You will hardly find the word 'affordances' in a dictionary. Actually, if you try to translate it into any other language, most of the translators won't offer the proper meaning. However, the word is used in a scientific article by Katrien Cuyvers, Piet Van den Bossche & Vincent Donche, which is about Self-regulated learning. Moreover, you can find the word 'affordances' in Wikipedia, where it says that it was derived from the word 'afford' and coined by James J. Gibson in 1966 when he couldn't find the right word in the dictionary to describe interactions between the environment and the animal.

Good question. The thing is that workplace learning differs from formal learning by its spontaneous and unobvious nature (Cuyvers, Van den Bossche, & Donche, 2020). Consequently, for workers to learn and develop their self-regulation learning skills, they have to be able to identify their learning needs, assess their own knowledge and see affordances (Cuyvers et al., 2020). In other words, to see possibilities that the working environment offers them.

What can it be? The article lists examples such as the availability of time for learning, resources (digital learning environments, events), communicating with colleagues (Cuyvers et al., 2020). Basically, everything that can stimulate learning behaviour.

The word affordance is widely used in a variety of fields: perceptual psychology, cognitive psychology, environmental psychology, industrial design, human–computer interaction (HCI), interaction design, user-centered design, communication studies, instructional design, etc.

It seems logical that learning is a sort of interaction with the environment, especially if we are talking about informal and/or workplace learning. I tried to come up with some examples of affordances in workplace learning, but I don't have a lot:

• physical libraries with specific literature where people can study and read
• specific events such as workshops
• facilitated team meetings

Any other ideas? Let's think together which affordances we can design for workers to invite them to learn. How can we teach people to pay attention to these affordances? Add a comment below to join the discussion.

References:
Cuyvers, K., Van den Bossche, P., & Donche, V. (2020). Self-Regulation of Professional Learning in the Workplace: a State of the Art and Future Perspectives. Vocations and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-019-09236-x

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