Informal Learning by Jay Cross

Tags: Learning, Informal Learning, Informl, Jay Cross, Learning 2.0, Knowledge Management, KM, Collaboration, Communities, Social Computing, Social Networking, Social Software

Next to the usual topics that I get to talk about here in elsua.net, all of them related to Knowledge Management, there has been another topic that although not very much related to KM it has always been associated with it to some extent. Yes, indeed, I am talking about the subject of Learning. Many people have been indicating all along how Knowledge Management and Learning do actually walk hand in hand along the path of allowing people to share their knowledge with one another and collaborate much easier than with whatever else they may have tried in the past. I have always been part of that group that has felt very comfortable putting together Learning and Knowledge Sharing as perhaps one of the most interesting ways of allowing knowledge workers to become smarter at what they do and much more productive than using whatever other methods.

And along those lines, if all along I have been commenting on how Social Computing (i.e. Web 2.0 or Social Networking) is helping Knowledge Management come back with a splash, and big time!, then there is no denying that there is a movement out there, within Learning, that is actually helping it as well to be noticed a whole lot more as part of the usual day to day workflow. This particular emerging area has got a whole lot to do with what is called Informal Learning, of which the highest proponent of such interesting, and refreshing, new way of perceiving the way we learn things at work is Jay Cross. Indeed, Jay maintains a weblog about the topic of Informal Learning and if you would want to know some more about this particular subject browsing through the weblog would certainly help you get up to speed.

However, let me help you move faster along the learning curve for Informal Learning and point you to a recent weblog post Jay has put together where he has actually talked about the subject of Informal Learning. It is actually three different short videocasts (Two of 10 minutes and one of four) that he has shared over at YouTube and which make for an even stronger case about the crucial role this new way of learning is impacting the workplace. Perhaps at a later time, and in different follow up weblogs posts, I will get to share some further insights on something so fascinating and refreshing as Informl, but for the time being here we go with the embedded YouTube video clips:

Part 1, ten minutes

Part 2, ten minutes

Part 3: four minutes

Fantastic piece of work, Jay ! Very compelling, informative and enlightening!! Thanks for sharing !

PS. What an ending ! 😛