ERIC Number: EJ893906
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Sep
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1534-4843
EISSN: N/A
The Slow Death of Formal Learning: A Polemic
McGuire, David; Gubbins, Claire
Human Resource Development Review, v9 n3 p249-265 Sep 2010
Over recent years, approaches to education and training have become more informal, situated, outcome focused and experiential. Within this context, formal learning now plays a greatly diminished role, being supplanted by activity-based and technologically-based learning. This article, structured in the form of a polemic challenges readers to critically examine the importance and value of formal learning in modern learning environments. It reviews four propositions charting changes to the learning environment arguing that formal learning plays a central role in deepening an individual's functional and general knowledge. It questions the branding of formal learning as an outdated delivery mode associated with an old-fashioned antiquated pedagogy and argues that decisions on learning styles should be based upon sound evidence-based research.
Descriptors: Adult Students, Educational Environment, Informal Education, Experiential Learning, Information Technology, Learning Processes, Evaluation, Electronic Learning, Educational Technology, Higher Education, Foreign Countries, Labor Force Development, Adult Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A