SECOND LIFE FOR STUDENTS

http://www.britishcouncil.org.br/elt/_v2/c_article_display.asp?ida=671

iwb (opinions)

Hello everyone

As Ana said, ‘The literature about the benefits of IWBs to the learning process is still fuzzy but it points clearly to the danger of classes becoming too teacher-centred.’

Unfortunately, I can think of something even more disturbing than a teacher-centred class – a board-centred one!


Please, do not take me wrong. I’ve been using an IWB and I think it’s something really nice. The flipchart function is extremely handy and in terms of visualisation it’s just amazing. Whichever multi-media activity, video, ppt presentation or website you want to show your students, it looks simply great. However, for this very reason, the danger of having the board as the main focus of everyone’s attention cannot be lightly dismissed.

As for handing out the responsibility for the learning process to students, if the IWB can help in the process, than just fine. Nevertheless, in my opinion, we don’t necessarily need a pen mouse to do that. It can and should be done handing out a common marker, a humble pen or pencil, a blank sheet of paper or even nothing, as long as you give your students time and space to be active agents in the classroom. Again, it’s not a pen mouse that will do the trick; it’s our approach to teaching.

I hope teachers and teacher trainers will soon cease to look at IWBs in awe and start integrating them into their teaching practices, attaining what Stephen Bax calls ‘a state of normalisation’, where technology becomes invisible instead of being at the centre of the stage.

I think IWBs are fantastic tools and that’s the way we should see them, as tools.

Comments are more than welcome.

ONLINE LEARNING / E-LEARNING

http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=_re_vi_hi_03&rid=15545

VIDEO

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/search/node/elearning

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/motivation-e-learning-personal-reflections

Research on IWBs

• Whiteboards under the microscope

Despite growing enthusiasm from teachers and pupils, interactive whiteboards have had little or no impact on exam results. So what's the problem? Julie Nightingale reports

Steve Higgins, director of the research project, says one issue may be that while whiteboards help with the flow of lessons - the sense of control, the pace, the positive feedback and enthusiasm of pupils - this might get in the way of developing understanding and picking up when pupils have not wholly grasped a concept or idea.

• http://www.teachers.tv/ict/whiteboardtips
  

UPPER INTERMEDIATE 1

AVAILABLE DVDs: Lamb to the Slaughter, the movie, available at the institute, to be used alongside the story: The Leg of Lamb.

Mrs Bixby and the Colonel´s Coat
http://www.guba.com/watch/2000913863

PET SPEAKING PRACTICE:
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/what-we-do/research/speaking-performances.html

TOP NOTCH FOR ADULTS

Just a few words to remind you that there is an excellent resource for teachers TOP NOTCH TEACHER RESOURCE CD, which contains all sort of extra activities and also vocabulary card games.

If you wish to use the picture cards or some other material in the cd, please let us know in advance and we will be preparing the cards for you.

Also, there is a students cd rom, which is great stuff to be used in the Interactive Whiteboard. We will also be copying it to you

IWBs FAQ

FAQs and more

1. The IWB is difficult to use.

   Not if you have a basic understanding of using computers. An IWB is just a big computer screen, which reacts to your touch as if it was a computer mouse. It's THAT easy!

2. It takes a lot of time to prepare the materials.

   It may take some time at the beginning when you're still getting used to the IWB, but then you can save and reuse the same materials in other classes. And don't forget you can also use the Internet resources, ready-made materials, and even the CD-ROMs that come with the Student's Books or Workbooks.

3. When you have IWB materials, you cannot customize them to the needs of individual classes.

   The IWB software lets you change and modify the materials a lot, so you can be sure all materials can be somehow utilized in different classes, even at different levels – it's just a question of choosing the right type of activity.

4. I'm afraid of using the IWB in front of my students. They all know so much about computers and what if something goes wrong? / Students will laugh at the teacher when they don't know how to operate the IWB.

   On the contrary! Students will be quietly proud of themselves for being able to do something in front of the class. It will also build their confidence and make them feel more responsible for what is going on in class.

5. The IWB is good for teaching young learners, but doesn't seem to work with adults.

   The IWB is intuitively appropriate to use with younger learners, because they readily get involved in games and quizzes. With adults you will just have to go for different types of activities and interaction, e.g. using the board for presentations, graphs, maps, etc.

