Joining Informal Courses Makes Students Smart

          Joining informal courses has become a trend among the students in learning. They feel the needs to get more time to study because they think that the study time at school is not enough to acquire the lesson. Before we go further, let us examine what is the definition of Informal learning according to Jay Cross, one of the biggest advocates of informal learning, ”Informal learning is the unofficial, unscheduled, impromptu way most of us learn to do our jobs. Informal learning is like riding a bicycle: the rider chooses the destination and the route. The cyclist can take a detour at a moment’s notice to admire the scenery or help a fellow rider.” Based on the definition above, we believe that joining informal courses is one of the ways that can help the students to be brighter and smarter than the ones who only studying in formal institutions.
          Firstly, we are going to discuss how informal courses can offer the students to have more study time. The frequency of studying plays a really significant role to students achievement. One of ways to increase the study frequency is by joining informal courses. As we all know, the informal courses take place out of the school time. It means that instead of studying at school, the students will be able to have a special time to study their lesson more.
          Secondly, let us see the relationship between having more time to study and acquiring better understanding. There is nothing instant to get something what we want, not excluding to be smart. The more we study, the more we understand and the more we acquire the subject that we learnt. In this process, time is the significant factor that determines how far we master the lesson. The additional time that we get from joining informal courses allows students to acquire better understanding.
          Thirdly, the ultimate effect of acquiring better understanding is the smartness of the students. Smartness is not easy to get. It needs a quite long process of acquiring and collecting information. If students join informal courses that make them have more time to study, means that they are able to acquire thorough information about the lesson. They can get better understanding than other students who do not join informal courses. Then, if they know better about the lesson, it will make them smarter and brighter compare to other students who only study at ordinary school time.
          In short, informal courses give a chance to the students to have more time in studying and acquiring the lesson better. As a result, the dream of the parents to have smart children will be accomplished. Therefore, it would be better if parents send their children to join informal courses for the sake of children’s future.

By Ninuk Retna Sumiarsih and Wahyu Kartika Wienanda