World Cafe on Informal Learning

Inspired by Harold Jarche's unworkshop on informal learning, on September 26, as part of Learn @ Work week, I hosted a world cafe on Informal Learning for the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Society for Training and Development. The event was attended by 17 amazing people who work within the training industry in the Ottawa area. At the event, three questions were posed:

• What is informal learning?
• What would make you and your organization more receptive to informal learning?
• How do you measure informal learning?

Here are the notes that were taken at each of the tables during the conversations:
During the debriefing the following themes were discovered:

• Informal learning's value is not always measurable in the same ways as formal learning
• Informal learning can be connected to formal learning events
• Informal learning is adaptable and flexible
• A formal definition of informal learning is unnecessary
• Informal learning represents a shift from "how I got it" to "having it"
• "how I got it" represents degrees / certifications
• "having it" represents demonstrated competencies
  
• Informal learning is life as usual
• No define, no design, no delivery, no assess
• 80% of the budget goes to formal learning, which provides 20% of the actual learning
• Formalization kills informal learning
• Informal needs to stay informal
• Informal learning is about the process
• Employee engagement could be used as a means of measuring informal learning

One of the greatest things about the World Cafe format is the opportunity for people to meet, make connections, and have meaningful conversation. I'd like to invite anyone who attended to share their reflections of the event and possibly insights they have realized since the event, as comments to this blog.

Cheers,
Rebecca

Today, I got of my bike and said Hello

For the last several weeks, I have been riding my bike along the Ottawa river parkway at least twice a week. Each time I come to this one section, I observe with wonder the stone sculptures. I take a brief pause and watch the artist do his work.

Today, I choose to get off my bicycle and read the sign. The artist was standing near the sign adding some sculptures to the platform with the sign. I said "hello" and we had a delightful conversation. He has been creating these sculptures at this location for over 20 years. For the last 7 years, the National Capital Commission (NCC) has been contracting him to maintain the sculptures throughout the summer.

The main sculpture (the one to the right in the photos) is the signature sculpture. The sculpture appears on the information plaque. The artist mentioned that he is drawn to recreate that sculpture every year. One year, he consciously tried to not create it, but found himself constantly drawn back to that area. The center-piece has the same concept every year, but with slight modifications each time it is re-created. It will be interesting to compare next years with this years :).

The artist uses just stones to create the sculptures. The larger stones are balanced and "wedges" of smaller stones are used to ensure the balanced rocks stay in place. They are very easily disturbed. The artist commented that the seagulls will often knock over sculptures when they take off (landing is often down with enough elegance that the sculptures remain undisturbed, until the bird decides to depart).

Another passer-by asked the artist about what happens to the sculptures in the winter. The artist said that he allows them to go the way of Zen ... that is, back to nature, such that new creations can be built the next year.