Adult Education

According to Malcolm Knowles’ principle of Andragogy, adult education is very different from education for children and adolescents. Adults education builds upon knowledge which has already been acquired. In addition, adults engage in education for very specific reasons, prefer to be in control of their learning experience and need to understand how the concepts being learned are relevant to their needs in real life. Generally speaking, adults are more interested in education that serves an immediate purpose in their life. For example, acquiring new skills or enhancing existing skills to remain competitive in the workforce.

Daniel Schugurensky, from the Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychologyat the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), provides some detailed information about Adult Education. His website provides literature answering a variety of questions on the topics including:

• Adult education philosophies and theories
• Difference between adult education and child education
• Advantages and disadvantages of online learning
• Community development
• Anti-racist education
• Feminist education
• Critical thinking
• Andragogy

In his website, Daniel explains that adult education takes place in the following ways:

• Formal Education – specific curriculum with clearly defined learning objectives
• Non-formal Education – organized activities outside of the formal educational system
• Informal Education – conscious learning that takes place in daily life
• Incidental Education – unconscious learning that takes place in daily life

Daniel also explains that adult education occurs in the following categories:

Teacher Oriented

• Lecture
• Questionning

Interactive Techniques

• Discussion Group
• Case Study
• Group Work
• Field Work
• Cooperative Learning
• Role Playing
• Simulations and Games

Independent Techniques

• Modularized instruction
• Independent learning packages
• Self-directed learning techniques

Source: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/faqs/qaindex.html

The following website, Encyclopedia of Canadian Adult Education, provides a variety of literature and resources on the topic of Adult Education

http://www.ufv.ca/aded/encyclopedia/index.htm

The Future of eLearning

With technological advancements and lifestyle changes, Distance Education is not only becoming more appealing but also a more viable method of teaching and learning.

Distance Education refers to teaching that is conducted outside of a traditional classroom setting. Generally speaking, distance learning follows one of two methods: the correspondence course or the online course.

Using correspondence courses, students receive hardcopies of the material and submit course work via the regular mail system. With online courses, communication between the student, instructor and other students takes place via the Internal.

The following technologies are used to support online learning:

• Learning Management Systems (i.e. Blackboard, eCollege)
• Word Documents/electronic files (i.e. Word docs, PDFs)
• Streaming audio and video
• Podcasts
• Online resources (websites, textbooks)

In order for Distance Learning to be successful, it must offer the following:

• Time flexibility
• Cost effective
• Overcome geographic barriers
• Learner centered
• Reliable technology
• Adaptable
• Relevant content and material
  

According to www.elearners.com, organizations that offer Distance Learning need to take the following issues into consideration:

• Realize what market and demographic groups they serve
• Be responsive to adult learner needs
• Prove their value to adult learners, such as quality, relevance in material, convenience, etc.
• Take direction from business organizations, and in response, anticipate and adapt to their needs
• Streamline the instruction process
• Look for partnerships with other complementary organizations
• Find creative ways to certify learning credentials
• Be prepared to compete globally with a variety of learning providers \Stay abreast of relevant issues in education
• Understand that the paradigm of thinking in education has changed over the last fifty years and will continue to change in the future

Source: http://www.elearners.com/resources/elearning-faq7.asp

To read a comparison of the Pros and Cons of Online Learning, view the following web site
http://www.elearners.com/resources/elearning-faq5.asp