"Real World" Experiences Bring T and E Alive

Overview & Synopsis

Informal education (IE) refers to activities that occur outside the school setting, and that were not primarily developed for school use or as part of a school curriculum. Informal education is an important component of the teaching of technology and engineering education, adding relevance to student experiences. The practice of informal education is only about two generations old, but has grown exponentially. Today, educators often refer to these informal educational experiences as "real-world" experiences. This article presents the results of a survey of a segment of International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) members on their use of information education resources in technology and engineering education. One of the most interesting facts to come out of the research was that half of the respondents were not familiar with the term "informal education," even though it was clear by their responses to other questions that nearly all of them used IE resources.