual worlds like Second Life. Several ideas explored the outdoors using PDAs and mobile phones – including local neighbourhoods, gardens and public spaces. Surprisingly, only a few ideas took place within a museum or library – contexts that are traditionally associated with informal learning.

What does informal learning look like? Incidental and explicit learning
Informal learning includes both activities that the learner undertakes for the explicit purpose of learning and incidental learning in which learning is not the main purpose of the activity. Many submissions recognised that young people engage in rich and valuable learning experiences within their day-to-day lives and that learning can be embedded within a young person's own environment, using their own technology, interacting with the people around them. The challenge, however, is how to record and reflect upon this learning – many ideas used technology to attempt this. This also raises the debate about how informal learning should be valued in comparison to traditional academic learning – and whether it is helpful to make these comparisons at all.

The journey, not the destination
Many ideas recognised the importance of the process of learning, and not just the outcome. In informal learning, rather than a race to the finish line, learners can have the opportunity to enjoy the journey, setting their own goals, and deciding on the route that is most appropriate for them.

Motivation for informal learning
Several ideas attempted to engineer learning experiences, in which learners do not realise they are learning – the equivalent of covering broccoli in chocolate to persuade children to accept something nasty without realising it. However, the fact that people voluntarily engage in informal learning shows that learning does not have to be unpalatable. The challenge is how to build on this pleasurable aspect of learning, rather than concealing it beneath superficial layers of digital distractions.

What kinds of informal learning? Subjects and skills

Most submissions focused on more generic skills. The word 'skills' appeared extremely frequently – 433 times throughout 108 submissions. Many ideas focused on 'social skills' such as confidence, communication skills and resilience, 'life skills' such as finance management and cooking, and skills seen as important in the modern workplace such as leadership and teamwork. It may be that these skills are seen best learnt in more 'realistic', informal learning environments.

However, amongst the ideas that did specify subjects, there were clear themes:

• Language learning: there are often untapped language skills present within the local community, which can also be used to promote communication across different cultures.
• Music: eg creating a world choir using social networking sites. The emotional and expressive aspects of music, often bypassed in formal settings, were often noted.
• Science: using technologies to facilitate science in the 'real world', that is, asking questions and conducting experiments in children’s immediate environments.

Learners

Most ideas were targeted to older children in the 14-18 age group, reflecting the focus on workplace skills. Informal learning can cater for diverse needs and interests, which is why it is an appropriate focus when considering groups of disadvantaged learners who may not be well served by the mainstream. It is therefore surprising that so many of the ideas did not consider targeting more closely to specific groups.

Social justice and educational equality

Few submissions engaged directly with the needs of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in our society. The words 'justice', 'equality' and 'inclusion' do not feature at all in the top 60 keywords. Several ideas put more control in the hands of the learner, which can mean that learners are more empowered, and a few ideas also promoted 'cultural exchange' through language learning. However, it would seem that the relevance of informal learning to questions of social justice and educational equality is not clear to many.

Technologies

• 'Games' were mentioned 412 times and 'game' 354. Submissions included suggestions for young people to make and modify their own games, games involving portable consoles such as the PSP and physical games such as the Nintendo Wii.
• Virtual worlds using avatars were very common (such as Second Life). One idea suggested that learners can 'try out' life choices in a virtual world, while others provide a space for learners and mentors to come together outside the boundaries of school.
• The third main trend was using Web 2.0 functionalities of tagging, commenting and sharing to create user-generated e-portfolios in which learners upload their own work, but also create and share learning resources for others to use. This reflects a recognition of the importance of the social aspect of learning – the word 'community' appeared 285 times.

Mobile technologies (phones, PDAs and portable games consoles) were used in several examples to allow learners to connect to resources, mentors and other learners 'on the spot' when it's most appropriate. Mobile immersive domes in which holographic videos could be projected onto the walls featured in two ideas. These technologies are highly visual, and support a creative, immersive engagement that goes well beyond a virtual online world.

Overall, the technologies used represented a move away from the screen. There were many more multi-sensory, mobile, immersive technologies, interlinking with physical environments and activities in the real world. If nothing else, this more diverse ecology, in which the learner and the technology form part of a more holistic engagement with 'the real world', offers great hope for the vibrancy and value of informal learning.

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