Learning in Adulthood. Sharan B. Merriam
Learners can teleconference, attain information through an intelligent tutoring system that presents materials based on learner responses, or receive training through virtual worlds that ask learners to participate in a scenario via computer (Quinn, 2015). For example, those in counseling courses may pick an avatar and take the role of a counselor or client in a computer-simulated counseling session.
Simultaneous with the development of technologically sophisticated delivery systems is the development of new roles for educators and trainers. Although the “digital divide” has referred to those who can and cannot access technology, it can also refer to those who cannot use technologies effectively (Wei & Hindman, 2011). With smartphone use growing, more individuals can access the Internet, but possessing digital literacy skills such as knowing how to effectively search for and evaluate information or send effective e-mails, texts, and video images is also necessary in the twenty-first century (Rosen & Vanek, 2017).
A Pew Research team surveyed 2,752 Americans age 18 or older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to uncover their “digital readiness” for personal learning (Horrigan, 2016, p. 7). Digital readiness included individuals' self-reported skills at using technology, including their familiarity with technology terms such as MOOCs, distance learning, or digital badges. Researchers assessed learners' trust of technology with survey questions such as: “I find it difficult to know whether information I find online is trustworthy” (p. 9). Respondents needed to indicate whether these statements described them “very well,” “somewhat well,” “not too well,” or “not at all well” (p. 9). A last indicator of readiness was how much respondents used technology. There were five groups along the spectrum of digital readiness. “The Unprepared” comprised 14% of respondents and were more likely to be women age 50 and older who came from lower income households and possessed lower levels of education. They do not adopt technology very readily, and “need help setting up tech devices and are not familiar with ‘ed tech’ terms” (p. 3). They were not confident about their computers skills or their ability to judge online information as trustworthy. Five percent of respondents were classified as “traditional learners” (p. 3). They were more likely to be women, minorities, and have lower levels of education and income. They are active learners, but they don't use the Internet to pursue learning and have concerns about their ability to judge online information. “The Reluctant” made up 33% of respondents and were more likely to be men age 50 and older who had lower incomes and education. “The Reluctant” had higher digital skills than those who were “Unprepared,” but they did not know new educational technology terms and did not use the Internet for learning. Group four, the “Cautious Clickers,” owned more technology and had higher levels of confidence in their ability to separate truth from fiction on the Internet (p. 3). They were not as familiar with online learning and technology terms as the “Digitally Ready.” They came from higher income households and typically had some college experience and were in their 30s and 40s. The “Digitally Ready,” 17%, loved to learn for personal enrichment and were very confident about their online skills and knew the most about online learning resources (Horrigan, 2016).
Part of becoming “Digitally Ready” is the ability to evaluate information online, and critical thinking skills are necessary. Critical thinking “involves people using a systematic approach to evaluate information, develop viable solutions, and test them as they seek to solve many different types of structured and ill-structured problems” (King, 2017, p. 115). The elements of critical thinking include “generating purposes, raising questions, using information, using concepts, making inferences, making assumptions, generating implications and embodying a point of view” (King, 2017, p. 115). To evaluate information, we need to examine its “clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness” (Elder & Paul, 2010, as cited in King, 2017, p. 115).
Technology is here to stay and teachers may need to learn new ways of interacting with students in an online or hybrid learning environment. Consulting with an instructional design specialist or attending professional development workshops on effectively integrating distance learning tools may be necessary for some instructors while others may pick these skills up on their own. Some higher education institutions offer distance education certificates for faculty. Course topics may include how to design an online course, best practices in facilitating an online course, exploring online learning communities, learning assessment tools, and copyright issues (Online Learning Consortium, 2018).
In other areas, such as adult basic skills education, ABE educators face challenges in using technology. These challenges are more evident in ABE than other areas of education due to persistent underfunding (Rosen & Vanek, 2017). Educators need “professional development, coaching, and technical assistance” to integrate technology into their classrooms and they need to know how to “evaluate hardware and software” that can be used in the classroom (p. 56). Although both the Arizona Department of Education's Adult Education Services and the Adult Education and Literacy Department of the Texas Workforce Commission provide a wide range of professional development programs, including webinars and self-paced learning for ABE instructors, these types of opportunities are needed nationwide (Rosen & Vanek, 2017). Unfortunately, federal funding has not increased for ABE, and most state funding has not increased either, so the integration of technology into ABE is a challenge (Rosen & Vanek, 2017).
In summary, technology has its benefits and drawbacks. Learners can access information easily and informal learning can occur via web searches, webinars, and YouTube tutorials. Individuals' digital readiness affects how individuals can access and use the plethora of available information. Digital literacy includes learning critical thinking skills. In addition, educators must have appropriate professional development opportunities to understand how to evaluate hardware and software and integrate it into their teaching. Although training is available for some, other areas of adult education, such as ABE, may struggle due to funding shortages.
The Convergence of Demographics, Globalization, and Technology
Demographics, globalization, and technology are closely intertwined. Advances in technology, for example, are interrelated with changes in the economic sector. Automation and robotics displace production workers but create other jobs. Technology creates an alternative work sector. The need to be competitive in the world market leads to further technological sophistication. Demographics and economics are related. Economic growth is tied to productivity and the number of individuals in the workforce. The Baby Boom generation is beginning to retire and globally there are fewer working-age individuals and more retirees. This decrease in labor force participation has been offset somewhat with advances in technology (Hayes, 2018). We can now complete our taxes with software, we obtain money from ATMs instead of bank tellers, and in the future perhaps driverless cars will eliminate the need for chauffeurs (Hayes, 2018).
Embedded in this convergence of demographics, economics, and technology is a value system based on the political and economic structure of capitalism. More than three decades ago, Beder (1987, p. 107) explained how these three forces are linked in the value system:
The beliefs undergirding the capitalist system emphasize material values. The health of the system is gauged in terms of national wealth as embodied in the gross national product, and social equality is assessed in terms of economic opportunity—the potential of members of the underclasses to amass more income. Hence, the political and social systems become directed toward … economic productivity, and economic productivity under the rationale of human capital theory becomes the predominant rationale for all publicly funded social interventions including adult education.
This value system directly shapes adult education in the United States in several ways. First, economic productivity becomes “the dominant rationale for all public subsidy of adult education” (p. 109). Second, social justice becomes equated with economic opportunity in that “the just society is a society that provides opportunity for members of the underclasses to amass more income and material goods” and adult education “helps learners acquire the skills and knowledge” to do so (p. 109). The emphasis is on productivity and efficiency, both of which benefit from advances in technology. Thus technology, in the service of economic productivity, converges with changing demographics in shaping the adult