The advance in technology has cut across all sectors of life and education of the youth is one of the affected sectors. The advantages of studying outside the classroom as compared to conventional classrooms have adequately been highlighted during our class studies. Technology has enabled virtual learning. The Khan Academy boasts of having over ten million students. However, it is not logistically practical to open conventional classrooms for all these students. Therefore a great advantage of outside learning is it enables more students to enroll for classes (Knowles, 2014).
Furthermore, outside classroom learning is flexible as it allows for students to study at their own convenience. Students from different time zones can log in at a time that is appropriate for them and continue with learning. Therefore technology can be seen to be providing new dynamics, spaces, and resources for information sharing (Erstad, 2012). Outside classroom learning or informal learning is also accommodates for the older generation to engage in studies. The adults take a lot of activities into consideration when deciding to take part in an educational activity. By offering flexible real-time practical and virtually supervised classrooms, informal learning is becoming a great preference to the majority of adults (Tight, 2014) who have other responsibilities to attend to and as well as deal with stigmatization.
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Gee (2003) highlighted the importance of informal learning through games. Gee stated that every time an individual takes time to learn a new game, they are at the very core of it learning a new literacy skill. For example, violent games were found to aid in developing perception, judgment, reasoning, and memory. In addition, video games use symbols, images, diagrams, artifacts, graphics and other visual logos as an alternative to speech for communication. Therefore video games can help learners be more creative and think outside the box. Unfortunately, some learners may rely only on the entertainment bit of video games and therefore fail to achieve the desired results and lead to dismal performance.
A great challenge in informal learning is accessing reliable and accurate information. There are many sources of information available in different forms such as journals, articles, and books. Validating this information is not easy as one cannot correctly establish the intentions of the supplier of the information. For example, people often assume common knowledge to be factual, but it is not always the case as it lacks research and scientific backing. Allison (2007) noted that Panacea followed his mother’s recipe to prepare gravy, which was not the correct procedure, until when the son highlighted this error in common knowledge, and he discovered the correct recipe for gravy.
In summary, informal learning has many advantages, especially when combined with the classroom setting knowledge. Further, the information obtained from informal learning should be checked for credibility before being used for learning purposes.
References
Allison, D. (2007). Panacea. New York Times. Available at < http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/magazine/28Food-t.html?pagewanted=all&mtrref=undefined&gwh=08B98B2367A342F2090571C27476A2B4&gwt=pay >
Erstad, O. (2012). The learning lives of digital youth—beyond the formal and informal. Oxford Review of Education , 38 (1), 25-43.
Knowles, M. S., Holton III, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2014). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development . Routledge.
Tight, M. (Ed.). (2014). Education for Adults: Volume 1 Adult Learning and Education (Vol. 83). Routledge.
