Raises issues about self-directed learning: its relatively unquestioned status, emphasis on individuals, and practices that are not necessarily emancipatory. Reflects on the way language shapes what is known. (SK)

A survey of 1,562 Canadian adults found that most are spending more time in learning, especially informal learning through employment, community service, and household work. Findings should be used to shape education policy and practice. (SK)

This paper proposes a framework of an evolving community of practitioners along a simulation, participation, and codetermined interactions continuum. Simulation, participation, and codetermined interactions are three models of learning, which describe how learners can be brought through a scaffolded process within a community experience. The…

This chapter examines the forces within the environment of colleges and universities that determine the preparation of and incentives for instructors to embrace and flourish in the role of adult educators, as well as the obstacles that can impede this process.

Adult life consists of alternating periods of stability and transition. The nature of life transitions in adulthood and their potential for learning and development are the focus of this chapter.

This article addresses the needs of older adults learning computer skills and the place of technology, especially the computer, in enhancing their lives. A model is discussed that illuminates the process used by older adults to learn computer skills. The model may be used to analyze and provide specific aid for common difficulties of the aged.…

This paper was provoked by Ted Bailey's article, 'Analogy, dialectics and lifelong learning' which appeared in the March-April 2003 edition of this journal. Dr. Bailey argued that students can be enabled to learn the key concepts of the subjects they are studying through the dialectical operation of analogy which makes new knowledge accessible by…

Old Dominion University's distance learning program, called TELETECHNET, brings the main-campus college experience to geographically distant learners at sites across Virginia and as far away as the state of Washington, as well as to military personnel on Navy bases, carriers, and submarines. In an interesting turnabout, the Summer Institute for…

This paper presents findings from a study conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University, on the outcomes of the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training program (I-BEST), developed by the community and technical colleges in Washington State to increase the rate at which adult basic skills…

A growing number of demographically diverse, globally-conscious students demand instant access and flexibility when it comes to formal learning. Institutions of higher education are hard pressed to respond, and often cling to old delivery methods and pedagogy. Learner-directed use of Web 2.0 applications to locate, organize, and evidence…

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to identify the need for educators' use of lesson study as a professional learning community to increase communication between colleagues. Lesson study is considered a form of professional development in that, educator colleagues work with one another to plan, implement, critique, and revise a lesson…

Employers are one of the largest sources of financial support for adult learning today. Some of this support goes to in-house training, but a significant amount--in the tens of billions of dollars, according to some estimates--goes to tuition reimbursement for employees. The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) has managed tuition…

This study aimed to study the andragogical and pedagogical orientations of adults learning English as a foreign language. The Turkish version of the Educational Orientation Questionnaire (Christian, 1983) was used. Sixty adults at evening classes in Turkey were included in the study. The results of the study revealed that the subjects were more…

Every adult learning center is continually changing, reflecting demographic changes in their community and state and federal mandates. OutFront--Leavenworth's only adult learning center--is not just changing: it is closing. In this article, the author examines the impact of the closure of the adult learning center in Leavenworth, Kansas. The…

This chapter focuses on how popular culture can be incorporated into adult classrooms to critically examine the ways in which race, class, and gender identities are constructed in the mass media.