6. You have to use the IWB all the time.

   Not at all! Experts say you can use the IWB in every class, but the attention of the teacher and the students should not be focused on it for more than 20 minutes in a lesson. The IWB is definitely one of the most powerful elements of the teaching mix, but it should not become dominant.

7. It'll be impossible to manage the class - students will just start shouting out the answers.

   It is possible that students, particularly the younger ones, can get excited about the new "gadget" in class. You could try to use this initial interest to your advantage: show them different functions of the IWB, play games, get them to interact with the IWB. Class management will also seem easier when you have read our Top Tips.

8. Won't the focus on whole-class, heads-up activities mean that quieter students get left out?

   The IWB can be used in different types of class interaction and there should be a good mix of these within any one lesson. Whole class activities are good for feedback and checking or grammar presentations. But if you want to make sure that all students are involved, get them to work in groups, or invite everybody to play a team game. With a little bit of careful planning, and using the possibilities of IWBs, you should be able to get your students involved. Finally - don't forget the IWB, although powerful, is just another tool in your hands, and you still have a wealth of other elements of the course to choose from!

BENEFITS OF IWBs

Benefits of using Interactive Whiteboards

So why is it good to use IWBs? Here are some benefits of using the new technology in the classroom.

Benefits for the students:

1. Get students communicating and interacting
2. Suit a variety of learning styles
3. Motivate and engage students
4. Increase attention span and improve focus
5. Facilitate knowledge retention

Benefits for the teachers:

1. Reduce preparation time
2. Give freedom and flexibility in preparing the materials
3. Reinvigorate teachers who see how their students are enthusiastic and motivated
4. The possibilities given by the new technology motivate teachers to try out new approaches and inspire them to innovate their teaching

Benefits for classroom interaction:

1. Help change classroom dynamics
2. Introduce the fun and games element
3. Move the classes towards a student-centred approach

DIFFERENT WAYS OF USING AN IWB

http://www.oupeltpromo.com/interactive/iwbs_step_by_step.php

IWB TIPS

1. Practice makes perfect. Find time to get to know what you can do with the IWB and what it can do for you.
2. Avoid using white backgrounds. These can produce more glare and reduce students' concentration span.
3. Think about your classroom position. You don't want to be throwing a shadow on the board or getting the beam in your eyes. Advise your students of this too.
4. Remember the activities need to be interactive. The English classroom is not a lecture theatre so it shouldn't just be you at the board. Make sure it is interactive for everyone.
5. Make sure your classroom set-up allows access to the board. If possible move desks so the students are in a horseshoe formation near the board. Try not to have a barrier between the students and the board.
6. Don't allow the IWB to dominate lessons. Like anything in the classroom you can have too much of a good thing. The focus in a class should change, so try to use it when it will help you and benefit the class.
7. Don't make IWB material too complicated. If there is too much on the screen, or too many things that can move around, it will be more difficult to maintain the interest of the class.
8. Think about different learning styles when designing material. IWBs can benefit a variety of different learning styles so make sure there is something for everyone.
9. Don't make materials too complete. The teacher shouldn't just be a clicker of the mouse; there needs to be room for the teacher to add things, and for the material to be flexible.
10. Don't let the IWB do all the work. Students need to be able to follow their own thought processes, make additions and mistakes. This will encourage discussion and help the cognitive process.

