The Internet, Informal Learning and Unions

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The Internet, Informal Learning and Unions

• Access to Trustee Education in Canada Issues
  and Problems
• Pensions at Work Conference 2005
• Sherida Ryan
• sryan_at_oise.utoronto.ca

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Informal Learning and the Internet

• Informal learning is any learning activity that
  takes place outside of formally organized
  education or training.
• Over 95 of Canadian adults are involved in
  informal learning activities (Livingstone, 2001).
• In Canada, almost three-quarters of the
  population have Internet access.
• The Internet is the fastest growing, yet perhaps
  the least understood, context of informal
  learning.

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Advantages of The Internet (ICT)

• Speed Rapid access, delivery and response.
• Reach No temporal or geographic boundaries.
• Inclusive of under-represented groups.
• Distributed flow of information and creation of
  content.
• Interactivity One-to-one, many-to-many.
• Supportive of individual learning preferences.
• Permanency.

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http//www.pensionsatwork.ca/
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Pensions at Work

• Brochure Stage or Hoisting the Flag
• basic information
• Magazine Stage
• developing content
• Individual Appeal Stage
• research papers, articles, whats new, scholarly
  works, lectures, etc.

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Community Stage????

• Even if you build it, they may not necessarily
  come.
• Cyberliteracy.generational rift?
• Online survey to explore who comes to the website
  and what features they find useful.
• Widespread perception that unions have been slow
  to grasp the interactive potential of the
  Internet (Ward and Lusoli, 2003).

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Potential Benefits of the Internet Unions

• Communication internal and external.
• Information collection and dissemination.
• Mobilization and recruitment.
• Social and political action.
• Education and training.
• Increased participation in decision-making
  (Green, Hogan and Grieco, 2003).
• Peer-to-peer communication.

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Union Concerns about the Internet

• Decreased control over content and flow of
  information.
• Credibility of content and information.
• Confidentiality.
• Permanency.
• Potential erosion of face-to-face contact,
  pressing the flesh, that builds requisite trust
  for collective action.

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Union Use of the Internet

• Websites have become universal.
• Most sites at the brochure or magazine stage.
• Most sites provide some political content.
• Trend for unions to use the Internet to provide
  services to individuals.
• Little education or training.
• Few sites provide opportunity for member input on
  union governance (Stevens and Greer, 2005).

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Online Labour Communities

• Small audience for union sites.
• Limited support for peer-to-peer interaction
  (Hodkinson, 2004).
• Limited demand for horizontal interaction.
• Decline in chat rooms or discussion boards.

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Canadian Online Labor Presence

• Solinet an acknowledged pioneer.
• Online labor education.
• Some unions and union locals appear to have more
  of a presence than others.
• Little research describing Canadian unions use
  of the Internet.

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Proposed Research

• Descriptive study of Canadian union use of
  information and communication technology.
• Semi-structured interviews with union officials
  to gather information on the website strategy.
• Content analysis of union websites.
• Survey of members Internet behaviour and use of
  union website.

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Suggested Reading

• Diamond, W. J., Freeman, R. B. (2002). Will
  unionism prosper in cyberspace? The promise of
  the Internet for employee organization. British
  Journal of Industrial Relations, 40(3), 569-596.
• Green, A., Hogan, J., Grieco, M. (2003).
  Commentary E-collectivism and distributed
  discourse New opportunities for trade union
  democracy. Industrial Relations Journal, 34(4),
  282-289.
• Greer, C., R. (2002). E-voice How information
  technology is shaping life within unions. Journal
  of Labor Research, 23(2), 215-235.
• Hodkinson, S. (2004). Problems_at_labour. In R. K.
  Gibson, A. Rommele S. J. Ward (Eds.),
  Electronic democracy Mobilization, organization
  and participation via new ICTs (pp. 153-169).
  London Rutledge.

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Suggested Reading

• Livingstone, D. W. (2001). Adult's informal
  learning Definitions, findings, gaps, and future
  research. Retrieved October 2, 2005, from
  http//www.oise.utoronto.ca/depts/sese/csew/nall/r
  es/21adultsifnormallearning.htm
• Sawchuk, P. (2003). Online learning for union
  activists? Findings from a Canadian study.
  Studies in Continuing Education, 25(2), 163-183.
• Stevens, C., D., Greer, C., R. (2005). E-voice,
  the Internet, and life within unions Riding the
  learning curve. WorkingUSA, 8(4), 439-455.
• Ward, S., Lusoli, W. (2003). Dinosaurs in
  cyberspace? British trade unions and the
  Internet. European Journal Of Communication,
  18(2), 147-179.