Informal Learning – Taking it to the Badge level

I’ve been intrigued and loosely following the developments of the informal learning community since the MacArthur Foundation announced its support  for Digital Media and LearningCompetition for Lifelong Learning Badges     YALSA received an award from the initiative to “develop a virtual badge program that helps library staff gain skills related to the Competencies for Serving Youth in Libraries.”    You can find a series of blog posts and updates about the project here.   The project looks like it’s set for an August 2013 completion.  I’ll be very interested in the end results.  Libraries are a natural to lead the way in acknowledging lifelong learning pursuits, especially around informal learning.

In the meantime, I’m also thrilled to see this summerlearning initiative for teens launched by a city wide partnership of over 100 organizations, among the most prominent the Chicago Public Library.  Why I didn’t hear more about this when I was ALA just last week is beyond me.   Even mayor Rahm Emanuel neglected to share or highlight it when he spoke at the opening event.    

Anyway,  kudos to CPL (who obviously is a key player in this project)   Check out this video(which features several clips captured at CPL’s YouMedia center) and then take a look at chicagosummeroflearning.org