5.+March+23rd+Class

=The Adult Learner= We must understand the adult learner becasue some of us will be teaching Professional Development courses and will become technology facilitators.

To utilize a process you need to understand a process.

//"I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma." ~ Ertha Kitt//

Learning is change, in facts, ideas, thought process, actions, and so on...

Adults often learn this change without formal training. It can picked up from observing others habits or society. //Ex. How a child eats to formally learning how to eat at a set table//

Young learners---> Pedagody

Adult Learners ---> Andragogy

Adult Learners...

 * Should be able to direct their own learning
 * Already have life experiences to draw from
 * Learning needs to be closely linked to adult roles- it must be connected to what is meaningful to the adult!
 * Interested in direct or immediate use of the learning
 * If they are willing to take adult learning courses, then they are there usually by choice and will be more motivated to learn
 * On the other hand if they are forced to be there, then they will not be motivated!

__Types of learning:__

**Formal**

 * Schools & Classrooms
 * Planned Training
 * Workplace, in-service
 * Structured
 * Meets specific needs
 * Determined outcomes
 * Focused delivery
 * Individual or group focus


 * Informal**
 * Conversations
 * Mentoing Programs
 * Observations
 * Reading & listening
 * Learn by doing
 * Sharing
 * May or may not have correct information

Begining learners need more substance & structure, where adult learners prefer more informal learning.


 * Ways to Learn**
 * Instructor Directed
 * Self-directed
 * F2F
 * Distance Education
 * Individual Study
 * Small Groups
 * In-service, Newsletters, Information
 * Seminars
 * Meals & Water Coolers- sometimes these are the most productive learning experiences

**Impact for Human Resources**
"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now."

Plan based on the needs of the individual learner - Adult learners have more needs - Set clear goals and objectives, they should be basic goal sets, and understand the basic goal of your training, no surprises to learners - Plan for several outcomes to happen, plan for additional time if nessacary

__ROI- Return on Investment-__ If I am spending X amount of money on education- what am i getting in return? Ex. If You buy a new math program for your school system, will it be finacially worth it- will your students pass the test?


 * Conclusion**

"Anyone who stops learning is old. Whether it be twenty or eighty." ~Henry Ford


 * Parent teacher conferences can be considered adult learning

**The Misinterpretation of Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience**
=Dale's Cone of Experience:=

1. Original Model
 * This is not sequential, there are no phases/stages.
 * It goes from concrete to abstract experiences.
 * Experiences that you give to people that are either more concrete or more abstract.
 * Your experience does not move from base to pinnicle, just because something is abstract doesnt mean its hard to understand.
 * Ex. Kids can understand what a zoo is whithout having first hand experience of going to a zoo.
 * We rely more on our concrete experiences then our abstract experiences
 * It is NOT that adult learners learn at the top of the model and children learn at the bottom half of the model
 * If you can't get across to someone using one level of the cone- move to another level of that cone and attempt that thought process.
 * NOT all adult learning is abstract

2. Detailed Model Based on Classroom Activities

You only remember: - 5% of somthing that is lectured to you - 40% of what we disscuss - 70 % of what we disscuss with others - 75% of what we practice by doing - 80% experience personally - 90% of waht we attemp to teach others - 95% of what we teach someone else

Assignment:

In adult learning folder, 5 or 6 links related to adult learning, look at the sources & come up with 7 of the major characteristics of adult learning. Identify the resources that connect to your characteristic.

Resources

Informal Learning by Jay Cross