What is informal learning?

Informal learning stems from daily activities related to work, family, or leisure. It is neither organized nor structured in terms of objectives, time, or resources. UNESCO defines it as knowledge acquisition within daily activities, without a structured framework or explicit objectives. Informal learning is usually unintentional from the learner's perspective: we learn without realizing it, or almost.

What is the difference between formal and informal learning?

Formal learning establishes a structured framework with explicit objectives, dedicated time, and organized resources, but can sometimes feel rigid. Informal learning, more spontaneous and rooted in daily life, facilitates natural skill acquisition and creativity, but may lack guidance. Cognitively, formal learning mobilizes explicit processes engaging the prefrontal cortex for conscious reflection, while informal learning involves implicit processes favoring behavior automation. These two forms don't oppose each other: they complement each other continuously.

What are the 3 types of informal learning?

Researcher Daniel Schugurensky distinguishes three types of informal learning: self-directed learning (when an employee actively seeks a solution, like a salesperson improving their pitch), incidental learning (when something is spontaneously understood in situation, like a manager grasping team dynamics during a meeting), and socialization (when a new employee naturally adopts company codes). These three forms coexist in professional daily life.

What proportion of skills is acquired through informal learning?

Between 70 and 90% of employee skills are acquired outside structured training. This majority of learning occurs in conversations with colleagues, observing experts, and daily problem-solving. Cognitive science confirms these informal learnings are more durable, motivating, and effective than traditional training, because they are anchored in real work context.

How to optimize informal learning in organizations?

Successful informal learning rests on three pillars: accessibility (help must be available at the moment of need, without time or location constraints), contextualization (answers must adapt to each employee's specific situation), and progressiveness (each interaction must advance the learner toward better mastery). Pedagogical AI solutions, like Didask's AI coach, enable meeting these three conditions by offering personalized support available in real-time.

How to validate informally acquired skills?

CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) proposes a 4-step method to recognize informally acquired skills: identify (raise awareness of learning achieved), document (gather evidence like testimonials, achievements, or results), evaluate (compare to company professional standards), and certify (officially recognize acquisitions through internal badges or position evolutions). This structured approach transforms the invisible into visible.

What is AI's role in informal learning?

Pedagogical artificial intelligence transforms informal learning by acting as a personal coach available 24/7. It instantly answers professional questions, proposes practical exercises based on employee's real situation, adapts to their level and work context, and guides them to the right internal resources. The virtual coaching market reaches $2 billion in 2024, demonstrating this technology's growing importance for optimizing daily learning.

Informal apprenticeship: the silent revolution in corporate training

Q: Why is informal learning so effective?

Informal learning combines three conditions that create fertile ground for practice evolution. Context: learning directly in situation allows the brain to encode information with all environmental cues, avoiding post-training forgetting. Emotion: an urgent problem or challenge literally engraves information in memory. Natural spacing: unlike intensive training, informal learning distributes over time, which the brain prefers for durable knowledge consolidation.

Léa Combette

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Did you know that 70 to 90% are the skills of your employees acquired... without training? This reality, long neglected, is becoming a major strategic lever for HR managers and training managers.

While we focus on structured learning paths, the main thing comes into play elsewhere: in conversations with colleagues, in observing experts, in solving everyday problems. Cognitive science confirms it: these “informal” learning is more sustainable, more motivating and above all more effective. But how do you optimize them?
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Informal learning: in brief

Definition: Informal learning stems from daily activities related to work, family, or leisure. It is neither organized nor structured and is unintentional from the learner's perspective.
Major impact: 70 to 90% of employee skills are acquired outside structured training, through conversations, observation, and daily problem-solving.
Three types: Self-directed learning (active search for solutions), incidental learning (spontaneous understanding in situation), and socialization (natural adoption of company codes).
Cognitive effectiveness: Informal learning mobilizes implicit processes favoring behavior automation, while formal learning engages explicit processes of conscious reflection. Both complement each other.
Challenges: Lack of real-time support, scattered information, difficulty validating and recognizing informally acquired skills.
Didask solution: AI coach available 24/7 that responds instantly, proposes contextualized exercises, and transforms every question into a learning opportunity.

What exactly is informal learning?

When you think of “learning”, you are certainly visualizing a room, a trainer, a program... However, informal learning is just the opposite.

UNESCO It is defined as the acquisition of knowledge as part of daily activities, without a structured framework or explicit goals. In short: you learn without realizing it, or almost without realizing it.

Daniel Schugurensky, reference researcher, distinguishes three types:

Self-directed learning : when your salesperson is actively looking for how to best pitch a difficult prospect
Incidental learning : when your manager suddenly understands team dynamics during a tense meeting
Socialization : when a new employee naturally adopts your company's codes
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Good to know

Philippe Carré, French expert in adult learning, coined the term "apprenance" (learning attitude): the capacity to learn continuously, everywhere, all the time.

