Patrice Flichy has just published a book entitled Invisible Learning in the Digital Age with Presses des Mines.
Summary
Vocational training for employees largely takes place through indirect channels of knowledge acquisition, taking the form of informal, unofficial and largely invisible practices that fall outside the traditional frameworks for knowledge transfer.
These unseen ways of acquiring skills fall under the heading of self-learning and are widely used by individuals. Their importance has grown with the rise of digital technology through a wide range of media: exchanging emails or messages via WhatsApp, consulting online resources, and, more recently, using generative artificial intelligence (GAI).
By examining this phenomenon, which remains poorly documented – not least because of the methodological challenges it poses – this book offers an in-depth study of two professional fields where knowledge evolves rapidly and requires constant updating: medicine and computer science. It demonstrates how these alternative approaches challenge and reshape traditional modes of knowledge transmission, as well as the institutions that underpin them.
