End-User Learning through Application Play

As today’s knowledge workers tend to have less clearly defined outputs, many organizations are concerned with employees’ non-work use of technologies during office hours. In addition, as organizations strive to increase the job efficiency of new hires, managers must collapse overall training time while providing constant on-the-job training. This manuscript argues that individuals’ play with computer applications can be considered a form of self-directed, experiential learning. Drawing from information systems research and individual learning theories, an emerging framework for research on the role of application and technology play in individual learning is proposed. The framework suggests that self-directed experience and application of technology to work-related tasks is a moderator of the relationship between selfdirected experience and individual learning. The manuscript presents two real life examples to illustrate the inter-relationships of the constructs in the framework. Research recommendations and guidelines for practitioners are then presented.