Gilberto Freyre, the great Brazilian historian and sociologist, described Brazil as a "racial paradise", a place where different races and nationalities have come to live together in a sort of "racial democracy". The literature on this topic has become extensive as anthropologists, social scientists and historians felt the need…

Informal learning settings such as museums have been identified as opportunities to enhance students' knowledge and motivation in science and to optimize the connection between science and everyday life. The present study assessed the role of a self-paced science education program (situated in a medical science museum) in enhancing students'…

This informal learning research project examined how guided participation processes support the use of cultural tools (such as scientific equipment) during a nature walk at one nature center. This paper analyzed family interactions outdoors using microethnographic methods. An informal learning framework based on guided participation and cultural…

This book aims to capture the current innovation and emerging trends of digital technologies for learning and education in k-12 sector through a number of invited chapters in key research areas. Emerging Patterns of innovative instruction in different context, Learning design for digital natives, Digital learning resources for personalized…

The following article examines the issues of open, distance and technology-based informal learning and non-formal education for individual and community development. It argues that these two modes of education, which are estimated to constitute 70-90% of lifelong learning, are insufficiently represented in the literature of open and distance…

Publications such as "Surrounded by science: Learning science in informal environments" [Fenichel, M., & Schweingruber, H. A. (2010). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press] and "Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits" [National Research Council. (2009). Washington, DC: National…

This project analyses the prevalence and social construction of science in the everyday activities of multicultural, multilingual children in one urban community. Using cross-setting ethnographic fieldwork (i.e. home, museum, school, community), we developed an ecologically grounded interview protocol and analytical scheme for gauging students'…

The purpose of this article is to present the changes that have taken place in Polish adult education in the years 1989-2013 under the influence of multiple factors, i.e. social, economic, political and those relating to civilization on the whole. This article is an attempt to answer the following questions: does modern adult education in Poland…

The primary aim of this research was to study how mobile technology shapes, changes, and develops informal learning outside the classroom and school environment. In this study we provided each of the 30 Kenyan elite runners with a simple Android smartphone and free Internet for one year. This research project was a developmental intervention with…

Parents and children are rapidly adopting mobile technologies, yet designs for mobile devices that serve a communication function to connect parents to children's out-of-school time activities are limited. As a result, our team designed the Digital Postcard Maker so that children attending summer camps can create digital photographs to send…

Informal participation in science is being recognized as an important way of developing science learning both for children and adults. Mobile learning has particular properties that have potential in informal science settings, particularly outside traditional educational settings. Mobile technologies provide new opportunities for learners to…

This case study uses discourse analysis to address contemporary practices in secondary school art education and in particular the intersection between what might be called formal and informal practices in students' artwork. The case study draws upon recent developments in theory around digital technology in education and informal learning to…

Background: There are approximately 52,000 teacher-coaches coaching 750,000 high school student-athletes in Canada. Despite this large population, Canadian high school teacher-coaches remain relatively unstudied. High school coaches in Canada are often asked to coach sports with which they are unfamiliar, and because they are not required to…

How do informal learning organizations work with schools as part of a broader educational ecology? We examined this question through a comparative case study of two collaborative efforts whereby informal arts education organizations, a children's museum and a community-based organization, worked with an urban school district to redefine the…

In this article we argue for "reculturing" museums, starting with the ways that museum educators are professionally developed, focusing, in particular, on working with diverse visitors. By "reculturing" we mean shifting the core values and practices of a museum community, starting with its education practices. The aim of…