MORE TIPS:
http://www.teachers.tv/ict/whiteboardtips

CONVERGENCE

TEACHING VOCABULARY

GOOD IDEA FOR UPPER INTERMEDIATE CLASSES

new vocabulary
Submitted on 21 August, 2009 - 11:36
Hi Paul,
I have noticed in my classes that using this technique as a way of learning (or even better 'strengthening') the vocabulary for a certain unit makes students wonder what kind of sentences they should make (affirmative, negative or interrogative), should they be short or long, etc. In other words, when telling them to put a word in a specific sentence they lose focus and start asking unimportant questions not connected to the word itself! This led me to search for better ways of learning new vocabulary, and I came up with the idea of writing four words on the board (words that are new to them and have all been mentioned in the one specific lesson), which they should not yet write down in their notebooks (concentrating on the visual aspect of the word at this point). I then read a fill-in-the-gap sentence which contains a blank that they must fill in with one of the words on the board. But try not to forget to make the four words on the board similar in meaning, otherwise the activity would be too easy for them! In most cases in my experience they do make the right choice of word, but they think about it for a moment! Afterwards I dictate the sentence out to them, they write it down with the correct word, and after that they should write three other sentences (for the remaining three unused words in separate sentences). It is at this point that the hard part of the activity is to create 3 totally different sentences using the three words that are left, but to follow the first example and to make the meaning of the new word clear in each sentence.
Now this will get them thinking!
Best, Aneta Naumoska

Benefits of using Interactive Whiteboards

So why is it good to use IWBs? Here are some benefits of using the new technology in the classroom.

Benefits for the students:

1. Get students communicating and interacting
2. Suit a variety of learning styles
3. Motivate and engage students
4. Increase attention span and improve focus
5. Facilitate knowledge retention

Benefits for the teachers:

1. Reduce preparation time
2. Give freedom and flexibility in preparing the materials
3. Reinvigorate teachers who see how their students are enthusiastic and motivated
4. The possibilities given by the new technology motivate teachers to try out new approaches and inspire them to innovate their teaching

Benefits for classroom interaction:

1. Help change classroom dynamics
2. Introduce the fun and games element
3. Move the classes towards a student-centred approach

The Pedagogy of IWB Lessons

The focus for learning is the same, whether or not ICT tools are employed. This focus in the case of NIS should reflect the aims of the IB. Taking the MYP as an example for the aims:

The (MYP) programme aims to enable students to:

• build upon their spirit of discovery to develop an understanding and enjoyment of the process of
learning, independently and in cooperation with others

• acquire knowledge and understanding and prepare for further learning

• recognize the extent to which knowledge is interrelated

• learn to communicate effectively in a variety of ways

• develop a sense of personal and cultural identity and a respect for themselves and for others

• acquire insights into local and global concerns affecting health, the community and the environment, and develop a sense of individual and collective responsibility and citizenship.

Some aspects of lessons, however, can be enhanced by the boards. For example, the interactive whiteboard is particularly useful when using a style known as inductive teaching, in which pupils are expected to reach hypothesis based on sorting, classifying and re-sorting information. This is, of course, fully supportive of aims of the programme as outlined above.

The teacher can model different ways in which information might be classified using the features of the board, such as moving objects, and using colour and highlighting, while bringing pupils into the process. Pupils can then work in small groups away from the board, taking the classification process further. They can be drawn back to the board at intervals so that different groups can present their thinking to the class for discussion, before continuing with the task.

Factors Which Influence Our Pedagogy

When developing IWB resources and lessons there are many factors that change our pedagogy. This screen shows some of them – are there any additional factors that play a big part in your participants’ pedagogical focus?

1. Age and pupil profile

· Individual skills and abilities of pupils will affect the way you use the IWB. But don’t feel that initial pupil lack of skills with the IWB will limit their interest or participation.
· The group’s social and emotional state will modify pedagogy, and you may need to use a very different lesson style on a Monday morning when compared to a Friday afternoon! Managing behaviour is important; the IWB is not a substitute for this.
· Personal factors will change the group dynamic and may or may not be a factor in your planning process.

2. Teaching style

· If a teacher stands at the front and is inviting discussion, the focus of attention will be at the front of the class.
· If a teacher moves around the classroom as they teach, there is usually more direct use of the board by pupils and this creates a more collaborative classroom.
· There is a difference between teachers who like to explain things and those who like to discuss ideas and question their pupils. These two types of teaching approaches will use the same resource very differently. For instance, when showing a video, questioners tend to stop and question. They will need to be aware that if they do this too much then the original resource may not be able to fulfil its task. When showing a video explainers may show it all the way through and then move on. They will need to be aware that some of their pupils would also benefit from a re-run of the video, asking questions the second time around.
· The balance of activity will be different according to teaching styles. Consider which learning processes are strongly dependent on particular teaching styles and consider ways to include others in lessons.

