21st. CENTURY EDUCATION-"TEACHERS OUT, LEARNERS IN" TEACHERS OUT LEARNERS IN BOOKLET | Page 84

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Incidental Learning
Incidental learning is unplanned or unintentional learning. It may
occur while carrying out an activity that is seemingly unrelated to
what is learned. Early research on this topic dealt with how people
learn in their daily routines at their workplaces.
For many people, mobile devices have been integrated into their daily
lives, providing many opportunities for technology-supported
incidental learning. Unlike formal education, incidental learning is
not led by a teacher, nor does it follow a structured curriculum, or
result in formal certification. However, it may trigger self-reflection
and this could be used to encourage learners to reconceive what could
otherwise be isolated learning fragments as part of more coherent
and longer term learning journeys.