Adult Learning Online

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© Copyright Tammy Dewar 1999

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Definitions and Perspectives
• Types of Learning
• Learning Capabilities
• Adult Learning Principles (A Selection)
• Group Development in Online Education
• Group Work in Online Environments
• Creating a Learning Community in an Online Environment
• Tips for Working in Online Groups
• References

Introduction

Covering online adult learning in a short article is a little like trying to see a city in a day - a whole lot of running around with brief, and hopefully meaningful, visits here and there. That being said, the focus here is to take the broad span of adult learning and apply it to an online environment. Ideally, I will reduce the "running around" and provide you with a few meaningful "visits" to adult learning in online environments.

My searches on both the WWW and Proquest revealed little that was directly applicable to adult learning online. There is lots on adult learning generally (both online and print based) and a growing literature base on online education and web based training generally (again, online and print based), but little that linked the two in a meaningful way for people who are actually taking a course online.   So what follows are my observations - first as an academic and practitioner in adult education, and second, as a learner and facilitator online since 1995.

I view this course (as I do all of the courses I've facilitated) as a way to build the theory and practice in learning and facilitating online. We are pioneers in this area and can contribute a tremendous amount to future online learners! Through our discussions and your assignments, we can create a set of valuable resources and "publish them" on the net for others to see. This is probably one of the most exciting aspects of online education to me - it is relatively easy to create and share our knowledge as a class and leave a legacy for others! How often in traditional face to face classes have we been able to do this in a relatively easy way?
 

Definitions and Perspectives

There are hundreds of articles and books written about adult learning and hundreds of definitions. In a class devoted to adult learning, one might spend the first two weeks alone defining learning and exploring it from a multitude of perspectives and another two weeks defining adult. For me, adult learning is about change - change in attitude, change in knowledge, change in behaviour, change in a skill, change in how we think about things. I used to get into more complex definitions and models but have found that less useful as time has gone on.

 The perspectives on adult learning vary according to the context or discipline in which one operates. Some businesses and industries appear to view adult learning as a commodity that, once mastered, will lead to efficient workers. Some entrepreneurs in the "workshop business" view adult learning as a golden opportunity to make money. Some self-help groups view adult learning as a transformational process that empowers people to live healthier, happier lives. Some futurists view adult learning as central to our transition into the knowledge age. Some psychologists view adult learning as a cognitive process, while still others focus exclusively on behaviours. Some adult educators, myself included, view adult learning as a lifelong process of discovery and have committed their lives to exploring it and facilitating it for others.

 If you are interested in exploring adult learning in depth, try Merriam and Caffarella's book as a start (listed in the bibliography at the end). It orients you to the literature and is an excellent reference.
 

Types of Learning

The most useful categorization I've seen is one offered by Saljo in Candy (1991)
 
 
• Learning as an increase in knowledge. (eg. You now know what emoticons are, for example.)
• Learning as memorizing. (eg. You may have *memorized* how to post messages in the bulletin board area.)
• Learning as acquisition of knowledge that can be retrained and/or utilized in practice. (eg. You have learned how to use WebCT and could apply this skill to other forms of online conferencing.)
• Learning as the abstraction of meaning. (eg. You are exploring your own understanding of adult learning and online education and what this means to you.)
• Learning as an interpretive process, aimed at understanding reality. (eg. You will probably engage in speculation and interpretation about how the Internet/WWW are going to affect how people work, live, learn in a broader sense.)


Dialogue and discussion with others are central to any type of learning, but most especially for the type of learning concerned with meaning and interpretation. That is why the main activities of this course involve discussion  and the assignments involve working with others.
 