3. Lesson length

· Timers can be very useful in short lesson periods, to keep pupils on task and focused. This sharpens the lesson and gives pupils a more focused concern, if they feel they are working against the clock, and can heighten responsibility for their own outcomes.
· Longer lessons often benefit from a wide range of short activities to keep pupils’ attention levels high. This is most effective when activities last approximately 10 – 20 minutes each. Alternatively, longer lessons are useful for collaborative project work and give pupils the opportunity to really get their teeth into a problem.

Investigation of the Sample “Case Study Lessons”

Examination of 2 case study lessons, probably from Literacy and Maths or Science and then discussion and changing to suit the teacher’s lessons.

Effective use of your IWB

Effective use of your IWB
Whiteboards are fantastic tools which allow teachers to challenge thinking, use effective questioning, extend the quality of the interactions, control and maintain the pace of the lesson, engage students to a greater extent than conventional whole class teaching, increase enjoyment, motivation and involvement and easily access and use high quality resources. Exploit the INTERACTIVITY • Manipulate text in new ways; (highlight, change colour, magically reveal) Use the pen on maps, images etc. • Move/drag objects, edit and add objects to the page whilst teaching. • Make the most of the infinite pages and space- hang text and images off the side of the page to avoid cluttering the space, enjoy revisiting the pages in any order you want to. • Use layers to show, hide and reveal answers to engage the pupils and save time. • Add media such as images, sound effects, video etc to excite, motivate, encourage thoughts and feelings • Link to web sites, to enrich the pupil experience • Link to worksheets and presentations for enrichment, support or extension activities, • Capture pupil attention and maintain focus with tools such as the spotlight, camera, revealer. • Display and explore clear, accurate diagrams; label, resize etc explore detail with the magnifying glass. • Model abstract ideas- rotation of shapes, perspective, time zones, capturing sections of video, short episodes of animation or video. • Use tools such as the ruler, protractor, calculator, fraction generator to demonstrate skills, and demonstrate concepts • Use colours and backgrounds to help dyslexic readers, or to engage the audience. • Collaborative with pupils to make lists, poems, answers which they have shared ownership of. Reduce TEACHER WORKLOAD • Prepare materials in advance use, evaluate, change and save ready for the next time. • Share materials with staff, sharing the department or year group workload. • Download ready made resources from the Internet and customise to suit your lessons and your class. • Allow flipcharts created to be accessed for pupil revision. Increase PACE of lessons • Use previous flipcharts to recap at the start of the next lesson. • When appropriate, print flipcharts for a class to put in jotters or for children who are absent. • Hang reminders off the side of the page or put into teacher notes. • Use specific tools to add to the efficiency of a lesson, such as timer, calculator, camera. Use your whiteboard in a VARIETY of ways • Interactive tool for teaching, making flipcharts and teaching with them and saving them for the future. • Big screen for showing pre-prepared documents, such as word documents, scanned worksheets, images and PowerPoint or for multimedia resources such as Click view, websites. • To display photographs and video taken in class. • Class collaboration -sharing pupil ideas, such as manipulating texts together, creating poetry together. • Demonstrating how to use a piece of software, such as Photoshop, PowerPoint, • To share good work or display children’s work to discuss as a group. • Use other peripherals, microscopes, visualisers, cameras, video cameras. • used by a group of children during the independent activity. • To write on as a ‘chalkboard’. Pitfalls to avoid • Having lots of children out using the board can interfere with the lesson pace, unless well planned. • Try not to only use the IWB as a projector screen.

Symphony in Slang: Excellent resource for teaching idioms

Thanks, Victoria, for this excellent cartoon as a wonderful resource to teach idioms and phrasal verbs!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-Ot92Yfovvvg/symphony_in_slang_1951_dir_by_tex_avery/

To be born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

I can´t cut the mustard.

To go back to a hole in the wall.

To be beside yourself.

To be short pants.

To be all thumbs.

To fit sb like a glove.

To eat like a horse.

To give sb the slip.

To be on sb´s heels.

To put your foot in your mouth.

The cat got your tongue?

To feel mighty blue.

To burn sby up.

It´s raining cats and dogs.

