Adult Learning Theory - My Memorable Experiences

Abstract

The adult learning process and theories have not changed over the last decade, but the way members of the adult community interact with one another did. The way technology is used within our surrounding communities make it difficult for adults that are not involved to become left behind. Technology has been the common theme for increasing productivity; it also has of way of surpassing our differences as adults and bringing us to a common platform. If you haven’t heard of the words email or Google, you are in for a learning experience.

Situational Analysis

Wither you are a student or instructor in an academic setting, you are continuously developing different ways to interact with technology, knowledge and information you gather. Also, students and instructor both have roles that are interchangeable under the perspective of learning or presenting on a subject. I have been an instructor in the adult community for over one year. My experiences with learning and also teaching have changed considerable. One real note to consider is that you should never take anything for granted, even if is the simplest task for most people to do; the student may miss out on the whole point of the exercise or discussion if the details are left out. From an instructor’s perspective, obtaining the needed level of involvement and attention from an adult student can be quite difficult if the learning setting or delivery method is not just right. We all have different learning styles and personalities that are tied into the many experiences learnt. I have found that students can either have too much knowledge on a particular subject or sometimes too little, this can really change the way the material is delivered. One way of leveraging what we know about adult learning theories and the differences that adult commonly share is it use technology within a learning environment. Technology has been the common theme for increasing productivity; it also has of way of surpassing our differences as adults and bringing us to a common platform. If you haven’t heard of the words email or Google, you are in for a learning experience.

Adult Theories in Practice

The Individual Learner

The Adult Learners that have come across are from many different cultural, classes, and ethnic backgrounds. One thing that was able to do since my very first class that I taught, was to introduce technology in ways that they have not interacted with before. My very first class that I taught was within project management, “Quality Management”, where I introduced Voice Teleconferencing as a means to collaborate on a group project. I assigned the students a group project, which was supposed to be completed by the end of the semester. The student all were introduced to the project from the very first session. It wasn’t until the 6th session (The class ran for a total of 11 sessions), that I had one question concerning the project. All of the student’s reasons for participating in school were for all different reasons. The adult theory in application was participation and self-directed learning. The participation wasn’t all there from every student, yet they all shared some need to serve the taste for self improvement. As the time passed, I introduced the teleconferencing option, to help improve communication between the team members and increase their production toward a finished product. They all enjoyed the idea and the experience of the calls.

As I was introduced to more teaching opportunities I learned newer ways on increasing the student’s abilities to interact with one another and also to increase or change the way they learnt material. According to the adult hand book, “[t]here are two important dimensions to the contextual approach to learning what we are calling “interactive” and “Structural” (Hays and Wilson, 2000).”

I have created an interactive means for students to join in and participate in group, up date their status all from the internet. The interactive group that I created is called 757EG, where 757 relates to the area code and EG stands for empowerment group; today we can refer to this as being a social network. This group was created to join the students into a median that they are already familiar with and acquaint them with other professional in the area. Other technology ideas that I’ve implemented is a collaboration tool, made from office live, a Microsoft product. The collaboration tool was used and accessed over the internet, while I managed the access to the files and trained individuals how to use the product. This product introduced two learning process both structured and transformational learning. The students all experienced new ways of interacting with the office products and also learned how to use the products to make their lives more efficient. I found that some students didn’t know what the internet was, or even know how to email if the had a question. These situations reminded me to never take things learnt for granted.

Appendix

Contextual Perspective:
Interactive – Social Network
Here is the example of the social network that I have created: http://757empowermentgroup.ning.com/

Structural – Collaborative Tool
If you would like access to the collaboration tool that I created go to this site: http://profmanzano.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

References

Gibbons, H., & Wentworth, G. (2001). Andrological and pedagogical training differences for online instructors. Carrollton, GA: University of West Georgia. (Web)

Hayes, A., & Wilson, E. (2000). Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kearsley, M. (2008). Andragogy (M. Knowles). Theory into Practice (TIP). (Web)

Questions That I addressed that relate to this post:

Question 1

Shaun,
I was able to note that your experience stemmed more from what you learned from your students. Teaching adults with the may difference background causes the need for flexibility. You wrote about the practical experience gained from your teaching experience. That was a good way to relate the theory expressed about the individual learner.

My Response:

Thanks for your feedback and additional analysis of my work. I agree with your statement when you mention, “Teaching adults with the many different backgrounds causes the need for flexibility”. I would like to add two ingredients to go along with flexibility and they are: “Patience” and “Passion”; the two “P” in teaching. They are not only useful for teaching, but needed for building relationships with the students. Once relationships are built, like with anything else, trust is developed… This is a beautiful thing to experience. Once students have your trust, learning increases due to the fact that the individual learner is open to listen and interpret what is being delivered. There is a huge difference between listening and hearing.

Question 2

Hi Shaun,
I found your "memorable experience" writing piece to be very interesting and it certainly brought to mind a couple of questions you may be able to elaborate on based on your perspective regarding technology.
1. Do you believe that technology, though an obviously useful way to increase communication, do you believe that even with technology being as intuitive as it is, that there is a more innate level of expression that is lost via online communication?
2. Out of curiosity, what way are you referring to when you say that, "...technology been the common theme for increasing technology?”