 

Learning Capabilities

A writer who has influenced me the most in thinking about different learning capabilities is Virginia Griffin (1988). She suggests that we have six learning capabilities comparable to the six strings on a guitar. Most of our education has focused on one string - the rational - and excluded the other five. As with playing a song on a guitar using six strings instead of one, tapping into the six capabilities of learning enhances our learning. The six strings are:
 
 
• Rational (The one we are familiar with and have the most experience with. We assume that learning is a rational, intellectual activity.)
• Emotional (Instead of denying that emotions play a role in learning, they are acknowledged, accepted and considered valuable in aiding the learning process.)
• Relational (Learning is enhanced through relationships with others.)
• Physical (Learning can be enhanced or inhibited by our physical state.)
• Metaphoric (Learning can be enhanced through symbol, metaphor, intuition.)
• Spiritual (A deep sense of connection with everyone and thing.)


Griffin suggests that if the rational, emotional, relational, physical, and metaphoric capabilities are facilitated, the spiritual will evolve.

My own significant learning experiences have always occurred when more of the "guitar strings" were activated. Knowing about Griffin's framework has allowed me to analyze why a particular learning experience is not meaningful, and what I can do as a learner to make it better.

I would say that Griffin's framework is especially important in an online environment. When I first started as a learner myself in an online course, I was concerned with the emotional and relational aspects of learning. I didn't feel that such a high tech approach could facilitate these dimensions of learning. As in face to face classes, however, it is the design of the course, the learners themselves, and the approach the facilitator takes that make the difference. The tone of an email, together with the use of emoticons, can convey much - both expressions of joy or frustration and anger!

The relational aspects of learning can occur to a certain extent in main list discussions, but it is the small group activities, both synchronous and asynchronous, that facilitated my getting to know someone. I learned much through my email conversations (asynchronous) and webchat sessions (synchronous) with individuals in the course and, as with face to face sessions, I am still in contact with some of these people.

The physical capability of learning was most striking for me as an online learner. I work best very early in the morning. I am awake, alert, and do my best work. Afternoons are my down time and right after dinner is especially low for me. As a face to face learner and facilitator, most of my classes have occurred in the time slots when I'm most tired. It was a real joy to tailor my participation in the online class around the times of day I was most awake and, if need be, not participate at all when I was tired. This is not a luxury we have in face to face classes!

I make use of metaphors a great deal in my learning, especially so when I'm encountering a completely different subject or content. Such is the case with online learning. It was so new to me that I needed to find ways to attach the "new" to an "old" framework. For example, taking an online class for the first time is similar to taking a class for the first time at a university.  How much time do we spend trying to find the place to park, the building, the classroom?  It's overwhelming and confusing.  A first time experience in an online class can be the same.   I tried to find metaphors like this for helping me to become used to the online environment.

The spiritual capability of learning is something I've not experienced to a great extent in face to face classes, but one that I've actively sought to develop in myself. There are some Internet users who believe that email communication (and some synchronous chats) are a more direct "experience" with others, a connection to their consciousness or true essence, as opposed to the usual distractions we read into face to face communication.

A lengthy discussion on cyber relationships took place on a list to which I subscribe - the wisdom at work list. While there were certainly those who believed that there is more fiction on the net (that people may create characters and misrepresent themselves), there were also those who felt that the internet was the vehicle that would move our society to a higher level of consciousness and spirituality. As Let Davidson, moderator of the Wisdom at Work list so eloquently stated on April 5, 1996:

 I agree that at this point there is no obvious revolution in interpersonal relations . . . yet. But I definitely agree with Susan that something is afoot and that the technology has a tremendous potential to affect the way we relate, in both directions: toward avoidance and escapism, as well as toward greater spiritual intimacy. I think it helps to recognize that cybercommunication is a different form and shouldn't be expected to accomplish what face to face experience yields. It will be very frustrating to expect it to carry the freight of sensuality or physical intimacy.