To have a bunch of little ones.

To play music by ear.

To spend money like water.

To die laughing.

To turn your back on .

Thanks, Dani Z., for compling the list of idioms!

EINSTEIN on CRISES

Let's not pretend that things will change if we keep doing the same things. A crisis can be a real blessing to any person, to any nation. For all crises bring progress.

Creativity is born from anguish, just like the day is born form the dark night. It's in crisis that inventive is born, as well as discoveries, and big strategies. Who overcomes crisis, overcomes himself, without getting overcome. Who blames his failure to a crisis neglects his own talent, and is more respectful to problems than to solutions. Incompetence is the true crisis.

The greatest inconvenience of people and nations is the laziness with which they attempt to find the solutions to their problems. There's no challenge without a crisis. Without challenges, life becomes a routine, a slow agony. There’s no merit without crisis. It's in the crisis where we can show the very best in us. Without a crisis, any wind becomes a tender touch. To speak about a crisis is to promote it. Not to speak about it is to exalt conformism. Let us work hard instead.

Let us stop, once and for all, the menacing crisis that represents the tragedy of not being willing to overcome it.

WHOLE LANGUAGE AND ADULTS

Whole Language and Adult Education. ERIC Digest.

This Digest argues that Whole Language theorists and adult education theorists have much in common, much to say to one another, and much to learn from one another.

"Whole Language" (WL), a theory of language instruction that was developed primarily in terms of helping young children learn to read, has now been extended to middle- and secondary-school levels. Andragogy, "the learning of adults," is a specific theory of adult education, conceived more or less in contradistinction to pedagogy, "the teaching of children." When one juxtaposes these two universes of educational discourse, however, one finds that the commonplaces of WL and of andragogy as theories of instruction are similar, if not identical. "In both fields the same debates rage about the whole language approach versus the word recognition, decoding, or phonics approach," as well (Sticht & McDonald, 1992). Recognition of this parallel of theories has arisen relatively recently, although work done by the National Reading Project could be said to have been moving in this direction for 20 years. Teachers whose students are adults, such as ESL teachers, ABE teachers, prison educators, and workplace trainers have been among those who see the match between WL theory and its andragogical implications (Connell, 1992; Weibel, 1994; Peyton & Crandall, 1995). Prison educators have observed the galvanizing impact of whole literature on the incarcerated, prompting strong, existential responses, engaging them in literacy learning. The National Family Literacy Center in Louisville, Kentucky, makes use of WL as an ideal means to teach literacy to adults and to children at the same time. Thus, what began on the one side as a theory about children learning to read, and on the other side as a theory about adults learning as adults, may be seen to coalesce in a statement about humans learning.

David Kring, reflecting on Constance Weaver's WL approach in "Reading Process and Practice" (1988), observed the similarities between WL and adult education and commented: "As the discussion turns to WL in the text, I almost feel as though it is a discussion of Adult Ed foundations...As we discuss the problems of a failing education system for the children, perhaps we might ask how we could teach children using adult ed methodologies; but, then, it appears that WL may have already achieved this!" (Kring, 1994).

WHAT IS WHOLE LANGUAGE?

According to its advocates (Brockman, 1994; Strickland & Strickland, 1993), WL is a new paradigm of progressivist instruction in continuity with Rousseau's romantic naturalism, John Dewey's democratic pragmatism, Jean Piaget's observation that children learn on their own, and Lev Vygotsky's and others' social constructivism collaborative interaction in learning. Among other aspects, WL involves transactional models of teaching (as opposed to transmission or banking (Freire) and learning (interaction with text and language, collaboration with co-learners, engagement for learning on account of real reasons).

Students learn to read by reading whole pieces of enjoyable literature and maintaining the natural wholeness of language (as opposed to prepackaged worksheets and skill-and-drill behaviorist approaches). Student-centered learning (as opposed to scripted curricula imposed by authorities from outside of the classroom) takes place as students construct their own meaning of the world around them (as opposed to memorization or imitation or reproduction of the teacher's knowledge); learning is risk-taking, exploratory, welcoming of the potential in errors for new learning.

