Curriculum Development and Informal Learning

So here is the West Coast trend; Informal Learning and Web 2.0 will foster the next wave of elearning. Informal and Learning 2.0 are the innovations we have all been waiting for. This is the Montessori school approach that parents are rushing towards, however when it comes to corporate learning the Formal Curriculum Rules the roost. The rough part is, is that the same parents who are sending their children to a Montessori education are the same ones that want a Formal Curriculum for employees. Try to explain Informal Learning or Web 2.0 to someone trying so hard to get to Level 3 or 4 on the Kirkpatrick model. Corporations want solid ROI measurable SMART objectives not social networking.

So here is the challenge while I agree with the likes of Jay Cross and Tony Carr that there is a revolution of sorts taking place in this space, I challenge the thought leaders to provide some of the keys to program development that leverages these technologies in a tangible way.

I recently took up the challenge myself a bit in the creation of a presentation on learning communities and informal learning. See my presentation on slideshare:

Innovative Practices in Learning Design















I believe informal and 2.0 are the next innovations it may take another few years for them to hit main street learning and make an ROI splash.