Principles, Practices and the Current Context of Adult Higher Education: Underlying Ideas in a Changing Field

Katherine JellyBetty Hurley-DasguptaAdult Higher Education Alliance ConferenceNovember 6, 2013

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• Principles informing adult education, including: • Progressive education• Adult development and learning

• Various lenses: • philosophical• pedagogical• psychological • political

 

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• Student-centered:

Drawing on students’ purposes, interests, goals

(J. Dewey)

Listening, not talking; asking, not telling (C. Rogers)• Holistic:

Focusing on students’ personal and professional as well

as academic life (Dewey)• Experiential:

Drawing on student’s experiences,

Engaging in active learning in “real” world (Dewey)

Principles/tenets of progressive education

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• Constant interaction of action and reflection:

Conceptualization of praxis (P. Freire)• Integration of theory and practice:

Each needed to examine and inform the other• Reconstruction of society:

Renaming the world (Freire)

Social reconstruction,

Focused on societal as well as individual development (Dewey)

Principles/tenets of progressive education, cont’d.

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• Problem-based, interdisciplinary:

Framing questions and addressing problems in world,

drawing on whatever disciplines pertain (Dewey)

• Dialogical/egalitarian/collaborative:

Emphasis on democratic society (Dewey)

More equal student-teacher relationship (Rogers)

• Experimental, innovative:

Experimenting to solve problems, both in education and

society (Dewey)

Principles/tenets of progressive education, cont’d.

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Key adult development and adult education theorists:

S. Brookfield (1986, 1989, 2005)

L. Daloz (1999)

P. Freire (1992)

R. Kegan (1994)

M. Knowles (1973, 1975)

D.A. Kolb (1984, 1985)

J. Mezirow (1990, 1991, 2000)

D. Schon (1983)

Adult development and education

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• Self-directed (Knowles, Daloz)

Goals, activities and assessment developed by student • Drawing on experience (Dewey, Kolb

Learning from experience acknowledged

Learning situated in experience• Integrating theory and practice (Dewey)

Theory and experience used to examine and inform one

another• Reflection and action (Freire, Schon)

Action and reflection in constant interaction

Praxis

Reflection-in-action

Principles/tenets of adult development and education

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• Constructivist (Piaget, Vygotsky, Belenky et al.)

Constructing meaning in interaction with environnment, in

interaction with other

Constructing one’s own meaning• Transformative/making new meaning (Freire, Mezirow,

Kegan

Renaming the world

Making new meaning

Changing frames of reference • Emancipatory (Habermas, Mezirow)

Critically questioning ourselves and our context

Freeing self from limiting beliefs

Principles/tenets of adult development and education, cont’d.Principles/tenets of adult development and education

• Reconstructing society (Dewey, Freire)

Social reconstruction through:

experimentation

experiential learning

Renaming and transforming the world

• Dialogical/collaborative (Habermas, Mezirow, Brookfield)

Examining perspectives with others

Questioning assumptions together

Encountering others’ varying orientations

Principles/tenets of adult development and education, cont’d.

What is an OER?

Open Learning- UNESCO Definition

OPEN LEARNING - instructional systems in which many facets of the learning process are under the control of the learner. It attempts to deliver learning opportunities where, when, and how the learner needs them.

http://www.unesco.org/education/lwf/doc/portfolio/definitions.htm

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“Open” Defined by David Wiley

“By ‘open’ it is generally meant that the resource is available at no cost to others for adaptation and reuse in different contexts.”

http://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=M47HR7IAAAAJ&citation_for_view=M47HR7IAAAAJ:mVmsd5A6BfQC

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Merlot- www.merlot.org

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Connexions - cnx.org

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Saylor - www.saylor.org

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Group Exercise

Choose one of the sites given (cnx.com, merlot.org or www.saylor.org or another of your choice and explore. Be prepared to share your answers to these questions:

1 Would you find some of these resources useful?

2 How would you use these resources?

What is a MOOC?

MOOC Variations

• Massive: Vary in size

• Open: range (from free to meeting UNESCO and Wiley definitions)

• Online

• Course: again, variations; schedule? Assessment? Assignments?

Khan Academy

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Coursera

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http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/4/prweb10628753.htm

Group Exercise

Choose one of the sites given (www.khanacademy.org, www.coursera.org, catalyst-academy.org )

or another of your choice and explore. Be prepared to share your answers to these questions:

1 Would you find some of these resources useful?

2 How would you use these resources?

My Own Experiences

What is Connectivism?

• Principles of connectivism:• Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. • Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or

information sources. • Learning may reside in non-human appliances. • Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known • Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate

continual learning.

What is Connectivism? (con’d)

• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.

• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

• Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Fall 2011 cMOOC: CMC11 (http://cdlprojects.com/ )

(http://math.cdlprojects.com/ )cMOOC Fall 2012- VizMath

You Tube Videos of VizMath Presentations

Assessment

ACE-evaluated Coursera courses

MOOCs and use of ePortfolios

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Mathematical Journey

References

https://mahara.esc.edu/view/view.php?id=9338

https://groups.diigo.com/group/cit-and-open-learning