The text focus is on authentic and meaningful texts (student-produced texts, as in the language experience method; invented spelling; self-published texts; and context-specific texts of high interest with immediate application to young readers' lives). Learning to read is reading for the sake of comprehension, with real purposes in mind, and learning to write is writing for real audiences; learning to read and write is integrated with simultaneous (as opposed to sequential) learning in other disciplines in across-the-curriculum fashion and in context with the development of other abilities (reading-and-writing to learn; listening and speaking as part of reading and writing; language learning in terms of other content areas).

The teacher in a WL classroom is seen as a facilitator, demonstrator, and co-reader, an active participant in the learning community, who teaches students rather than subject matter and who watches for teachable moments of student readiness to learn. Assessment in the WL classroom takes place collaboratively and individually as students evaluate themselves and others, guided by, and in communication with, their instructor, for the purpose of adding to the learning experience and growing (as opposed to supplying authorities and other stakeholders with statistics).

WHAT IS ANDRAGOGY?

Andragogy as a theory of adult education is represented in numerous entries in the ERIC database; it is most often associated with the name Malcolm Knowles, who did not invent the term but did bring it into currency (Houle, 1992). Knowles summarized andragogy as follows:

The theoretical presuppositions of andragogy are that andragogical learning is increasingly self-directed in the learner. The learner's own experiences are used as a rich resource for learning... Readiness to learn arises from life's tasks and problems.... Motivation is the adult learner's own internal incentives and curiosity. The procedural elements of andragogy include a climate of relaxed, trusting, informal, warm, mutually respectful, and collaborative support. Planning, diagnosis of needs, and setting of objectives, while designed primarily by the teacher, are carried out by both teacher and learners through mutual assessment and negotiation and learning contracts and projects sequenced by the learner's readiness. Learning activities include inquiry projects, independent study, and experiential techniques. Evaluation is based on learner-collected evidence, validated by peers and facilitators, the latter being expert in applying criterion-referenced norms. (Knowles, 1991).

THE TWO UNIVERSES OF DISCOURSE ARE ONE

Andragogues and WL advocates alike will recognize the respective descriptions of their two camps, and they will assent to the assertion that both WL and andragogy concur in the following--self-directed learning (Grow, 1991), the sense that the learner's interest and needs, abilities, and styles of learning are controlling the learning experience (as opposed to the teacher and the learning experience controlling the learner), is of uppermost importance. David Caverly corrects rhetorical excess on both sides to say that neither andragogy nor WL is wholly "self-directed," but that both are, in a Vygotskian constructivist sense, "learning communities" in which the teacher/expert "guides but does not limit" the learning of the student/novice (whether adult or child), and "both novice and expert grow and learn" and the goals of both are realized (Caverly, 1994).

In both environments, learning is focused within the context of the learner's world of reference in terms of his or her own needs, interests, desires, aesthetics, and social-political aspirations (as opposed to "covering a curriculum" or studying only what the teacher dictates as important to be learned). Adults, when they have not been infantilized by returning to the school room, demand that their learning be according to their own agenda, and this means that the teacher as facilitator must be co-responsive, rather than autocratic, in negotiating the syllabus and planning the work. WL advocates know that children have their preferred agendas, too, and that good teachers take this into account when planning the curriculum.

In the andragogical classroom, adult students learn as much from one another as they do from the teacher, and they tend to nod off if the teacher lectures for too long. In both classrooms, small group discourse multiplies the learning conversations and the communication of knowledge, giving voice to more people than the teacher only. Children and adults alike love to express themselves, and this many-sided discourse continues in the response and commentary of written dialogue journals. Although children have shorter lives upon which to draw, they, too, learn from one another's life experiences, multiple perspectives, respective knowledges--what they bring to their reading is as important as what they take from their reading.

In both the WL and the andragogical classroom, the teacher is not the only source of truth. Real-world reading material is brought to class by students, whether newspapers and forms from work by adults or favorite storybooks by children, and learning becomes participation in "the literacy club." In this way, natural language and interests gain equal time in the hierarchy of the classroom. Learning becomes a collaborative transaction in which all work together, reading real life/authentic/whole literature, producing one's own real/authentic texts, as a part of making up one's own meaning with a little help from friends.

