Online education, or elearning, is rapidly becoming a primary method of educating today’s students both young and old; however, the majority of students in the elearning environment are adults; hence, it is important to understand the needs of adult learners and the necessary andragogy, or formal study as it relates to adults, to effectively serve adult learners’ needs.
By 2018, 63 percent of all jobs—approximately 30 million jobs—will require some postsecondary education (Carnevale, Smith, and Strohl, 2010); However, there are not enough skilled workers to fill these positions in the United States with less than half of the workforce holding an associate or higher-level degree. To fill this skills gap, there is an estimated need of an additional 3 million people, beyond those currently getting a degree that will need to obtain a postsecondary degree (Carnevale, Smith, and Strohl, 2010). Basically, the need for a qualified workforce cannot be met through younger individuals currently getting their education. The proposed solution is educating those currently in the workforce, which are primarily adult learners. Thus, a strong need exists to best support the growing trend of adult learners in postsecondary education and beyond.
Zappala (2007) discussed best andragogical practices for elearning based on social constructivism and transformative learning to help guide educators in best serving adult learners. Here are some of those best practices:
- Educators of adults must fully consider individual learner differences in terms of cognition, personality, and prior knowledge when planning instruction.
- Based on social constructivist theory, optimal learning occurs when adult learners have opportunities for active collaboration with one another to build personal meaning and build relevant connections between their personal experiences and new material (Duffy and Jonassen, 1992; Zappala 2007). Adult learners also have greater potential for learning when they can share personal experiences with others and learn from the personal experiences of others.
- Educators can facilitate transformative learning by “serving as a role model and demonstrating a willingness to learn and change” (Imel, 1998, p. 3). Along those lines is the premise that adult learners will learn better with an educator that does not function like a sage on a stage, but as a guide on the side functioning as a facilitator, mentor, and guide.
Reflection
I believe social constructivism as a framework for elearning, especially as it pertains to adult elearning, is a great theoretical framework to follow. Adult learners are typically self-directed (Knowles, 1984; Houle, 1961) and enjoy the flexibility of an asynchronous elearning environment, but research also shows that optimal learning occurs when adult learners can collaborate with their peers and share and build knowledge together (Duffy and Jonassen, 1992). Though this research has been around for many years, educators’ responses to these needs are still important and applicable as they seek educational effectiveness in the elearning environment.
Traditional methods of education with the educator as the exalted bestower of knowledge are, in my opinion, antiquated and counter-productive to an elearning environment of adult learners who each bring their own experiences and needs and who can each benefit by social constructivism. The educator should function as a guide and facilitator to learning. We are reminded by Knowles (1984) that adult learners are concerned with practical application of knowledge and of course material. For adult learners, especially at higher levels of education, there is often a very specific goal in mind for attaining that education. Elearning courses should be constructed in a fashion that best facilitates these growing needs in the elearning environment and the specific needs of the adult learner.
References
Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., and Strohl, J. (2010). Help wanted: Projections of jobs and education requirements through 2018. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. Retrieved from http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/FullReport.pdf
Duffy, T. M., & Jonassen, D. H. (1992). Constructivism and the technology of instruction: A conversation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Houle, C. O. (1961). The inquiring mind. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Imel, S. (1998). Transformative Learning in Adulthood. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/adulthood.htm
Knowles, M. (1984). The adult learner: A neglected species (3rd ed.). Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Co.
Zappala, A. (2007). Social constructivism and transformative learning theories in the development of online instructors: Best andragogical practices. In Montgomerie, C., & Seale, J., (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2007, 2487-2493. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
