Professor Ricardo Torres Kompen is a leading proponent for, and researcher in, personal learning environments (PLEs). During his interview, Torres Kompen clarified his research on PLEs, particularly the digital toolbox within PLEs. He elaborated on experiences with implementing PLE initiatives, personal insights on using social media and Web 2.0…

The purpose of this study is to examine Knowles' theory of andragogy and his six assumptions of how adults learn while providing evidence to support two of his assumptions based on the theory of andragogy. As no single theory explains how adults learn, it can best be assumed that adults learn through the accumulation of formal and informal…

The contributions of local community members to Indigenous education can be an important component in curriculum programs. This article explores the contributions of one such dedicated and talented Torres Strait Islander community member: Meuram tribal elder Kapua Gutchen. He teaches at the Erub (Darnley Island) Campus of Tagai College in the…

As a practitioner in both the classroom and in the instrumental studio, I am interested in how one educational context might inform the other. Within an action research paradigm, I gave a violin lesson in front of colleagues as a means to gain feedback and to open up discussion on the concept of student autonomy within the one-to-one lesson. The…

Media and popular culture reach broad audiences and have the potential to be an invaluable teaching resource in terms of promoting adult education and learning. Human resource development instructors can use media artifacts (e.g., films, television, novels, and cartoons) as useful methods to demonstrate learning theory and adult development…

This paper considers the policy environment of adult literacy as a space within which sites of learning are shaped and given value. It explores the interplay between international, national and local visions of what literacy is, who literacy learners are and what counts as learning, thereby linking broader social formations with local practices of…

This paper looks at the distinctions between science classrooms and the robotics competition described in the article "Examining the mediation of power in a collaborative community: engaging in informal science as authentic practice" written by Anton Puvirajah, Geeta Verma and Horace Webb. Using the framework of "productive disciplinary…

This paper explores learner progression for participants in community-based adult learning (CBAL) provision in Scotland. It focuses on learners' perceptions of progression drawn from analysis of life history interviews carried out with ten adults who had participated in community-based adult learning. The analysis of data was undertaken in three…

Informal education (IE) refers to activities that occur outside the school setting, and that were not primarily developed for school use or as part of a school curriculum. Informal education is an important component of the teaching of technology and engineering education, adding relevance to student experiences. The practice of informal education…

Trade unions and other sites of community-labour organizing such as workers centres are rich, yet contested spaces of education and knowledge production in which both non-formal and informal / incidental forms of learning occur. Putting forward a critique of dominant strands of worker education, the authors ask what spaces exist for social…

A Personal Learning Environment or PLE is a potentially promising pedagogical approach for both integrating formal and informal learning using social media and supporting student self-regulated learning in higher education contexts. The purpose of this paper is to (a) review research that support this claim, (b) conceptualize the connection…

The paper examines education practice in India in terms of the division between indigenous cultures on the one hand, and the formal culture of learning and knowledge systems inherited from colonial times on the other. These "two Indias" are still reflected in the modern educational system in India, seen in the vast differences between…

TV is a medium with high penetration rates and has been suited to deliver informal education in several aspects since years. Thus, interactive TV may play a significant role in the current Life-Long Learning challenges, provided that meaningful applications are implemented. In this research work, we have explored the added value of interactivity…

In the United States, visits to informal learning environments [ILEs] such as zoos, have historically been considered to be important educational experiences that promote increased student achievement in content-area subjects. Recently, however, funds are more likely to be diverted away from field trip experiences, depriving less-privileged…

This issue of "Bank Street Occasional Papers" explores the value of time outside of school. Educators have given relatively little scholarly attention to young people's nonschool lives. Ignored or valorized, nonschool spaces show up in educational research only as a backdrop, implying that school learning is the yardstick by which to…