Use Andragogy and Technology to Facilitate a Greater Sense of Connectedness for Online Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 111-127
Author(s):  
George Hanshaw ◽  
Frank Rojas
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Andragogical Principles

The use of andragogy and technology helps non-traditional adult students create a greater sense of connectedness within online courses and programs. When students feel a greater sense of connectedness, they tend to have higher academic efficacy and are more likely to complete their degree programs. Technology is continuously evolving. When we embrace technology's evolution and anchor its use to andragogical principles, we create courses and learning experiences that foster a more profound sense of connectedness for our online learners. Hanshaw, Helm-Stevens, and Lopez found that utilizing technology and a student-centered approach increased a student's sense of connectedness and intrinsic motivation to learn. The use of technology in the online classroom has to evolve to match our non-traditional learners' expectations. This chapter will explore the use of technology and the application of andragogical principles to create a learning environment where non-traditional adult learners thrive.

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.

The New Normal

2021 ◽  
pp. 88-120
Author(s):  
Simona Laurian-Fitzgerald ◽  
Carlton J. Fitzgerald ◽  
Carmen Alina Popa ◽  
Laura Bochis
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Learning Preferences ◽  
Collaborative Relationships ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Task Oriented ◽  
Successful Students ◽  
Learn Task

Adult learners are different from younger learners. Many have taken Knowles' ideas to work with adult learners as if they all are the same. Knowles described adult learners as more self-directed, willing to be responsible for what they do, unwilling to have teachers impose arbitrary information on them, ready to learn, task oriented, and experienced. Prather adds many adults have more immediate goals for their lives and careers. Kenner and Weinerman find adults want more collaborative relationships with professors. Adult students are unique and come to classes from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances, with different needs, wants, and learning preferences. Many students are prepared for college, while others are petrified. In this chapter, the authors argue that instructors should understand their students in order to help them be successful. Students are not alternative students; they are normal, intelligent people who can and will learn. Thus, the goal should be student-centered online learning.

Encouraging and Increasing Student Engagement and Participation in an Online Classroom

2016 ◽  
pp. 426-447
Author(s):  
Kathryn Woods
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
The Impact

Advances in technology have increased opportunities for students to participate in online courses. While some instructors are beginning their careers teaching only online courses, others are discovering a need to teach sections of courses online after they have enjoyed a long career teaching in a traditional classroom. In either situation, it is important for instructors to recognize that students in online learning environments require the use of different strategies for encouraging engagement and participation in class. In this chapter, the author describes the challenges that students and instructors face specifically in the online learning environment as well as strategies for success, including how to maximize the impact of students' experiences and prior knowledge, using multiple platforms to deliver information, discouraging procrastination, setting clear expectations, encouraging individuality, capitalizing on diversity, and providing and utilizing helpful resources.

Knowledge Acquisition in a Hybrid Graduate Teacher Training Program

2010 ◽  
pp. 317-326
Author(s):  
Thanh T. Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Knowledge Acquisition ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Course Materials

How can one leverage the technological benefits of an online classroom without losing both the interpersonal advantages of face-to-face contact and pedagogically sound classroom management techniques? A blended learning environment, combining both traditional face-to-face and online interaction, is a valid higher-education solution that many instructors are adopting in place of 100% online teaching environments. Like total online courses, blended courses offer students the convenience of online access to both lecture/course materials and asynchronous classroom discussions. However, the key feature of a blended learning environment is the ability to use traditional face-to-face sessions to foster and stimulate an online social culture that facilitates knowledge acquisition through interpersonal and group discussion and disclosure. This study examines pedagogical, social and demographic factors that contribute to students’ knowledge acquisition in an 80-20 (80% online and 20% in-class) blended learning environment.

scholarly journals High-Impact Practices and the Adult Online Learner

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. p463
Author(s):  
Pamela Duke Morris ◽  
Christina M.Cobb ◽  
Meredith Anne S. Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Program Completion ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
High Impact Practices ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Adult Online Learners

Institutions of higher education are challenged to get students engaged, especially adult or non-traditional online learners. In this study, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2017 & 2018 data on High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are examined to understand the extent to which adult online learners are engaged in HIPs. This analysis finds that engagement levels for adult learners are lower than those of traditional learners (under the age of 24) for all HIPs surveyed by the NSSE. Moreover, the levels of engagement of the subset of adult learners who took only online courses was even lower than the levels of the broader adult population, and part-time adult online learners had the lowest engagement of all student populations examined. Based on these findings, suggestions for improving the engagement of adult and online learners in HIPs are discussed. Institutions should focus on incorporating opportunities that allow more learners to experience HIPs, as research findings suggest that HIPS increase engagement and could result in significant improvements in student success measures, such as program completion and graduate school attendance (Stoloff, Good, Smith, & Brewster, 2015).

