This article focuses on the potential of free tools, particularly inquiry tools for influencing participation in twenty-first-century learning in science, as well as influencing the development of communities around tools. Two examples are presented: one on the development of an open source tool for structured inquiry learning that can bridge the…

The purpose of this interpretive qualitative research study was to explore how adult learners perceive they construct knowledge in connection to their participation in educational outreach programs, encompassing a continuum of formal, non-formal, and informal learning experiences. The study context involved three world affairs outreach education…

Membership in social networking sites is increasing rapidly. Social networking sites serve many purposes including networking, communication, recruitment, and sharing knowledge. Social networking sites, public or private, may be hosted on applications such as Facebook and LinkedIn. As individuals begin to follow and participate in social…

Teachers' lounges are often thought as places that breed negativity. This two-year ethnography conducted in the United States explored teachers' interactions within teachers' lounges and congregational spaces. This article discusses that an important occurrence in these spaces, professional knowledge sharing, took place instead of perpetual…

Over the next 10 years, we anticipate that personal, portable, wirelessly networked technologies will become ubiquitous in the lives of learners--indeed, in many countries, this is already a reality. We see that ready-to-hand access creates the potential for a new phase in the evolution of technology-enhanced learning, characterised by "seamless…

The aim of this paper is to examine how Korean society is being changed under the impact of migration and the kinds of learning domains that are evolving through participation in social interaction between migrant workers and local citizens in South Korea. Employing a qualitative case study, participants' changed learning areas were investigated.…

For many years, formal school science education has been criticised by students, teachers, parents and employers throughout the world. This article presents an argument that a greater collaboration between the formal and the informal sector could address some of these criticisms. The causes for concern about formal science education are summarised…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate factors that influence informal learning in the workplace and the types of informal learning activities people engage in at work. More specifically, the research examined: the relationship between informal learning engagement and the presence of learning organization characteristics; and…

If I lose my key in Canada, for instance, and I search for it in the United Kingdom, how long will I take to find it? This paper argues that problems in education are caused by non-professional teachers who are employed when trained teachers move in search of promotion friendly activities or financially rewarding duties. This shift of focus means…

This article examines the literature on Native science in order to address the presumed binaries between formal and informal science learning and between Western and Native science. We situate this discussion within a larger discussion of culturally responsive schooling for Indigenous youth and the importance of Indigenous epistemologies and…

The question of skill development in temporary work has so far been neglected in research and practice. The expansion and speciality of this way of earning a living--particularly as a result of the frequently changing demands on different workplaces and the strategy of lifelong learning favoured by educational policy in order to obtain and improve…

Evolutionary psychology raises questions about how cognitive adaptations might be related to the emergence of formal schooling. Is there a special role for natural domains of cognition such as folk physics, folk psychology and folk biology? These domains may vary from small fragments of reasoning to large integrated systems. This heterogeneity…

This is an educational ethnography of collective informal learning and education in social movements based on five years of participant observation among Boston's New Majority from 2003-2009. The New Majority is a "movement of movements" and an organization of People of Color in Boston that seek to address an egregious obstacle to…

Science and technology are embedded in every aspect of modern life. This report describes how Public Engagement with Science (PES), in the context of informal science education (ISE), can provide opportunities for public awareness of and participation in science and technology. PES refers to seeking public input into policy decisions about the…

The Government says it wants to see a "revolution" in informal adult learning. It is calling on universities to take "a more strategic approach to the current and future needs of the economy". Yet, as it sets out its plans for both these objectives, higher education institutions across England are contemplating the closure of…