Why is informal learning so effective?

Unlike formal learning, which is sometimes difficult to transpose to the field, informal learning brings together three conditions that create fertile ground for the effective evolution of practices.

Context is everything. When we learn directly in a situation, the brain encodes the information with all the contextual clues. No more the famous “I forgot everything” after a training course: here, knowledge remains attached to its environment of use.

Emotion boosts learning. An urgent problem to solve, a challenge to overcome, a stressful situation... These emotions literally “engrave” the information into the memory. This is why we better remember what we learn “in the field”.

Natural spacing. Unlike intensive training, informal learning is distributed over time. And that's exactly what our brain prefers to consolidate knowledge in the long term.

Formal vs informal learning: the real differences

Stop the cliches! Informal learning is not the “enemy” of the formal. They are two complementary systems, but with different logics.
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Formal learning	Informal learning	Impact
Structured, planned	Spontaneous, contextual	Informal better fits immediate needs
Explicit objectives	"Incidental" learning	Informal surprises and makes stronger impact
Certification possible	Difficult to measure	The challenge: validating informal acquisitions
High cost	Cost-effective	ROI often better for informal
Transfer sometimes difficult	Directly applicable	Informal better aligns with job requirements

On the map cognitive, formal and informal learning involve mechanisms that are partly distinct. Formal learning relies more on explicit processes, which strongly engage the prefrontal cortex and promote conscious thinking and conceptual development. Informal learning, on the other hand, more often involves implicit processes, associated with basal ganglia circuits (especially the striatum), which support the progressive acquisition of skills and the automation of behaviors. These two forms of learning are not opposed: they interact constantly and complement each other, because conscious thinking makes it possible to build and reorganize knowledge while automation promotes its sustainable integration and its effectiveness in action.

How can you optimize informal learning in your organization?

Informal learning is great... but how can you make sure it happens effectively? How can you prevent your employees from getting stuck or learning incorrectly? Here are the essential levers.

The challenge of real-time support

Your employees are already learning informally, but often under suboptimal conditions. They're looking for scattered information, reaching out to colleagues at the wrong time, or worse: getting stuck without daring to ask for help.

The problem? Informal learning is based on several assumptions that are rarely met: the employer must know exactly what to look for, know the right person to talk to and that person must be available at the right time.

The 3 pillars of successful informal learning

To meet this challenge, successful informal learning is based on three key elements:

1. Accessibility : help should be available at Moment of need, with no time or location constraints.

2. Contextualization : the answers must be adapted to the specific situation of each employee.

3. Progressiveness : each interaction must advance the learner towards better mastery.

The solution: a smart learning companion

Imagine if your employees had access to a personal coach, available 24 hours a day, who:

Answers their professional questions instantly
Offer practical exercises based on their real situation
Adapts to their level and work context
Guides them to the right internal resources

That's exactly what our AI coach at Didask does. More than a simple chatbot, it is a real teaching assistant that turns each question into a learning opportunity.
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How does it work in practice?

Your sales representative is unsure about handling a customer objection? They ask the AI coach, which offers them a personalized mini-training session. Your manager is dealing with a team conflict? The coach analyzes the situation and suggests concrete actions. Informal learning becomes structured and effective.

How to validate skills acquired informally?

This is THE challenge of informal learning: how do you prove that you have learned? CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) proposes a method in 4 steps:

Identify : to raise awareness of the learning achieved
Documenting : gather evidence (testimonies, achievements...)
Evaluate : compare to professional standards
Certify : officially recognize achievements

Concrete example: A salesperson gradually develops his expertise in complex negotiations. Identification is done through an interview where he realizes his progress. To document, he gathers his customer testimonies, his conversion rates and successful call records. The evaluation compares its results to the company's commercial performance standards. Certification can take the form of an internal “Negotiation Expert” badge or an upgrade.

This structured approach transforms the invisible into the visible, finally giving official recognition to the skills developed on a daily basis.

The future: AI in the service of informal learning

We are entering a new era. Virtual coaches are coming, the market is exploding: 2 billion dollars In 2024.

At Didask, we believe that educational AI can transform informal learning. Our AI coach intervenes at the precise moment when your employees need it, with contextualized answers and personalized exercises. No more “one-size-fits-all” training: make way for tailor-made learning!

The future of adult training ? A clever mix between human and AI, the formal and the informal, structure and spontaneity. The objective remains the same: to increase the skills of your teams, but more effectively.

Ready to optimize informal learning in your organization? Discover our training platform and see how our educational AI can transform the learning experience of your employees.

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About the author

Léa Combette

Léa is a doctoral student in cognitive sciences. She has a degree in cognitive science and scientific mediation. She is very interested in the role of the body in thought, especially in learning mathematics. She is also the author of the Papier Crayon podcast, which combines the knowledge of cognitive science researchers and teachers on educational issues.

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