scholarly journals Advising Experiences and Needs of Online, Cohort, and Classroom Adult Graduate Learners

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawnda M. Schroeder ◽  
Katherine L. Terras
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Graduate Advising ◽  
Traditional Institutions ◽  
Definition Of

Although a majority of graduate students fall under the definition of adult learners (over age 24 years), many traditional institutions do not offer advising specific to them, nor do they recognize advising needs of these older students in online, classroom, or cohort situations. In this phenomenological study, 9 adult graduate learners were interviewed, 3 from each learning environment, to understand and explain the perceived advising needs and experiences within and among learning environments. Findings suggest that adult learners, regardless of learning environment, require complex and holistic advising. Five themes of good graduate advising are discussed. The need for immediate advisor response varied with respect to participants' learning environments. Implications for practice are discussed.

Assessment in the Online Classroom

2016 ◽  
pp. 152-167
Author(s):  
Mark Patrick Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Period Data ◽  
Online Quizzes

This study used quantitative and qualitative data from more than 500 online learners who took secondary, undergraduate, and graduate level online courses during the period 2010 through 2014 and who provided feedback on multiple iterations of those two assessment forms during that period. Data from twelve online course instructors' perceptions were also gathered. Findings include recommendations that instructors of online courses plan discussion board prompts that are narrow in scope, require use of course materials, and are closely monitored by the instructors throughout the posting process. Online quizzes and tests should, whenever possible, allow students immediate access to feedback and results, as such feedback is very well received by students. Various important lessons for online instructors and course planners are shared.

The New Normal

2018 ◽  
pp. 140-171
Author(s):  
Simona Laurian-Fitzgerald ◽  
Carlton J. Fitzgerald ◽  
Carmen Alina Popa ◽  
Laura Bochis
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Learning Preferences ◽  
Collaborative Relationships ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Task Oriented ◽  
Successful Students ◽  
Learn Task

Adult learners are different from younger learners. Many have taken Knowles' ideas to work with adult learners as if they all are the same. Knowles described adult learners as more self-directed, willing to be responsible for what they do, unwilling to have teachers impose arbitrary information on them, ready to learn, task oriented, and experienced. Prather adds many adults have more immediate goals for their lives and careers. Kenner and Weinerman find adults want more collaborative relationships with professors. Adult students are unique and come to classes from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances, with different needs, wants, and learning preferences. Many students are prepared for college, while others are petrified. In this chapter, the authors argue that instructors should understand their students in order to help them be successful. Students are not alternative students; they are normal, intelligent people who can and will learn. Thus, the goal should be student-centered online learning.

Designing a Global Learning Environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 393-397
Author(s):  
Nancy J. Stone ◽  
Conne Mara Bazley ◽  
Michelle M. Robertson ◽  
Nancy LJ Larson ◽  
Elizabeth L. Blickensderfer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Learning Content ◽  
The Moment

The increase in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other “in-the-moment” learning opportunities suggests the need for an understanding of how to effectively design the global learning environment, which includes more than the content, but also includes the modes of delivery or instructional design, as well as the environment in which the learner receives the content. Therefore, not only must the learning environment match the learning content, but also the technologies used and the characteristics of the learners (e.g., engagement, self-regulated learning). Additionally, the likelihood that online learners are multitasking while interacting with the learning material makes it important to understand other aspects of the learners’ selected environment. Unfortunately, there is little research on the learners’ environment in which the student interacts with the online materials. The purpose of this panel is to address and highlight these issues and offer suggestions for designing effective global learning environments.

It Takes a Village

2013 ◽  
pp. 141-152
Author(s):  
Nicole A. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Content Delivery ◽  
Degree Program ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Curricular Content

Online asynchronous learning is increasingly popular in academia, providing learners with new modes of content delivery and affording new levels of convenience regarding when and how people complete degree program coursework. The same technology that benefits learning can also challenge it, and online courses should strive to be as inclusive, rigorous, interactive, and content-rich as their on-campus counterparts. One method of achieving this parity is to have guest lecturers in the online classroom. Multiple instructor voices add diversity of thought and practical expertise and enrich the standard curricular content. They also contribute to creating the online learning environment and provide a basis for discussion, elaboration, reflection, and long lasting learning.

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