Just-In-Time Learning in the Digital Cafe

i have been thinking a lot about “just in time” learning. This metaphor captures the power of learning moments when they are “just in time” to help get an immediate task done, respond to an interest, or resonate with a feeling or desire.  Much evaluation of learning measures how long people have been attending a class, not what they did while they were there. People drop in because they have a pressing need, usually, and they get help they need just in time. But then of course they become interested in other things and back they come the next week or the next day with more questions. This is not commitment to long term attendance, or even registration, intake or any form of testing. And many of these everyday learning interactions do not even count in the usual auditing and accountability reports that literacy groups must keep to demonstrate delivery of literacy instruction. But “just in time” is a powerful form of adult learning as Alisa Belzer (2013) wrote in her recent article about “just in time” volunteer tutor training. “Adults learn by experience, benefit from contextualized learning, and develop skill through interaction with more expert practitioners” (p. 56)

We have noticed people coming to the digital cafe become more confident, talk with other learners more often, and ask more questions (a great sign that learning is happening!). We try as much as possible to link people together if they are learning something similar, say, setting their privacy settings on Facebook, so they can talk about what they are doing, and scaffold and mentor one another.  The other day a gentleman arrived when the drop-in was quiet. “I was hoping I could come and watch and listen to what others were doing and pick up a few things.” Interestingly, this man mentioned a few times that he took a computer course in 2000 and  he still draws on many of the skills he learned there as he works to stay up to date with new technologies. This class taken 14 years ago is a touchstone for his current digital learning interests and strategies. Which also leads us to thinking about learning as “busy intersections”…a topic for another day!