Digital Games for Online Adult Education

2010 ◽  
pp. 212-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammet Demirbilek
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Electronic Games ◽  
And Training ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

Digital games are a strong motivating and engaging factor in adult learning. When students are engaged in the learning process, they learn and retain more. Engagement can come though emotion, relaxation, and especially through fun. This chapter provides guidance to online adult educators searching for ways to use digital games more effectively in their practice and give an overview of pedagogical approaches to digital games in online training and learning. In addition, benefits and pitfalls associated with using digital games in online adult education and general attributes of digital games are provided. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the potential of digital games in online Adult education. Therefore, it will be a useful reference for teachers with an interest in the use of digital game based learning for online Adult teaching and training. It is expected that this chapter helps educators make the most effective use of the electronic games available today, offering expert guidance on digital games to serve the needs of all Adult learners.

Assessing Adult Learning and Learning Styles

2011 ◽  
pp. 143-153
Author(s):  
E. Paulette Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Know How ◽  
Education Literature ◽  
Learning Assessments ◽  
Adult Learning And Development

Adults have different learning styles which can either enhance or deter their learning. In the conversation that follows, I discuss the utility of assessing adult learning and the diversity of learning styles. Adult education literature is replete with discussions on characteristics of adult learners and adult learning and development. But how do we actually know if adults gained the knowledge they set out to learn? We know that there are several factors that should be taken into consideration when facilitating adult learning, but as adult educators and practitioners of the field, it is equally important that we learn and/or know how to deploy various approaches in assessing adult learning. In this chapter are brief discussions on adult learning, learning styles, and learning assessments.

Assessing Adult Learning and Learning Styles

2011 ◽  
pp. 140-159
Author(s):  
Gregory C. Petty
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Know How ◽  
Education Literature ◽  
Learning Assessments ◽  
Adult Learning And Development

Adults have different learning styles which can either enhance or deter their learning. In the conversation that follows, I discuss the utility of assessing adult learning and the diversity of learning styles. Adult education literature is replete with discussions on characteristics of adult learners and adult learning and development. But how do we actually know if adults gained the knowledge they set out to learn? We know that there are several factors that should be taken into consideration when facilitating adult learning, but as adult educators and practitioners of the field, it is equally important that we learn and/or know how to deploy various approaches in assessing adult learning. In this chapter are brief discussions on adult learning, learning styles, and learning assessments.

Transformative learning, epistemology and technology in adult education

2020 ◽  
pp. 147797142091860
Author(s):  
Victor Wang ◽  
Geraldine Torrisi-Steele ◽  
Elizabeth Reinsfield
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Learning Contexts

Adult learners can have well-established ‘ways of knowing’, so a process of transformation represents learning that challenges them to discover new ways of thinking. Transformative learning is thus a frame for the practice of adult educators. The affordances of technologies can be exploited to facilitate transformative learning in adult learning contexts. However, this response is not consistently applied. In the present article, the authors highlight that technology is a tool within teaching strategy, and that it can be used to facilitate transformative learning albeit in a slightly different manner depending upon the epistemological stance of the educator. Adult and vocational teaching practice is positioned within four epistemological stances: post-positivist, constructivist, advocacy/participatory and pragmatism. Discussion focuses on the opportunities for transformative learning, made possible by digital technologies, within each of these epistemological stances.

scholarly journals Are adult learners in Europe happier than non-learners? Statistical evidence from the European Social Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110146
Author(s):  
Ellen Boeren
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Relationship

This paper borrows insights from the literature on European welfare regimes to analyse the relationship between happiness and participation in adult education. The academic literature and policy discourses on adult education tend to claim that participation in learning is correlated with happiness despite the lack of strong European comparative empirical evidence on this topic. This paper uses data from the latest Wave of the European Social Survey to analyse the happiness perceptions of nearly 20,000 adults between the ages of 25 and 64 who live in 16 European countries (15 European Union countries and the United Kingdom). Results indicate that while adult learners on average tend to be happier than non-learners, this correlation weakens when controlling for determinants of participation and happiness and for the countries in which these adults live. Confirming the importance of welfare regimes, this study found that adults in Finland tend to be happier than those in other countries, regardless of their participation in adult education. Happiness scores were lowest in Bulgaria and Hungary, countries with low participation rates in adult education and with the biggest differences in happiness scores between learners and non-learners. It is argued that the presence of well-structured adult learning provision might be an important characteristic of welfare regimes but that happiness is determined by much more than being an adult learner.

scholarly journals Domestic and International Perspectives on Financing Adult Education and Training

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 389-390
Author(s):  
Abigail Helsinger ◽  
Oksana Dikhtyar ◽  
Phyllis Cummins ◽  
Nytasia Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
And Training

Abstract Adult education and training (AET) over the life-course is necessary to participate in economic, social, and political activities in the time of globalization and technological advancement. However, little research has been done to identify mechanisms to fund AET opportunities among middle-aged and older adults from a comparative international perspective. Our study aimed to identify strategies to finance AET opportunities for middle-aged and older adults through an international lens, to help identify barriers and facilitators in effort to best support adult learners regardless of education background or socioeconomic characteristics. We carried out a descriptive qualitative study to facilitate an in-depth understanding of funding mechanisms available to adult learners in the selected countries, from the perspective of adult education and policy experts. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 61 international adult education experts from government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and education institutions. Our informants represented 10 countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Data included at least one in-depth phone or web-based qualitative interview per informant in addition to information gathered from written materials (e.g., peer-reviewed publications and organizational reports). We identified three financing options that arose as themes: government-sponsored funding; employer-sponsored funding; and self-funding. We found that government-sponsored funding is especially important for low-skilled, low-income older adults for whom employer-sponsored or self-funding is not available. Our results have implications for lifelong AET policy changes, such as adaptations of successful AET funding programs across global communities.