Electronic communication seems to me to be more suited to conveying consciousness or spirit, and is much closer to the way consciousness operates than it is to physicality. We could say that basically what you see in front of you is consciousness-- code--translated into subtle on-off pulses of light transfigured into virtual pixels on the screen. It is all light taking virtual forms in the same way that all colours are refractions of the same light. In the same way that what we call physical reality is varying speeds and frequencies of light energy. (E=mc2)

It seems e-relating is a more subtle, intermediate technology, somewhere between physical relating and pure mind communication (ESP, clairvoyance, telepathy, etc). I think cyberspace represents a step in the evolution of consciousness which seems to be moving many people beyond strictly egoic bodymind identity to a greater sense of our true identity as spirit, consciousness or light energy, and eliciting our ability to commune with this underlying reality.

 Let

Some challenging ideas.  Let captures the real essence of Virginia Griffin's coming together of the five capabilities of learning into the sixth - the spiritual.  This is food for thought for those of us who have thought (and maybe still do) that high tech cannot be high touch.
 

Adult Learning Principles (A Selection)

The following adult learning principles are compiled from many sources. Most are ones I feel most represent my own experience as an adult learner, while others are included because they raise many questions for me. What do you think?
 
 
• Increasing and maintaining ones sense of self-esteem and pleasure are strong secondary motivators for engaging in learning experiences. (Zemke, 1988)
• New knowledge has to be integrated with previous knowledge; that means active learner participation. (Zemke, 1988)
• Adult learning must be problem and experience centered. (Gibb, 1960 as quoted in Brookfield, 1986)
• Effective adult learning entails an active search for meaning in which new tasks are somehow related to earlier activities. Prior learning experiences have the potential to enhance or interfere with new learning. (Knox, 1977 as quoted in Brookfield, 1986)
• A certain degree of arousal is necessary for learning to occur, whereas stress acts as a major block to learning. (Brundage and MacKeracher, 1980)
• Collaborative modes of teaching and learning will enhance the self-concepts of those involved and result in more meaningful and effective learning. (Brundage and MacKeracher, 1980)
• Adults will generally learn best in an atmosphere that is nonthreatening and supportive of experimentation and in which different learning styles are recognized. (Smith, 1982)
• Adult learning is facilitated when the learner's representation and interpretation of his own experience are accepted as valid, acknowledged as an essential aspect influencing change, and respected as a potential resource for learning. (Brundage and MacKeracher, 1980)
• Adults experience anxiety and ambivalence in their orientation to learning. (Smith, 1982)
• Adult learning is facilitated when teaching activities do not demand finalized, correct answers and closure; express a tolerance for uncertainty, inconsistency, and diversity; and promote both question-asking and -answering, problem-finding and problem-solving. (Brundage and MacKeracher, 1980)
• Adult skill learning is facilitated when individual learners can assess their own skills and strategies to discover inadequacies or limitations for themselves. (Brundage and MacKeracher, 1980)
• Adult learning is facilitated when the teacher can give up some control over teaching processes and planning activities and can share these with learners. (Brundage and MacKeracher, 1980)

 

Group Development in Online Education

There has been much research on group development in educational settings. The most well known one is Tuckman's (1965) who suggests groups move through four sequential phases - forming, storming, norming and performing. I also like Cog's Ladder (sorry, I can't find the full reference!) which suggests the phases are the polite phase, why we're here, bid for power, constructive phase, esprit phase and the grieving phase.

I have noticed the same type of group development in online education as I've observed in hundreds of face to face classes. Similar group development occurs in listserves as well. While every class may not go through every phase in the same manner, sequence or to the same degree, there are definite predictable commonalities. In online education, it goes something like this:

 Polite Phase (forming)

• People send out introductions and are excited about working with people from all over.
• People usually make welcoming and polite comments about other people in the course.


Why We're Here Phase (forming)

• There are always a few individuals who question their participation in the class. Some may send notes to the instructor individually clarifying expectations or asking to participate at another time or even drop out.
• Others may post to the whole group asking clarifying questions about either the content or process of the course.
• Most experience some type of "imposter syndrome" (Brookfield, 1992) which they may or may not express to the entire group. The syndrome goes something like - everyone else is smarter than I am, I am not qualified to be in this course, someone will find out (most likely the instructor!) and ask me to leave!
• I find the imposter syndrome especially prevalent among people very new to the Internet/WWW. Even though others in a group may have announced their own inexperience, everyone feels like s/he is the "ultimate newbie among newbies".  They may also be quite hesitant to post notes.
• Everyone is trying to get a feel for how the course will run and what they can expect.


