#Education #Business #Technology #Science

Insights from My Research into Formal/Informal Learning for Technical Leaders

An executive summary for recommendations of a cognitive study for technical leaders in IT departments of large organizations

Purpose of the article

The purpose of this article is to provide a summary of a high-level executive report upon completion of the study. The target audience for this executive report was education and training policymakers for technical leadership development programs in Australia.

Summary of the executive report

It was clear from information collected and analyzed in the IT (Information Technology) departments of selected large business organizations that formal qualifications gained through traditional formal learning programs were not acknowledged for impact and real significance in the learning performance of technical leaders.

Formal qualifications were most frequently used as a means by which employers sorted out prospective technical team members who were inexperienced in the IT departments. The prime examples were aspiring technical employees for potential technical leadership roles in IT departments.

IT employers preferred technical leaders who had proven knowledge and skills demonstrated via their qualifications, especially industry certifications and experience. Even though knowledge and skills were highly regarded, there was a specific emphasis on required competency and capability compared to knowledge and skills.

Clearly, there was an expectation by IT employers that potential technical leaders had the ability to learn quickly and apply the learning for business objectives.

There was also a mandatory requirement that technical leaders with knowledge and skills simply needed to have a substantial amount of workplace practice to gain the competency which could readily be applied to business and client engagements.

Therefore, whilst some employee responses failed to acknowledge the value of formal education, training, and qualifications in the workplace, advanced colleges and universities still had a supplementary valuable function in undergraduate education and training purposes. This value is attributed to aspiring technical leaders rather than experienced ones.

However, there was clearly a need to offer formal curricula in more flexible delivery modes incorporating informal learning activities — online learning, short skill-specific units, self-directed learning, and team approaches to problem-solving, to name a few. This finding was communicated to universities and advanced colleges providing computer science, computer engineering, computing, informatics, and information technology programs.

Technical learning institutions needed to be able to tailor specialized short skill-based programs to meet specific workplace needs and accredit them so that technical learners could use their knowledge and skills as part of a diversity of formal qualifications supporting the IT workplace requirements.

Even though there was some effort being made in the industry towards meeting this requirement, the scope was narrow (such as limited accredited generalized courses such as Certificate IV in Network Management or Software Development). This measure seemed to be insufficient to cater to the needs of highly technical leaders working in demanding business environments. Technical leaders found the Certificate IV programs too basic to meet these organizations' complex and demanding IT work requirements.

Many technical leaders avoided formal education programs because of their length, lack of flexibility, unavailability of part-time evening programs on campus, a limited range of off-campus programs, and online study. Some universities considered this finding and started funding open formal education courses tailored to the specific needs of technical leaders. However, the cost of these programs was found prohibitive for a majority of candidates.

Importantly, formal education and training institutions need to implement processes for the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), not only for qualifications and accredited units in formal programs but for technical knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired informally in the workplace.

Undoubtedly, this study acknowledged the perceived preferences for, and the relevance of, informal learning for technical leaders, whether this was in the employer’s or in the professional’s own time at home.

There were considerable expectations the technical leaders had of technical mentors, supervisors, and managers to provide workplace technical learning, whether directly as teachers or indirectly, by providing time for workplace learning to occur for groups and individuals. Technical managers, supervisors, and mentors needed to be proactively involved in informal learning activities.

Whilst there was a need for a specialty within the IT industry, there was also a requirement that the technical leaders were multi-skilled and able to cope with the constant technological upgrading that was inherent in the IT industry.

There appeared to be an expectation on the part of the employer that technical leaders would, as a matter of course, keep themselves up-to-date by learning new IT systems, products, and services in their own time, given the technical leaders preferred informal learning modes; this was not surprising.

However, there was no obvious acknowledgment of technical leaders’ efforts nor was there an obvious process for giving credit for this. The reward for the extra effort seemed to be continued employment.

Whilst informal ‘self-learning’ might have suited many technical learners, it clearly might have disadvantaged others, particularly those who have family and community responsibilities, once they left the workplace.

Technical managers, supervisors, and mentors needed to ensure there was parity and equity when selecting project teams for technical leadership.

Significant responses in the study suggested that a number of technical leaders believed that opportunities for new learning within their IT departments were limited for them either because they were not selected for project or formal training or because some felt unable to learn technical matters under pressure, whether in the workplace or in their own time.

For both formal learning programs and informal learning activities to be successful for the learners’ needs, time to learn was a fundamental requisite. The formal learning programs for the learning needs, despite perceived inadequacies, specified as a curriculum requirement the minimum hours to be spent on a module, a unit of study, or a short course.

Informal learning, as defined and described in this study, had an immediacy about it in practice, which was in conflict with the philosophical and theoretical perspective of informal learning. This was recorded in the conclusions as a further study for validation.

The role of time in informal learning requirements was important in as much as a technical learner took as much time as he or she needed to know about or became skilled in the technical matters learned.

Time taken by the learner was dependent upon prior technical knowledge, skills, competencies, experience, motivation, commitment, and individual differences, whether learning was occurring alone or with peers and the levels of complexity of learning tasks.

Technical managers, supervisors, and mentors need to consider minimum time allocations for informal learning activities as a realistic measure for learners in the workplace. Such action would greatly assist learners and should have served to reduce some of the excessive pressure evidenced in responses to this study.

Finally, the IT departments studied in this research initiative had significant numbers of highly skilled and competent technical leaders from non-English speaking backgrounds. It was critical that these technical leaders were not overlooked for projects because their oral communication skills had weaknesses.

Whilst there was no confirming evidence to suggest this happening in the study, some responses from non-English speaking backgrounds people indicated concerns about their communication competence and fear that it might have disadvantaged them when it came to project selection.

This study provided insights to the education and learning policymakers for workplace learning programs relating to the role of technology leaders working in the IT industry. The study was also reviewed for replication in other industries hence some pilot studies were planned. I will report on the progress in another article.

Related Articles

This article is related to the following articles hence reviewing them can provide a clearer context and further perspectives on these recommendations.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

Brain Health, Brain Atrophy, Anxiety, Dementia, Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Heart Disease, Strokes, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Metabolic Syndrome, Liver Cancer, Immunotherapy, Dysautonomia, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Cardiovascular Health, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Nervous Breakdown, Autoimmune Conditions, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Fever, and Major Diseases.

Besides science, technology, spirituality, self-improvement, and health, as nutrients are crucial, I also document promising molecules such as:

Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.

Disclaimer: Please note that this post does not include health or professional advice. I documented my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information. If you have disease symptoms, please consult your healthcare professionals. Health is the responsibility of individuals.

About the Author

Thank you for subscribing to my content. I share my health and well-being stories in my publication, Euphoria. If you are new to Medium, you may join by following this link.

You may also join my seven publications on Medium as a writer requesting access via this weblink.

I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis. I share important life lessons from people in my professional and social circles.