scholarly journals Integration of Indigenous Knowledge into Adult Learning Material Development and the Facilitation Methodology

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yalalem Assefa
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Learning Materials ◽  
Material Development

Connecting indigenous knowledge systems and practices with adult education programs has priceless value of promoting and transferring indigenous perspectives from generation to generation. Indeed, education is the surest path to ensuring social continuity when it ought to be based on the real-life experiences of learners and what their immediate environment and social realities entail. This demands the development of relevant adult learning materials and the utilization of participatory facilitation methodologies. Considering this in mind, this study was aimed to explore the integration of indigenous knowledge into adult education practices. In doing so, a case-study design was employed. The study sample was composed of eighteen experts, seven adult education literacy center coordinators, and seventy adult learners. Interview and FGD were considered the major data-gathering tools. Also, thematic analysis was the center of this study’s data analysis. As a result, the finding indicated that even though adult learners have diverse learning experiences, narrow emphasis has been given to the development of learning concepts and objectives in adult learning materials. The application of appropriate facilitation methods through participating experienced learners remains symbolic. To enhance the positive inclusion of indigenous knowledge into adult learning, learning material and its facilitation environment must be conducive and adequately be portraited. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the existing practice of indigenous knowledge integration into adult education in North Wollo, from the perspectives of learning material development and utilization of the facilitation methodology.

Towards More Socio-Culturally Sensitive Research and Study of Workplace E-Learning

2014 ◽  
pp. 2026-2042
Author(s):  
Karim A. Remtulla
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Career And Technical Education ◽  
Technical Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Career And Technical ◽  
Culturally Informed ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Research ◽  
And Training

This article advocates workplace adult education and training researchers and scholar practitioners interested in career and technical education (CTE), adult education and technology, and who are attempting social and cultural critiques of workplace e-learning. The emphasis on the technological and artefactual in workplace e-learning research and study are not producing the expected learning outcomes from workplace adult education and training to the degree anticipated. Given increasingly global and diverse workforces, the research and study of workplace e-learning as a socio-culturally ‘negotiated' space may be an alternate approach toward a more socially and culturally informed understanding of adult learning from workplace e-learning.

Towards Blended Learning Designs Fostering Adults' Social Capital

2019 ◽  
pp. 55-80
Author(s):  
Celine Cocquyt ◽  
Anh Nguyet Diep ◽  
Chang Zhu ◽  
Maurice De Greef ◽  
Tom Vanwing
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ubiquitous Presence ◽  
Practical Recommendations

In responding to the ubiquitous presence of information and communication technology (ICT) in the educational landscape, blended learning has been increasingly adopted in adult education. While adult educators and practitioners face challenges due to such pedagogical shifts in instructional design, they are also encouraged to underscore the emancipatory values of adult education to contribute to the global social exclusion combat. Thus, it is of particular significance to examine how different elements of the blended learning design can result in social outcomes for adult learners. By deconstructing the blended learning design into specific online and general supportive factors, the present chapter sheds more light on the question: How does learning in a blended environment contribute to adult learners' social capital? On top of that, practical recommendations for instructors are put forward.

New Perspectives of Andragogy in Relation to the Use of Technology

2013 ◽  
pp. 1606-1621
Author(s):  
Lesley Farmer
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Adult Educators ◽  
Technological Factors ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
And Control ◽  
Older Adult Learners

This chapter examines technological factors that influence the conditions and processes of adult learning, and how adult educators can deal with those changes effectively. Technology can reinforce and enhance adult learning, providing a learning environment with tools and resources that the learner can explore and control, thus fostering more independent, adult-centered learning. Adult learning changes because of the need to learn how to use technology tools, the opportunity for expanded access to resources, the variations in designing and experiencing learning experiences, and the expanded opportunities to engage with these resources and with other learners. Several issues contextualize the realities and challenges of adult learning as impacted by technology: workplace learning and learning organizations, informal learning, distance education, globalization, the Digital Divide, and older adult learners. Emerging trends are also mentioned.

Justification Based on Rational Training

2010 ◽  
pp. 146-165
Author(s):  
Karim A. Remtulla
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Worker Identity ◽  
And Training

This chapter produces a socio-cultural critique of the ‘rational training’ workplace e-learning scenario. In this workplace e-learning scenario, workplace e-learning for workplace adult education training is used to justify the workforce through standards, categories, and measures. The alienating effects that arise out of this rush towards technocentric rationalization of the workforce through workplace e-learning are also discussed. These are the unintended and paradoxically opposite outcomes to the effects actually anticipated. An exploratory case study problematizes the unquestioned acceptance of the technological artefacts of workplace e-learning within organizations as credible sources to provide a rationale to justify workforces within workplaces. This approach critiques the presumption of infallibility of the technological artefacts of workplace e-learning; considers the short-comings of the conceiving of workplace e-learning as ‘finished’; and, reveals the ‘underdetermined’ nature of workplace e-learning technological artefacts. Socio-cultural insensitivity from workplace e-learning, in this scenario, comes from the basic, unquestioned assumption that workers are essentially socially flawed and culturally inferior; accountable for overcoming their sociocultural flaws and inferiorities; and, need to be justified by workplace e-learning, through standards, categories, and measures, to meet the expectations of the infallible and commodified workplace. A workplace e-learning that is deployed to justify the workforce, through standardization, categorization, and measurement, all result in a workforce being alienated from: (a) each other (worker-worker alienation); (b) their work (worker-work alienation); and, (c) their personal identities and sense of self (worker-identity alienation). Social rationalization is not the means to social justice in the workplace when it comes to workplace adult education and training, workplace e-learning, and the diverse and multicultural learning needs of a global cohort of adult learners.

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