Bid for Power Phase (storming)

• People may start to voice dislike or opposition at some aspect of the course process or content.
• People may start to openly disagree with one another - sometimes politely, sometimes not so politely!
• Groups or cliques may develop as people start to seek out those with similar opinions.
• People may start to openly (or in private email to one another) question the instructor's competence and authority.
• Some "flaming" (strongly voiced criticism, personal attack or insult) may occur, although I've seen this only rarely in the courses I've taught.


Constructive Phase (norming)

• People will start to ask that personal criticism be left behind to be replaced by the task at hand - the course.
• People will come to terms with their concerns about the course - sometimes, a person may even apologize for a hastily sent note to the group in the storming stage.
• People remind each other of the reason they are there and restate some fundamental norms about how the course should run.
• People start to own their own reactions to the learning process.
• Discussions about the course content and process resume, but at a more sophisticated level than before.


Esprit (performing)

• Real group synergy takes place. This may happen in the whole group or in smaller groups that have developed in the class.
• Discussions are initiated by everyone and people build on each other's comments.


Grieving (sometimes when a group ends)

• May occur with a whole group but more likely among individuals who have worked together and come to know one another.
• Sometimes, the group (or subgroups) are extended beyond the conclusion of the course.


The role the instructor plays during this group development is central to how quickly the group moves through stages (or even skips stages) on their way to a productive learning experience. Instructors who are aware of group development anticipate the stages and use techniques to facilitate a smooth transition.  They also learn not to "personalize" notes of frustration or even anger from participants at certain points in the class, as very often becoming used to the online world can be intimidating and alienating for some learners.

Understanding these stages from a learner's perspective is also helpful. For example, sometimes the "storming" stage can be particularly stormy and for people like myself, quite distressing.  Understanding group development gives one another perspective from which to view things.
 

Group Work in Online Education

For the most part, I've had favourable experiences with group work in an online environment, again a surprise to me. I assumed that the lack of face to face contact and nonverbal cues would limit the "human touch" of working cooperatively with people in groups.

 My experience was just the opposite, an observation made by researchers in the computer-mediated communication (CMC) field. As pointed out by Rob Higgins (1991):

 Without encompassing the full range of human sensory and expressive capabilities, text-based interaction is often thought to be an impersonal medium devoid of social context cues and nonverbal communication. Experience and research, however, are demonstrating that socioemotional content can be communicated in text. Steinfeld (1986) states that: "Evidence continues to mount showing that CMC will be used for emotional interaction. People seem to work around the nonverbal cue limitations and actively provide their own text-based translations of nonverbal cues" (p. 176). Tracz (1980) bears out this perception in a comment on his experience: "I was pleasantly surprised, nevertheless, that most users of electronic information exchange system (EIES) attempt to incorporate many little expressions to compensate for the lack of face-to-face contact, and on the whole, gentleness prevails." (p. 17). (p. 40-41)

Group methods or cooperative learning are widely written about in both adult and youth education. A common belief is that such approaches to learning are more human and productive than competitive approaches. Also, such approaches are held up as facilitative of the construction of knowledge (see for example Belenkey et al. (1988) and Vygotsky (1978)), a focus of many adult educators, myself included.

Links have been made between cooperative learning and educational computing as pointed out by Higgins (1991)

Those involved with cooperative learning have not missed another growing innovation: educational computing. Johnson and Johnson (1986) discuss the complementary strengths of cooperative learning and computer-assisted instruction (not including Educational CMC). They cite their research involving cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning in conjunction with the use of educational computer programs featuring drill and practice, simulation and discovery, and word processing (pp. 16-17). Their data confirm the general effects of cooperative learning:

 ...computer-assisted cooperative learning promoted greater quantity and quality of daily achievement, more successful problem solving, and higher performance on factual recognition, application, and problem-solving test items than did computer- assisted competitive and individualistic learning (p. 15).

