e e learning

i believe that one of the key factors in when and how workers’ attitude and motivation regarding workplace learning will shift from ambivalence to enthusiasm will occur when both learning and development professionals and line busines managers both change their paradigm of how adult learners learn.  this includes understanding informal learning, social networks, and performance development.  this post will look at a major concept in education that i believe must be overthrown before this paradigmic change can occur.

the concept that adults learn radically different from children must torn down!

in his book, the modern practice of adult education (the current edition is entitled the adult learner), malcolm knowles sets adult learning up as dichotomous with child learning.  charts like the one below can be found in websites from around the globe (a google search on "pedagogy vs. andragogy" and variants produced 1254 results). it’s easily one of the best know models in education.

the following chart is typical of these charts.  knowles even went as far as to characterize the andragogic side of the pairings as "good" versus the "bad" pedagogical attributes.  he backed away from the good/bad characterization in the book’s second edition, but the damage was already done.  this characterization of the radically different ways of learning is among the most accepted tenents in education.

!–
.style2 {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-weight: normal;
color: #000000;
font-size: x-small;
margin-right: 2px;
margin-left: 2px;
}
.style4 {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: small;
font-weight: bold;
background-color: #660099;
border: solid #660099 1px;
color: #ffffff;
text-align: center;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.style5 {
font-size: large;
font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;
color: #ffffff;
font-weight: bolder;
background-color: #660099;
border: solid #660099 1px;
border-color: #660099;
margin-right: 2px;
margin-left: 2px;
}
.style7 {
color: #ffffff;
font-size: xx-small;
}
.style8 {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: x-small;
}

with these dichotomies intrenched in our thinking, we continually fall in to the same old habits when it comes to instructional design and facilitation.  Instead assuming that  "adults won’t play games in class"; we should be determining what types of "games" are stimulating to adults and when would they be considered relevant and worthwhile.  Many consider simulations to be quite game like, yet well crafted simulations have been wildly successful with adults.

you might argue that knowles actually
was talking about instructional methodologies and that these tenets should be
read only with regard to instructional design for formal settings.  there are
two arguments against this position.

1. the vast majority of the current presentation of these attributes is as
   children’s learning versus adult learning.  i did not find one example of this dichotomy being presented as “methods
   for teaching children in a school setting vs. methods for teaching adults in a formal educational setting.”  no matter
   what knowles’ intent was, the current interpretation should be debunked.
2. some of these tenets are false even in light of
   the methodology argument. this is the
   argument that knowles acquiesced to in the second edition of the modern practice of adult education and
   has been borne out in new evidence uncovered in brain sciences, evolutionary psychology, genetic studies and
   the cognitive science research.

one method for invalidating a theory is to demonstrate examples in which the theory does not hold to be true.  this is the method i’ll use to bring this misconceived theory of adult learning to it’s knees.  let’s run through each of the pairings one at a time.
 

mandatory attendance vs. voluntary attendance

this is clearly not the case even at the methodology level
of the argument. adults are regularly
required to attend legal compliance training (sexual harassment, violence in
the workplace, etc.), adults are often required to attend remedial education
programs by the courts, and professionals in a wide variety of fields are
required to attend continuing education courses to maintain their licenses and
certifications.  clearly pre-school aged children are not compelled by an external authority to learn each day – but they do.  and to believe that the only learning that happens in a school is what is taught between the opening and closing bells is simply being naive.

conclusion: obviously,
attendance policies have very little to do with how humans learn at any age.   

 
dependant learners vs. independent learners

this pairing regards children as dependent upon their
instructor to structure their learning experiences and maintains that adults
structure their own learning. clearly,
children in the most dynamic stages of human learning are seldom guided in
their learning.  play and exploration are
the means by which they rapidly gather and assimilate information into
knowledge. when they get confused, they will defer to an "expert" – usually a parent, a caregiver, or any kid who is older than they are.  on the other side of the pair, in this time of too much to do in too little time, our learners and their managers are demanding that we stop wasting their time and deliver the content they need.  or better yet, let them connect with the "expert" directly.  then they’ll have a resource they can turn to when it’s needed.

the shared experiences of parent
and child, tradesperson and novice, teacher and student are all examples of
learning through collaborative activities. such collaboration is invaluable by
making accessible to learners what they might not be able to learn alone. (billett, 2001, p. 19)

conclusion: the reality
is that all learners are at times dependent in their learning and at other
times independent. the variable is not  age but  rather a factor of experience  and expertise.

Read the rest of this entry »