Thought leaders (from John Dewey to Jay Cross to Seymour Papert to Jane Hart to Roger Schank) advocate for more informal learning. If you are inclined towards informality, are you certain about what it is and what it means for your enterprise? What about the far less popular and overwhelmingly more prevalent, formal learning? What are these forms really and in what circumstances are they most appropriate?
 
"Here I nail the jellied concepts of formal and informal learning to the wall through examples and an online tool—and I press participants to become more mindful about decisions about freedom, choice, technology, synchronicity and asynchronicity, push and pull. Use the free online YinYang tool to reflect on the possibilities for formal and informal learning for your organization and your projects."

Dr. Allison Rossett, long time Professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University, is in the Training magazine HRD Hall of Fame, was a member of the ASTD International Board of Directors, and was honored with selection as an ISPI Member-for-Life and more recently with the Thomas Gilbert Award. Recipient of ASTD’s recognition for lifelong contributions to workplace learning and performance and designated a 2008 LEGEND, Allison co-authored Job Aids and Performance Support: Moving from Knowledge in the Classroom to Knowledge Everywhere and a new edition of her book, First Things Fast. Rossett edited The ASTD E-Learning Handbook: Best Practices, Strategies, and Case Studies for an Emerging Field. She also completed a white paper for the American Management Association,Blended Learning Opportunities and another, on learner engagement, for Adobe Systems. She is the author of four award-winning books, including Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World and First Things Fast: A Handbook for Performance Analysis. Prior award-winning books are Training Needs Assessment, and A Handbook of Job Aids. Some of Allison’s articles are “Ode to Mobile Performance Support,” “Moving Your Class Online,” "Confessions of a Web Dropout," and “Training and Organizational Development, Siblings Separated at Birth.” She has conducted research and published articles on needs analysis, learner engagement, on demand learning and support, and persistence. Her client list includes IBM, HP, the Getty Conservation Institute, Fidelity Investments, Kaiser Permanente, BP, the IRS, Amgen, Royal Bank of Scotland, USAA, National Security Agency, Transportation Security Administration, and several e-learning start-ups.