Tag Archives: adult learning

How Adult Learning Can Change K-12 Education

Posted on July 1, 2011 | 5 Comments

Adult Learning & Continuing Education is an emerging field that still has a long way to go in defining its discipline and securing its place in society. Yet there are significant points and challenges that must be understood. 

A common challenge has been distinguishing itself from traditional elementary and secondary schooling, always known as kindergarten through highschool (K-12).

An important point is that although college education is included in the field, Adult Learning & Continuing Education focuses more on post-college instruction, continuing-professional education, and learning for multiple situations.

Overall, the distinctive quality of the field is both common and unique. Common like any other academic discipline such as law, medicine, and even K-12 education. But unique in looking from two perspectives: the perspective of expert and of experience.

For example, those who study law, do not often learn how to be a client; medical doctors study medicine, but not enough time concentrates on learning how to be a patient.  K-12 educators learn how to teach programs, but not always about what it means to be a student.  Perhaps that’s why many believe that lawyers are the worst clients, doctors are terrible patients, and it’s harder to teach a teacher.

But Adult Learning & Continuing Education is a discipline that must learn its practice through sharing its problems, using their experiences as a resource for answers.  In this way, these adults become experts in discovering what kinds of learning works immediately and for what purpose, since results are coming from personal experiences.

So why is this important? Because this field has something to offer, especially to our children.  It gives a second chance to reexamine how we learned as kids: To discover what worked; what didn’t; when we learned best; what kind of study habits were productive; or even whether we had study habits at all. 

If society could see more of this value, then this field could be the research & development for education. K-12, for example, could benefit from findings that transform classes, programs and instruction, constructing more productive approaches for future education. 

In this effort, the fundamentals of education would be explored where current K-12 teachers would be able to advance their lesson plans into subjects and technologies, where we as kids never learned or experienced.

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Posted in Adult Learning, Experential Learning, K-12 Education, Organizational Learning, Reform & Improvement, Uncategorized

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No Adult Left Overlooked: Reforming Continuing Learning Too

Posted on April 4, 2011 | 1 Comment

Given the current debate for education reform such as fixing No Child Left Behind; promoting Race to the Top; and encouraging a  ’21st Century curricula’ , there still is a gap, a remaining empty space, incompletely filled by creating jobs or training  skills.

It relates to adults who must continue to learn regardless of high-school diploma or college degree. It involves educating for life and supporting continual learning for all people.

Some parts missing in the discussion:  

1) Lifelong learning accounts (similar to 401K, but for continuing education);

 2) More employer or independent contractor tuition reimbursement programs;

3) Paid educational leave, especially for near retirees to pursue formal education;

 4) Tuition reduction options and student loan forgiveness for recent college alumni;

5) Further allowing lifetime experiences to transfer as credit and acceptance within colleges and professions. 

The belief that ‘children are our future‘ is very true, but it is equally true that the future will depend upon how, and what, our adults’  learn today.

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Posted in Adult Development, Adult Learning, K-12 Education, Literacy & Language, Reform & Improvement, Teacher Development, Uncategorized

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‘Technology’ Needs a New Name

Posted on March 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Trying to understand how new gadgets, iPads, smartphones, tablets, Kindles, and whatever else you can name are changing the way we learn, I’m prompted again with an annoying error message: Technology.

Sure, back in the day, when regular mail became electronic, remotes were without cords, and phones could actually be carried “mobilely,” using the word ‘technology’ seemed appropriate.  It made sense to know that ’technology’ in Greek meant ‘art,’ since we were witnessing new forms, with the world acting as its gallery.

But now, the term ‘technology’ seems too formal, sounds too weird, mechanical, a ’technical’ abstraction— separated from reality.

Technology used in the old way reminds me of how my mother uses the word, computer.  She speaks about it as so different, distant, disjointed, and always foreign from her real world. 

But in reality, ‘technology’, is ever-present, seemingly integrated naturally into our daily lives. Emerging innovations makes it a lifetime companion, a new edition to the family, again and again. It is already a common language shared around the world, speaking many tongues with variety. 

So, I think we should find a better term to reflect just how well it functions today, labelling it in the right way to fit its continuing leading role. 

You know, if I told my mother that I will order a new refrigerator to be sent tomorrow (never reminding her that a ‘computer’ will make the order) she would appreciate how it made her life easier, rather than having to make a special trip all-the-way to Sears.

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Posted in Literacy & Language, Money, Work, & Lifestyle, Technology & Networking, Uncategorized

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In the ‘Classroom of Experience’

Posted on January 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

They say that Experience is the best teacher: It gives you the test first, and then, teaches the lessons. Perhaps this was true, but now there’s more at stake.  With rising costs of education, not only does Experience require no paycheck, but in return could offer all the wealth you ever need. Quite a bargain considering we have experiences all the time. 

Just curious though: If you had to show what your ‘experience as teacher’ looks like, what would you come up with?

To the point: The classroom of experience requires no tuition, student fees or loans.  Yet there’s a way to include your ’lessons learned’ from experience directly into the progress of your education, enrollment, and degree pursuit.

There’s a way to transfer your experiences from work and life into college credit.  It is called PLAs or Prior Learning Assessments where there are things you may have learned outside of the college classroom that will count toward getting an actual degree.

Many colleges and universities for decades have adopted some form of PLAs and improvements in evaluations and crediting continue today.  This topic is fascinating and I’m eager to learn more.  As I do, I will share with you my “experience.”

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Posted in Adult Learning, Experential Learning, Experiential Education, K-12 Education, Organizational Learning, Prior Learning Assessment, Uncategorized, Workplace Learning

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Recommended Risk of Learning

Posted on October 11, 2010 | Leave a comment

When the topic of learning comes up, it soothes like a panacea of good wishes. Learning in its many forms as taking classes, getting certificates, diplomas, and degrees are all nice to pursue, especially telling others about it. However, learning is not pure.  There are some nagging risks that linger.

Receiving failing grades, incomplete work, or ”hating math” are possible symptoms.  Unfortunately, elementary school, high-school, college,  teachers and learners have given us unwarranted and unwanted comments of performance. These negative experiences can paint internal caution-signs to never re-entering continuing education.   

This could be telling why many adults don’t pursue available science, technology, or engineering jobs.  Perhaps many years ago, that school teacher, other student, and even parent diagnosed you were unqualified.

But, we are to blame too. 

We add our own damaging messages such as:

“I’m not smart enough,”

“I’m stupid; I’m going to fail,”

“I’m too old,”

“too far behind,”

“too (fill-in-the-blank)” all-the-way-to-infinity…

These thoughts give credence to other harmful decisions to learning something new or seeking another career.

A risk in learning is the sickness from our excuses without finding a cure.

Since we know how to create and collect excuses, why not design and plan opportunities? I worry that because we have pre-scribed programs to help get credentials and skills, we dismiss the art of customizing learning  that considers our  needs, means, and feasible timetable.  A strategy or remedy may come through measuring our pace with our own reflective grading system. A system and solution that takes into account our entire life and learning experience.

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Posted in Adult Development, Costs & Loans, Higher Education, K-12 Education, Lifelong Learning, Self-Directed Learning, Teacher Development, Training & Development

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