ORLD4050 Position Paper Marquina Iliev-Piselli 02/18/11
In this position paper, I discuss humanistic as well as cognitive constructivist learning approaches as they relate to adult education. It is incredibly important for adults to be highly engaged with the subject matter that they wish to learn. Furthermore, adults should take part in modifying that material to suit their individual needs.
For an adult learner to remain interested and engaged there should be three conditions: 1. The learner should choose topics they wish to learn, 2. They should choose how they learn, and 3. The learning environments must be collaborative and flexible.
Adult learners have the agency to choose what they learn, and should have a general sense for why the subject matter is important and relevant. Humanistic adult learning approaches (Knowles, 1986) maintain that learners must be in control of the learning process. We find that (Handbook of Adult Education, p.235) learners choose “assignments in line with their professional goals” and that they “select resources that support the assignments.” (Eastmond, 1998) They should participate in collaborative discussions and interact in the learning process in some way.
Since adult learners choose to learn, they should be expected to play an active role in their education. I agree with humanists who say that everyone has a “natural desire” to learn, but I do not think individuals always have a “natural desire” to learn what a teacher is teaching. Adult learners need to be highly engaged and interested in the subject matter in order to learn. In other words, the subject matter must be relevant to the context in which the adult learner perceives himself/herself. The adult learner must value the new skills and see how learning will have a direct, positive outcome on their life. In other words, contextualized activities should provide learners the opportunity to construct meaning from their learning activities.
Unfortunately, we know that “few practitioners have created models of outreach for these self-directed learners through technology delivery supports.” I propose that developing learning programs using open source software, such as Linux, Drupal, etc., would be an appropriate solution to many of these concerns. It is unfortunate that “currently, the technology and the technologists drive the teaching and learning enterprise.” (Handbook of Adult Education ,p. 239) Technology and technologists should not drive the learning enterprise; it should be Instructional Designers who guide this field. If we as Instructional Designers were able to learn open source software development techniques and programming languages we would have the power to design, create and build inexpensive and modifiable educational systems and solutions.
As we’ve learned, teachers should consider their students’ background and experiences and incorporate these experiences into their curriculum. The iterative design approach to learning can sometimes be difficult when the learning environment is static – whether it’s online or in other technology-centric space. Yet, this must not be the case. In the Handbook of Adult Education, there are multiple issues addressed regarding the learning process and educational design. One major source of concern is the high cost of technology. Open source software is free by definition, but many instructional designers do not have the technical background to use these adaptable platforms to their advantage, much less the full advantage of students.
Since it is very important to empower adult learners through critical reflection, we should be able to easily modify and change our instructional design based on this reflection. Critical reflection allows adults to take a step back and view their learning experience in the context of their lives. To give the learner “a voice in the development of the learning experience and process” (Handbook of Adult Education , p. 235) our instructional design, as well as the platforms with which we develop curriculum, should be easily adaptable. Once we learn the context in which the learner is interested in a particular topic, we should be able to easily change our instructional design content and examples to reflect our learners’ interests. Using open source software as a platform for designing adaptable, changeable curriculum would be one way to solve this problem.
Marquina Marie Iliev-Piselli 
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