Thesis on "Teaching Adults Using Technology"

Thesis 7 pages (2272 words) Sources: 6 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Teaching Adults Using Technology

How can the growth and development in Information Technology be utilized for the service of learning? And how can adult learners' best utilize these conditions? These two queries will be the central questions that this paper will attempt to answer. Both these questions are multifaceted, each aspect advancing more questions of not only theoretical but also practical kind. How can learners acquire quality education with the use of technology? What is the relationship between learning and experience? How can adult students apply their newly learned skills in the classroom? How can skill development be promoted through information technology? How can educators be proficiently skilled in Information Technology (Sharan, 2006)? This paper will not attempt to answer all these questions, but will review the relationship between technology and adult learning and how adults in their environments can best become lifetime learners and how technology can assist them in the fulfillment of these objectives.

Teaching Adults Using Technology

Adult learning cannot be halved into the alma mater where it is attained and the place where it is practiced. Nowadays people, with the help of technology, have superfluous knowledge, which is beyond their ability to manage; similarly, upcoming generations will be exposed to a lot more knowledge than they can grasp. The technological revolution has become a part of everyday life for not only the youth but also adults. As Lawrence (1999) states: "adults have already accepted technology as a viable media for instruction. Their reasons for using technology are even more diverse than their younger counterparts, although they do have a unique set of challenges learning to use these tools. Too expensive; too little spare time; too few opportunities for online access. These are just a few of the obstacles confronting adult learners and computers. Proper sequencing of instruction, self-paced learning rates, active hands-on environments and "learn it now/use it now" strategies aid the adult in overcoming these limitations."

Lifetime adult learning is important because it paves the way for making future prospects promising and fruitful, hence it can be thought of as a requirement rather than a pleasure. Lifetime adult learning is a routine and a frame of mind for people to adopt rather than formal grown-up teaching and tutoring. It necessitates and prompts us to perceive other disciples of adult learning such as self-education, need-based learning, mutual learning and managerial learning. To accomplish these purposes, groundbreaking technologies and mediums ought to be promoted properly (Som, 2003).

It is compulsory to analyze learning over a lifetime because now the ubiquitous customs of jobs following the completion of education are no longer valid (Gardner, 1991). Adult learning is so popular in practical dealings that it is difficult to do without it. It is different from practical work in the sense that it is a sort of toil (Zuboff, 1988) whereas work is a product of joint effort. The criteria for being deemed as a learned individual will be to view learning as a procedure spanning over a lifespan. Additional knowledge is beyond the scope of the customary school education and maybe achieved well after the 'schooling age' (Illich, 1971).

The pursuit of education is now accompanied by problems and menaces, which are consequences of breakthroughs in technology and an excess of information. To train the citizens by giving them the specific knowledge as per their requirements and also to find out whether this knowledge will aid them in the upcoming years or not are the two main problems that should be curbed by fresh strategies. Adult-learning should form a part of life that is not only habitual but also up-to-date (Rogoff & Lave, 1984). To broaden their horizon, learners not only need guidance but also an exposure to the rest of the world (Norman, 1993) and also participation in it. The learning process should be as long as life itself so that needs and queries are resolved as soon as they arise. The learning through formal training should be incorporated into the learning through experience.

Under the perimeters of formal education and guidance, learning only serves the purpose of catering troubles that are more pronounced. Adult lifetime learning includes learning strategies and also encompasses rational, vague and obscure troubles. It is common for learners to go for only that information which is sufficient and apt to solve their respective problems. An elaboration of this can be need-based learning where learners and instructors are in different frames of mind and are motivated by their respective self-interests; this leads to an adult learning that is boundless and not backed up (Som, 2003).

The information age and learning

The evolution from acquiring formal education to practical life is unanticipated as there is no system to prepare for it. Like the formal education attained at school should train for the aspects of practical life such as unpredictability, stimulus and comprehension and high-tech gears. In an administrative center that hinges on knowledge, technological standards of training and practical life are not just enough to give learners a picture of what lies before them in the practical life. Shortening the hiatus between formal education and experience-oriented learning is a prime objective of lifetime adult learning (Som, 2003).

Technology has included machines in the primitive methods (Landauer, 1995) of trading instead of coming up with innovative methods of manufacturing and promoting information. It has acted as an extra tool to education as opposed to figuring out what the education in the upcoming eras will be based on (Fischer, 1998c). Expertise did not change the practices of committing to memory without applying intelligence and the traditional guidance-giving. The expertise of the bygone era cannot be utilized to survive in the new era.

Rifkin (1995) quoted the dislodgement problem of the laborers as an example dynamic social drift. In industries where there is greater scope for variation, laborers have to make sure that they adopt the fresh crafts and methods so as to keep pace with the changing times. Previous models of learning and guidance will not be enough to solve this looming problem, instead training should be made part of the job curriculum and instructors should be able to impart knowledge without being restricted by place.

Training and adult learning

Tutoring and formal guidance are not the only aspects of lifetime adult learning as it must back other aspects like comprehension of concepts and the pragmatic uses of the information acquired, like formal attainment of knowledge and workplace tutoring both. Achieving finesses and getting information cannot be associated with school and university training as it has to be a fragment of practical experience too. Recent training schemes focus on teaching the use of a budding expertise and guidance is usually thought of as a financial factor. The recurrent chain of tutoring cannot be discontinued unless there is a realization that lifetime adult learning and experience-based learning go hand in hand and are as such connected (Sachs,1995). When information is combined with practical applications, more light is shed on the actual troubles that exist in reality.

Adult learning is not an entity of its own and is pendant to the experience-based learning. The issues can be resolved individually but the technology set up comes in as it aids in resolving those issues. The advantage of adult learning works as an incentive to acquire it as the sweat and toil involved in getting knowledge pays of when this knowledge bears fruit. Education standards and practical applications of technology are usually stuck in the learning theory of B.F. Skinner and the standards of engineering that was laid down by Taylor (Som, 2003).

Lifetime learning and technology

One aim of lifetime learning ought to support the chances of acquiring knowledge through different phases of life such as family, educational institutes, workplaces and the society in the broader sense. Practical applications cannot be dependent on previous knowledge as there should be some space for acquiring knowledge even when one is doing a job as an employee. Adult learning is achievable in all fields of work with no age limit as it is achieved by interaction with different persons and at going to different places. The extraction from their encounters should be effectively made use of by incorporating them into different occupations. An amalgamation of learning at home through computers, education centers, administrative centers and society is what lifetime learning is all about (Som, 2003).

There are different preparation schemes after the completion of formal training from education institutes due to the flourishing attentiveness towards incorporating knowledge into work experience (Gery, 1997). Workshops and online training classes that are headed by people, who are fully informed about the troubles associated with working at organizations, are arranged for the working masses (Som, 2003).

The traditional examinations of organizational adult training are centered on the seminars meant for teaching purpose arranged by bosses for their workers. On the job teaching is similar to formal education on the ground that is also faced with the same occurrence of a lack of background as the formal… READ MORE

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