This article focuses on informal learning and its implications for instructional design and performance improvement. The authors begin by sharing a story of how a novice instructional designer employs informal learning strategies in her professional and personal life. Next, they offer a definition of informal learning that encompasses both…

Jan Herrington is a Professor of Education at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where she teaches educational technology in the School of Education, including a compulsory first year unit called "Living and Learning with Technology." She has been active in the promotion and support of the effective use of educational…

In response to the wide-scale proliferation of "the cone of learning"--a fanciful retention chart confounded with Dale's Cone of Experience--the authors make four major claims debunking this fantasy and provide documentary evidence to support these claims. The first claim is that the data in the mythical retention chart do not make…

Critics have been attempting to debunk the mythical retention chart at least since 1971. The earliest critics, David Curl and Frank Dwyer, were addressing just the retention data. Beginning around 2002, a new generation of critics has taken on the illegitimate combination of the retention chart and Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience--the corrupted…

The authors are attempting to set the record straight regarding the sources frequently cited in the literature of the mythical retention chart and the corrupted Dale's Cone. They point out citations that do not actually connect with relevant works; provide correct citations of sources that are often cited erroneously; add references for overlooked…

Case-based instruction (CBI) offers a promising method for promoting problem-solving skills in learners. However, during CBI, the instructor shoulders major responsibility for shaping the learning that takes place. Research indicates that the facilitation techniques used during case discussions influence what gets covered, and to what extent,…

This article aims at clarifying and conceptualizing game-based learning (GBL) in order to pinpoint directions for practices and research. The authors maintain that GBL should be conceptualized toward the transformation of a textbook-learning culture. The authors emphasize the importance of a paradigm shift in learning and a reorientation in…

Instructional design can be more effective if it is as fixedly dedicated to the accommodation of individual differences as it currently is to the accommodation of subject matters. That is the hypothesis. A menu of accommodation options is provided that is applicable at each of three stages of instructional development or administration: before,…

This article examines the affordances of virtual worlds for initiating a transformative learning experience for adults. In particular, it addresses the capacity of virtual worlds to allow creation of an alternate self which requires some level of personal self-reflection; provide atypical experiences that can initiate reflection; allow experience…

This article takes a contrarian position: an "instructional design" or "teacher training" model, because of the sheer number of its interconnected parameters, is too complex to assess or to compare with other models. Models may not be the way to go just yet. This article recommends instead prior experimental research on limited…

An inquiry-based approach to watching videos of children engaged in learning, supported by tools that allow for frequent and close viewing, provides an opportunity for prospective teachers to develop their skills of observation and interpretation before entering the classroom. The in-depth study of videos creates a context in which teachers can…

Learning is a social activity, which requires interactions with the environment, tools, people, and also ourselves (e.g., our previous experiences). Each interaction provides different meanings to learners, and the associated emotion affects their learning and performance. With the premise that emotion and cognition are distributed, the authors…

Most classrooms in the U.S. are composed of students with different learning styles and experiences as well as different achievement levels (Ferguson, 2001). Personalized learning is a unique way of students' learning determined by their own learning style, pace, and needs. Focusing on individual differences, personalized instruction aims to…

Four facets of the unfolding mobile open ecology in which OER will move are described. Web 2.0 is a platform harnessing collective intelligence where participation and pushing content are stimulated. Microlearning is different from e-learning, which replicated the classroom online; microlearning deals with relatively small learning units and…

Discusses factors that contribute to powerful learning experiences based on the results of two studies that examined diverse groups and more coherent groups of individuals. Topics include the highly individual nature of learning; problems that can create for instructional designers; relevance of learning to life and/or work; active learning; and…