Besides changes in technology and student expectations in colleges, the demographics have increasingly changed from serving traditional students to serving non-traditional students. This demographic shift has implications for higher education nationwide. It is essential to begin designing lessons within online programs to engage adult learners in an active learning experience.
Description:
This session will discuss the value of developing the skill of integrating adult learning theory and current research-based best practices into online teaching and design practices. The process of engaging adult learners in a learning experience is known as andragogy. Participants will discover how to evaluate and design lessons within their online courses using the six principles of Malcolm Knowles' Adult Learning Theory; (1) Self-Concept; (2) Experience; (3) Social Role; (4) Time Perspective; (5) Motivation; and (6) Purpose.
Learning Goals:
During this session participants will discover how to:
- Examine their own online course teaching experiences using adult learning theories to create a list of improvements for their own online course learning plan aligned to a framework for adult learning.
- Capitalize on the variety of learning mediums available today beyond traditional teaching methods such as web-based platforms, informal learning, etc.
- Motivate the adult learner to connect and apply learning to their career trajectory.
Audience Engagement:
At the start of the panel, we will open a live poll focused on the audience general opinion on the adult learning theory and the increased adult learner demographics.
The facilitator will prompt the panelists to comment on the results and contribute to their view. In this way, the audience will be eager to hear more.
The panel will be divided into three different sections, each focused on a two subtopics of Knowles' six principles of adult learning theory.
The facilitator will integrate the audience questions into the conversation with speakers at the end of each panelist’s discussion.
Materials:
A Link to a PowerPoint presentation and handouts will be made available.