 Another interesting finding was that the computer-assisted cooperative methods had an especially positive impact on female students in terms of their attitudes toward computers. Conversely, the competitive methods had an especially negative impact on their attitudes toward computers. Competitiveness also reduced the female students' confidence in their ability to work with computers (Johnson & Johnson, 1986, p. 15). (pp. 31- 32)

Concepts from cooperative learning, computer-assisted learning, and CMC are particularly relevant to educational classes being delivered using Internet/WWW technology. Again, Higgins (1991) clarifies the role of synchronous (simultaneous) and asynchronous (flex-time) in cooperative learning:

 In the realm of educational computer-mediated communication, there are many studies that cover issues of social psychology and deal with socio-emotional factors, but nothing that addresses the cognitive foundations needed to help establish a theoretical and practical model for computer supported cooperative learning (CSCL). A variety of research efforts and numerous descriptive, or anecdotal reports appear in the literature. Some address issues relating to the use of computer conferencing (CC) (Harsim, 1989; Hiltz et al., 1990; Mason, 1990; Phillips et al., 1988) in asynchronous mode. Others report on the application of synchronous communication via local area networks in the classroom (Foster, 1991; O'Kelly, 1991; Peyton, 1989; Wilton, 1988).

 . . .

Those involved with computer conferencing seem particularly resistant to the notion of an important role for synchronous CMC. This is not surprising in view of the fact that the features and capabilities provided by computer conferencing software have not changed significantly over the past 10 years, and appropriate synchronous capabilities have not been readily available. Another reason for lack of attention to the potential of synchronous CMC is that the asynchronous nature of computer conferencing is regarded as one of its most valued attributes in terms of intellectual activity. Levinson (1988) notes, "'Asynchronous' or nonimmediate communication...may produce exchanges of richer intellectual quality than those resulting from immediate face-to-face dialogue" (p. 115).

 In an online seminar, Turoff (1989c) took the extreme position and challenged the participants to produce examples to counter his proposition, "that there is no human group problem solving activity that would not be better served by asynchronous communications..." (conference note C1295 CC4). Further, he stated that, "...a pure synchronous system is worthless as far as I am concerned" (conference note C1295 CC16).

 Obviously, then, an important debate exists. Synchronous interaction may be a critical feature of peer interaction and an important component in the developing theories of the social construction of knowledge as they pertain to cooperative learning. Asynchronous interaction, on the other hand, may improve group problem solving and lead to richer intellectual quality in the communications. (pp. 6-7)

 Higgins research with nursing students working on a nursing case study demonstrated that

...the synchronous mode of text-based CMC are more likely to include verbal elements reflecting important cognitive activities such as problem formulation, interactive arguing, and task management than similar discussions in asynchronous mode.

 ...greater focus on, and accuracy of outcomes are possible with synchronous text-based CMC than with asynchronous.

 ...greater mutual facilitation occurs in synchronous text-based CMC than in asynchronous mode. This facilitation is reflected in verbal elements demonstrating attempts to establish interpersonal ease, support, understanding, and encouragement.

 ... the novel and unique modes of interaction possible through CMC (synchronous and asynchronous) can have a motivating effect for learning activities undertaken in dyad or group situations. (p. 19)

My own experience as a learner in an online class and anecdotal reports from learners in previous classes I've taught confirm the importance of synchronous communication in collaborative learning.   This course is designed around these considerations and, thus, group work is considered essential to the overall success and enjoyment of participants, and synchronous chats are encouraged as a way to address the human element.
 

