Formal Vs. Informal learning: Which side should one lean upon?

What is the best way of undergoing Education? This is a question that is as old as mankind itself.

Well, if one has to think there are two major ways of educating one’s self.

The first would be the ubiquitous formal education. This would be enrolling oneself to the various existing institutions of learning. Formal education is classroom-based where the instruction would be through teachers, faculty what have you. 

Informal education, on the other hand, would encompass every learning activity that happens outside the classroom. These could be after-school programs, community-based organizations, museums, libraries, or at home. Perhaps an even more pronounced example of this form of learning would be learning through the internet. 

With the advent of internet based learning opportunities, there’s been a constant upheaval among the defenders of the two camps. 

On one side, we have educators who say yay for formal education and nay for informal education, while on the other side we have people who feel that formal education has outlived its utility in the information age where every bit of learning as important as the ones that are a part of the regular curriculum.

The debate over these two forms of education has always remained high pitched. So, where is the middle ground?

Well if there is a middle ground, it lies where the best attributes of these two forms of education are taken into consideration.

Formal education while having the disciplined structure that is required for sustained learning tends to miss out on the variety that informal learning can offer. Teachers need to meet educational standards and stick to a specified curriculum, which can make it difficult for them to incorporate nontraditional content. 

Informal education on the other hand incentivizes learning with the pleasure of satisfaction. It gives the freedom to learner and he or she is free to learn it the way they see it. But, more often than not a student or candidate who wishes to learn online tends to get disoriented on what he/she should actually be learning; a learning experience that is just fun but not of relevance.

How can this be overcome? 

Well, the most logical way to do the same would be to bring together elements of fun from informal learning to the disciplined aspects of formal education.

Does such a system exist? Can it be practical? Will it be of relevance to the current scenario of high intense STEM learning?

Yes, it will be. We at Kidobotikz have been promoting a confluence between the facets of formal and informal learning through our online platform. We’ve incorporated the elements of gamification into some serious concepts of robotics to bring about a curriculum that makes STEM learning a fun activity

Happy Roboting!