WL theorists and andragogues alike recommend the reading of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), to make the pedagogy of children more andragogical, and to keep the andragogy of adults from being oppressive. The net result is that education becomes transformative (Mezirow, 1991).

REFERENCES

Brockman, Beth (1994). "Whole Language: A Natural for the Adult Education Classroom." [ED 376 428]

Caverly, David (1994). Private communication with the author, June 19, 1994.

Connell, James V., Ed. (1992). Summary of Research on Implementing Whole Language Learning in Adult Basic Education Settings. [ED 355 357]

Grow, Gerald (1991). "Teaching Learners to Be Self-Directed." Adult Education Quarterly, 41(3), 125-49. [EJ 428 043]

Houle, Cyril O. (1992). The Literature of Adult Education: A Bibliographical Essay. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [ED 351 572]

Knowles, Malcolm (1991). in Adult Education: Evaluation and Achievements in a Developing Field of Study. John M. Peters, ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [ED 353 467]

Kring, David (1994). Private communication with the author, November 4, 1994.

Mezirow, Jack (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [ED 353 469]

Peyton, Joy, and JoAnn Crandall (1995). "Philosophies and Approaches in Adult ESL Literacy Instruction." ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Foreign Languages and Linguistics. [ED 386 960]

Sticht, Thomas G., and Barbara A. McDonald (1992). "Teaching Adults to Read," in What Research Has to Say about Reading Instruction, S. Jay Samuels and Alan E. Farstrup, eds. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. [ED 340 011]

Strickland, Kathleen, and James Strickland (1993). Uncovering the Curriculum: Whole Language in Elementary and Postsecondary Classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook. [ED 365 949]

Weibel, Marguerite Crowley (1994). "Literature, Whole Language, and Adult Literacy Instruction: A Lesson from the Elementary Classroom." Adult Learning, 6(2), 9-12. [EJ 492 497]

TEACHING ADULTS - ANDRAGOGY

10 Characteristics of Adults as Learners

The following information was taken from course content written by Dr. Gary Kuhne for "ADTED 460 - Introduction to Adult Education," a course offered through Penn State's World Campus.

Characteristic #1 - Adults Generally Desire to Take More Control Over Their Learning Than Youth

Adults tend to be self-directed in their lives, although responsibilities with jobs, families, and other organizations can remove a degree of their freedom to act. Adulthood brings an increasing sense of the need to take responsibility for our lives and adults strongly resent it when others take away their rights to choose. This fact is clearly seen in educational efforts among adults. When not given some control over their learning, most adults will resist learning and some will even attempt to sabotage education efforts. They do not like being relegated to a "passive" position.

Implications:

• Always seek to include the adult in the planning of educational efforts.
• Allow for self-assessment and evaluation
• Understand adult learners desire a peer relationship with instructors, rather than a hierarchical one.
• Recognize that adults also expect greater availability of instructors.

Characteristic #2 - Adults Draw Upon Their Experiences as a Resource in Their Learning Efforts More Than Youth

The adult's experience is a key resource in any learning effort. Adults have a greater reservoir of life experiences simply because they have lived longer and seen and done more. This is a critical distinction between adults and traditional learners. Consciously or unconsciously, adults tend to link any new learning to their prior learning, a body of knowledge that is rooted in their life experiences. They evaluate the validity of new ideas and concepts in light of how the idea or concept "fits" their experience.

Implications:

• Take the time to get to know more about the experiences of our learners and seek to help them to link new ideas to such prior learning.
• Encourage discussion on how new ideas fit the experience of learners.

Characteristic #3 - Adult Tend to be More Motivated in Learning Situations Than Youth

Higher motivation is linked to the fact that most adult learning is voluntary. Adults are making personal choices to attend schooling, even when such schooling is tied to professional development or job skills. Whenever an individual is able to choose to learn, s/he is much more motivated to learn.

Implication:

• Spend less effort trying to motivate adult learners and concentrate our time on facilitating the learning they are already motivated to pursue.

Characteristic #4 - Adults Are More Pragmatic in Learning Than Youth

Adults are particularly motivated to learn information that seems immediately applicable to their situation and needs. They tend to be frustrated with "theory" that needs to be stored away for future use or learning for the sake of learning. Certainly there are exceptions to this principle, but the percentage of exceptions is quite low.

