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Measuring informal learning
Informal learning occurs outside the formal education system through daily activities at home, at work and in the community. The IALSS study collected information on participation in a range of informal learning activities, including: visits to trade fairs, professional conferences or congresses; attending short lectures, seminars, workshops or special talks that are not part of a course; reading manuals, reference books, journals or other written materials but not as part of a course; going on guided tours such as museums, art galleries, or other locations; using computers or the internet to learn but not as part of a course; using video, television, or tapes to learn, but not as part of a course; learning by watching, getting help from or advice from others but not from course instructors; learning by themselves by trying things out, doing things for practice, trying different approaches to doing things; learning by being sent around an organization to learn different aspects of that organization.
Informal learning is more or less a universal activity for Canadians aged 16 to 65. Over 90 percent of respondents engage in informal learning, particularly in passive modes of informal learning. Engagement in active learning is far less frequent and also varies more among jurisdictions, with fewer participating in Quebec (54 percent) and the Atlantic regions (56 percent) compared to the Prairies (72 percent)(Figure 4.11).
Previous research has shown that there is a strong relationship between educational attainment and participation in adult learning. Several factors, including education and literacy proficiency levels, may influence participation in active informal learning. As can been seen in Figure 4.12, Canadians with post-secondary education participate more in active modes of learning than do Canadians with a high school diploma or less. About 80 percent of Canadians with a university degree participate in active modes of training compared to 57 percent of Canadians with an upper secondary diploma. The difference is smaller for passive modes of learning. For instance, 97 percent of Canadians with a university degree participate in passive learning modes, compared to 84 percent among those with less than upper secondary education.
Figure 4.13 shows that there are also large differences in participation in active informal learning by level of document literacy proficiency in all regions. Those with lower literacy levels have much lower participation rates in active informal learning than do those at higher levels. In each of the regions, the participation rate in active modes of informal learning for those at document literacy Level 4/5 is about twice the rate or more for those at literacy Level 1.