WORKPLACE LEARNING DURING COVIDPANDEMIC: EXPERIENCES, CHALLENGES & POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Sammanfattning: Background & Purpose: The learning context of a public transport company that shifted to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic has been research3ed. The aim was to explore employees' experiences and their needs concerning organizational settings for workplace learning. Through this, organizational barriers to learning and helpful learning practices could be identified to better understand learning in remote work contexts. Theory: Informed by Billett’s conceptualization of workplace learning as the dialectic relationship between the circumstances of the social environment (workplace affordances) and the learners’ actions (learner agency). Further, the framework of Communities of Practice by Lave and Wenger has been applied to conceptualize learning in the organizational context. Method: The research design was based on a case study, including three virtual focus groups with employees of the company (n=11). These employees have been working in a remote work setting during the pandemic and participated in a new digital, semiinformal, and self-directed learning practice (Working Out Loud). Results: The results show that the switch to a remote work setting created challenges and opportunities for workplace learning. On the one hand, social interaction was hindered and led to more barriers to engage in learning practices. Furthermore, the need to selfmanage one’s work and learning increased because new routines and processes had to be established. On the other hand, employees experienced more freedom in scheduling their time and trying out new learning practices. Digital learning practices, such as the semi-informal method of Working Out Loud, supported the workplace learning by providing a structured framework for learning and by making it easier to set aside learning time. The new learning practice encouraged meta-reflection about one’s own learning goals and increased self-directedness. Moreover, it opened opportunities to discuss which practices are perceived as valuable and can support a more transparent learning culture.