Implications:

• Tie the content of programs to the application needs of the learners.
• Always use needs assessment strategies
• Weigh the content of education toward the utilitarian, not the theoretical.

Characteristic #5 - In Contrast to Youth, the Learner Role is Secondary for Adults

For most adults, the "student" role is a minor and secondary role. This is in sharp contrast to traditional age learners for whom the learner role is both their primary social role and the main basis for their self-identity. Adults fulfill multiple roles and these multiple roles inevitably create conflicting and competing demands on the adult learner. Multiple roles cause most adults have far less time and energy to read, study, or learn.

Implications:

• More flexibility in adult education programs than in traditional education.
• Give assignments far ahead of time
• Accept that jobs and families can create obstacles for the learner, and be willing to extend deadlines for assignments.
• Accept that the learners will not see their educational efforts as necessarily the highest priority in their lives
• Accept that learners will be preoccupied at times with other roles and responsibilities.

Characteristic #6 - Adults Must Fit Their Learning into Life's "Margins"

Adult roles take energy and time to fulfill. Everyone faces the reality that there are limits on their energy and time. An important principle to understand is that learning takes time and energy. If an adult is going to undertake a learning activity, s/he must realistically evaluate his/her life and see there is actually room for the added demands of the learning. Adult learners must learn to carve out some margin in their lives to allow learning to occur, a process of priority setting. If the existing demands on an adult require all the energy they possess, then the learning will be compromised.

Implication:

• Adult educators must prioritize student advising to provide guidance to help learners to be realistic about the demands of learning and provide time management and study suggestions.

Characteristic #7 - Many Adults Lack Confidence in Their Learning

Many adults have had somewhat negative learning experiences in their traditional schooling. For a variety of reasons, they feel inadequate when comes to learning through formal educational programs. Still other adults, who may have done well in their earlier schooling, still lack confidence for further schooling efforts due to what they perceive as rusty study skills, poor reading skills, test anxiety, or other such learning barriers.

Implications:

• Employ learning strategies that build higher confidence in adult learners.
• Take the time to teach better study skills and ways of improving reading comprehension.
• Use collaborative learning approaches in the classroom can do much to alleviate anxiety.(i.e., turn the classroom from a competitive environment to a collaborative one)

Characteristic #8 - Adults are More Resistant to Change Than Youth

Learning often involves changes in our attitudes or actions. Adults tend to be somewhat resistant to such changes because life itself teaches us that change is not always for the better and that many of the outcomes of change are unpredictable. Youth tend to be more idealistic and are often open to change just for the sake of change.

Implications:

• Adult learners need more explanation of the "why" of changes, not just the "how."
• Link new concepts to older, understood, and accepted concepts for adult learners.
• Seek for incremental changes through our education efforts rather than global changes, allowing the "proof" gained from such incremental change to encourage the adult learner to explore yet more change.

Characteristic #9 - Adults Are More Diverse Than Youth

Adults vary from each other as learners in terms of age and experiences much more than traditional age learners. Such differences can be used as a powerful resource for adult learning. Through collaboration in small groups, adults can benefit from their variety of experiences. Dialogue with other adults enables adult learners to perceive more nuances of application, and possible problems with new concepts, then could ever be gained from private reflection.

Implications:

• Allow more time for interaction between adults to allow learners to network together to sharing of perspectives and experiences.
• Make effort to present material in a variety of ways to accommodate different learning styles.

Characteristic #10 - Adults Must Compensate for Aging in Learning

Aging brings with it a number of physical complications that can impact on adult learning efforts. The percentage of such complications increases with age. As we will see later, such complications are not really due to intelligence. Although the speed of learning tends to decrease with age, the depth of learning tends to increase. In other words, adults tend to learn less rapidly with age, but what they learn is learned at a deeper and more integrative level. As adults age, vision and hearing can also create barriers in educational programs. As adult educators, we must pay much more attention to sound and lighting when dealing with adult learners.

Implication:

• Pay more attention to the physical learning environment to compensate for aging issues.

Video on American Economics IOUSA

for advanced business English students