ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the current state of pedagogical practice and theory concerning the relationship between formal and informal learning. The chapter begins by conducting a sequential review of educational practices and theories that have clarified the central relationship between formal and informal learning. Next, modern attempts at optimizing the relationship between formal and informal learning environments will be reviewed, including the entertainment-education model that combines school subjects such as math and science with topics students find authentically engaging like popular dances, action sports and kid-friendly robotics. Lastly, the analysis expands upon existing educational research and practice to envisage the approaching relationship between formal and informal learning during the upcoming global transition into an educational model appropriate for the Information Age. The full analysis is contextualized within the framework of an asset-based approach, which enables us to focus on the positive opportunities—both those that are already realized as well as those that remain untapped—for optimizing the relationship between formal and informal learning.