My Response:

Thanks for your response to my write up. I wanted to take time to answer the question that you had for me. You stated, “Do you believe that technology, though an obviously useful way to increase communication, do you believe that even with technology being as intuitive as it is, that there is a more innate level of expression that is lost via online communication?”

Every individual has their own unique perspective of the interaction with online communication. Using the technology requires a great deal of commitment, especially when it is being used to communicate ideas and deliver information. I know that it is easier to just talk rather than type a communication document. This would definitely be a limiting factor which is tied to an individual’s ability to create a document. Also, if there is an abundance of information that sort of floods the network with information; I could see this situation as devaluing the online experience. Also, the layout and the way the information is interacted with will also play a role on communication quality online. I have interacted with web sites that were not very welcoming, simple because of the layout, broken links and other color issues.
You also had a question with a statement I made, "Technology has been the common theme for increasing productivity”, technology was kept in mind for the use of increasing productivity, via processing documents, improving communications (Telephone, email, etc.) and connecting people around the globe (internet, Skype).

When I refer to “by surpassing our differences as adults”, I am referring to the barriers of culture and or social differences that we share in a traditional setting. While using the internet and creating documents, unless an individual identifies their identity, no one knows who they are interacting with.

Question 3

Shaun,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! How have you helped adult students make the transition from more traditional approaches of interaction and learning to more social and technologically-based approaches of interaction and learning? Have any of your students been resistant? If so, how did you help them overcome this resistance?

My Response:

This was a very interesting assignment. I would like to answer the questions that you posted; you stated, “How have you helped adult students make the transition from more traditional approaches of interaction and learning to more social and technologically-based approaches of interaction and learning?”

This was a very unique opportunity for me to utilize my technical skills and knowledge about adult learning theory. Initially the students all went through a process of taking question surveys to understand their type of personality and learning style. In an open forum we discussed the benefits of each type of personality and learning style. I also had them develop personal study plans and strategies for their own learning style. This helped the students indentify their individual strengths and weaknesses. We also covered several benefits of using technology and the importance of interacting with it.

I have had students that have been out of school for 25 yrs. For this group it was more of a challenge to get them up to speed in using the technology. This group had the very basic skills on a computer; for example: turning on/off, basic typing, and using a mouse; that’s it. One thing that helped me help them was their individual drive to learn/use the technology. Both the instructor and student had patience, and were flexible. Spending time with them was the key and also creating additional training handout, which was used frequently by the students. I constantly encouraged them and always offered assistance. The open communication definitely helps improve their ability to learn, because they were more confident to ask questions.

For the other students, they immediately saw the benefits of using the technology, which included a lot of reference material/supplemental aids etc. I learned that students adapt to their learning environment pretty quickly and the changes that I implemented were items that they used to increase their efficiency. This sold them on using the technology.

You also stated, “Have any of your students been resistant? If so, how did you help them overcome this resistance?” Change usually causes people/humans to resist.... I covered a topic on change and discussed the importance of change. I had each student identify why they where in school and answer this question, “What’s in it for me?” I also have each student write down their goals and vision statement. They use this help them stay focused on why they are in school and also to understand that the change is needed to improve their selves.

Question 4

Shaun,
It is interesting to note how much information you gathered from an understanding of your students. This seems to have poised you to attack the issues that arise to ensure all participants have an adequate learning experience. Have you noticed any learners that have fallen out of the sessions due to being "turned-off" by this type of approach or has it been universally accepted?

My Response:

Thanks for your comments/notes and analysis of my work. Learning adult theory will help us to understand our students. This is important since, the material or training that we are creating, will be used by them. If we give them more than they can interpret or analyze with out first providing prerequisite information, then we are defeating the purpose of educating our students. I also learned that not only does the student have to hear the information being presented, but they also have to use it and apply it to scenarios, projects, or even group work.

You stated, “Have you noticed any learners that have fallen out of the sessions due to being "turned-off" by this type of approach or has it been universally accepted?”
I’ve noticed that students drop out of class for mostly personal problems or they decided that they wanted to change degree or field of study. But, for those that stick around, they accept the use of the technology applications, work closer together, helping each other understand the technology. I even see more students willing to help one another out; they seem to share the learning experience with each other.

Question 5

Shaun, how do you think teachers approach students who are introverted and may not know how to express their concerns to even the teacher?
Also, on another note, do you believe that icebreaker activities work in terms of getting students comfortable in classroom settings were group discussion will eventually become necessary?

My Response:

Thanks for the response, you stated, “how do you think teachers approach students who are introverted and may not know how to express their concerns to even the teacher? Also, do you believe that icebreaker activities work in terms of getting students comfortable in classroom settings were group discussion will eventually become necessary?”
The instructor should be consistent and always be working towards gaining trust with their fellow students. Let the students know little about you etc. I develop an environment that is very accepting to each others ideas. I break down the stigma and give the learners a chance to grow and go through their development of interacting with the class. I involve them, by asking them questions and encourage them to participate. I usually have my students form groups to address topics that I assign them. The group work also helps them to contribute to group and encourage their participation.