Presents 12 informal learning opportunities that human performance professionals can create for employees, including learning exchanges, conference summaries, exchanging ideas, posing questions and problems on email or bulletin boards, lunchtime programs, information sharing, recommended reading lists, vendor and consultant presentations,…

This book chronicles how a group of migrant workers in Cobden, Illinois, developed their own hybrid writing system that used the Spanish alphabet to capture English speech sounds. The event illustrates Freirean ideas about literacy and power and offers lessons for improving English instruction. (TD)

An environmental studies center at Oberlin College (Ohio) was designed to instruct its users in ecological competence and the possibilities of ecological design applied to buildings, energy and waste systems, and landscapes. Students and faculty participated in the planning process, which included research into technologies and materials, high…

Realizing that many find museums intimidating or boring, museum educators and curators are using the World Wide Web to bring children and museums together. This article discusses Web access to selected museums; describes curriculum tie-ins for language arts, careers, mythology, Pueblo Indians; and provides an annotated bibliography of online art…

Information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, have vastly increased access to information and educational opportunities. Steadily increasing consumer demand is driving the development of online educational materials. The end result may be a "fragmentation" of learning involving multiple learning providers and delivery modes,…

Non-formal environmental education involves all educational processes conducted outside of school. It is directed to all age groups, especially mature people who have finished their studies. This paper presents the goals and forms of non-formal education in Poland. Studies on the effects of non-formal education are also presented: this form of…

Discusses how environmental nonprofit organizations affect citizen environmental education on local, regional, and national levels. Focuses specifically on the National Audubon Society and describes its organizational structure, activities, and programs. (ML)

During a kayaking expedition in 1983, the author was sucked into an underwater tunnel in Mexico's Rio Urique. He miraculously emerged unharmed, but this near-death experience awakened in him a primal awareness that had been coddled to sleep by his so-called civilized perceptions. He gained intuitive insights from this awakening that enabled him to…

Three authors describe their motivations to write and influences on their writing careers, including love of reading, desire to escape other occupations, and influential teachers. Advice for teachers includes using the writers' workshop model; encouraging editing and revision; steering students toward literary, rather than mass media sources;…

Informal, museum-based technology education is discussed. A program in which family groups work together and learn robotics is described. Projected gains in technological and scientific literacy are highlighted. (CW)

An award-winning science teacher recalls her youth in Appalachian Kentucky and how she learned the fundamental concepts of biology, botany, hydrology, and geology playing and working in the family's "holler." The holler also gave her a philosophy of teaching--she has her students experience the wonders of the natural world before…

This article examines the skills, development needs, and learning opportunities of the workforce in the city of Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. It attempts to elucidate the factors that influence employees' participation in workplace training and adult education activities. By tapping the views of firm executives and employees, this…

The Internet as a worldwide literacy practice environment has created a new situation in communication, providing a new dynamic field for research. On the basis of the two articles under discussion, this commentary develops three main aspects of the Internet: as an informal learning environment for English as a second/foreign language; as a…

The impact of "The Great Lake Erie," an outreach program that aimed to improve visitor knowledge and attitudes about Lake Erie, is discussed in this evaluative study. "The Great Lake Erie" was presented as a two-part program consisting of a lecture and demonstration stage presentation and a series of exhibits. The program was…

This paper: (1) reviews the goals and directions of United States marine education; (2) reports the findings of three surveys which were designed to provide a perspective on current Canadian efforts in marine education; and (3) presents a set of proposed goals and future directions for marine education in Canada. Federal agencies with a…