Adult Learning Principles as the Foundation for Innovative Technology Applications in Business and Higher Education Venues

Abstract

As Web 2.0 surfaces as the latest trendy phrase in education and technology discussions, it is imperative that instructors not get caught up in the glamour of the latest technology and loose sight of the required andragogical underpinnings necessary for effective and efficient teaching and learning. This chapter will begin by exploring the major theories and theorists in the field of adult education and the meshing of these theories with technology applications in higher education and global business venues. While Malcolm Knowles is credited with popularizing adult learning theory in the 1970’s, Stephen Brookfield, Jack Mezirow, Maxine Greene and Knud Illeris are among those who have moved the field forward over the past decades. Along with this progression in theory, the use of technology has escalated in popularity creating a need to frame its application in the foundational principles of adult education; an “Andragogy 2.0” focus is required. This chapter will expand on this theoretical base by offering short case studies that are linked to the theories as examples of innovative strategic approaches in the use of technology in adult teaching and learning.

Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China

“…Examples can be found in the workers' education movement in Great Britain, the needs instigated by the industrial revolution, agricultural extension programs, Americanization programs to educate the influx of immigrants in the early 1900s and the entire field of vocational education (Parker, 2010b). This interchange of theory and practice has influenced lifelong learning and moved it forward through the centuries.…”

“…On the other hand, China has never stopped modeling itself on foreign lifelong learning models. Parker (2010a) notes that many of the theories reveal themselves in models with geometric shapes. Kolb' s circular learning cycle and Illeris' triangular depiction of the dimensions of learning are examples.…”