Opportunities and Lessons from Informal and Non-formal Learning: Applications to Online Environments

Christopher Lange^1, and Jamie Costley²

¹Department of Liberal Arts, Joongbu University, Majeon, South Korea

²English Education Department, Kongju University, Gongju, South Korea

Cite this paper:
Christopher Lange and Jamie Costley. Opportunities and Lessons from Informal and Non-formal Learning: Applications to Online Environments. American Journal of Educational Research. 2015; 3(10):1330-1336. doi: 10.12691/education-3-10-20

Abstract

Learners are more and more exposed to various forms of interaction outside of traditional brick and mortar classrooms. It is important to understand the different ways and contexts learners can interact with one another. An important distinction in the literature is the differences between formal, non-formal, and informal learning. Furthermore, in the online space, different types of modalities affect the way in which learners can best take advantage of interaction opportunities in online educational settings, and what types of extracurricular modalities will benefit them the most. This paper will discuss these distinctions among formal, non-formal and informal education as they relate to learner to learner interaction online, and promulgate a seven point framework for best environments for varied learning situations online.

Keywords:
learner to learner interaction informal non-formal online learning SNS learning systems

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