Creating a Learning Community in an Online Environment

One of the best papers I've read on creating an online learning community is Sally Fox and Don Comstock's Computer Conferencing in a Learning Community.   Their "Summary of Processes that Build a Learning Community" provide a number of suggestions and points to ponder for anyone either taking or facilitating a course online.  I have tried to build in a number of their strategies.

Another interesting paper is Creating Community Online.  The authors of this paper discuss their "learnings" in terms of converting a f2f class to online delivery.  Of particular interest, is their rethinking of the instructor's role in a classroom and how instructors may (unknowingly) contribute to learners looking to them for approval, instead of thinking about things themselves.  The online environment challenged this perspective.

Tips for Working in online groups

The following list of tips is based on my experience working with hundreds of learners in a variety of online settings over the last few years.  I hope you find them useful and encourage you to help me further develop the list!
 

1. Arrange a synchronous chat as soon as possible, especially if you are working with people you've never met f2f.  This will help you develop the "real person" sense of someone and address the social aspect of learning that is important to many people.  It will also help you make some important decisions early on in your process.
2. Do spend time up front addressing your own "netiquette or etiquette" rules ... this will help other group members work with you.  Telling people, for example, that your email communication is fairly direct will help others know what to expect from you.
3. Also, spend time sharing your learning or group process preferences up front.  Spending the extra time figuring out how you will work together before actually getting to the task will save you time in the long run and contribute to a greater sense of comfort in your online group.
4. Spend some time clarifying the expectations you have for each member in terms of time commitment and checking in to confirm decisions and so forth.  Many online groups spend time waiting for one member who may have had something come up in his/her life.  Having an agreement whereby the group waits no longer than 2 or 3 days and then goes on wtih whomever is there and whatever decision is made, for example, will help keep your group on track.
5. Think about assigning some group roles.  Because you will have a multitude of tasks going on in the same conversation area, it can become overwhelming to track where you are and which decisions have been made.  Having a "summarizer", whose role it is to track and summarize for the group, will address this.
6. Remember that your online group may go through the same phases as a f2f group and to not be overly anxious if you're unclear about the assignment initially.  Remember that one of the first phases any group goes through is to clarify their task.
7. Try to "suspend" some of your assumptions about working collaboratively online.  If you think it's going to be hard and unrewarding, it just might be!  If you think it's impossible, it just might be!


For some additional tips, check out the guidelines for online groups developed by Royal Roads University.  The document itself is not formatted that well, but its content is quite good.

REFERENCES

Mary Field Belenky, Blythe McVicker Clinch, Nancy Rule Goldberger and Jill Mattuck Tarule, 1986. Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind. New York: Basic Books.

 Boud, D. and Griffin V. (eds.) (1987) Appreciating Adults Learning: From the Learners Perspective. London: Kogan Page.

 Brookfield, Stephen. (1990) The Skillful Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Brookfield, Stephen. (1986) Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Brundage, Donald and MacKeracher, Dorothy. (1980) Adult Learning Principles and Their Application to Program Planning. Toronto: The Minister of Education.

 Higgins, R. N. (1991) Computer-Mediated Cooperative Learning: Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication Between Students Learning Nursing Diagnosis. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Toronto: University of Toronto.

 Johnson, D. W. and Johnson R.T. (1986). Computer-assisted Cooperative Learning. Educational Technology, 26(1), 12-18.

 Knowles, M.S. (1980) The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy. (2nd edition) New York: Cambridge Books.

 Knox, A. B. (1977) Helping Adults Learn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Merriam, Sharan and Caffarella, Rosemary. (1991) Learning in Adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Mezirow, Jack and associates (eds.) (1990) Fostering Critical Reflection in Adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Smith, Robert (1990) Learning to Learn Across the Lifespan. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Tuckman, B. W. (1965), "Developmental Sequence in Small Groups," Psychological Bulletin, (63) 384-399.

 Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

 Wlodkowski, Raymond. (1985) Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 Zemke, Ron and Zemke, Susan. (July, 1988) 30 Things We Know for Sure about Adult Learning. Training, pgs. 57-61.
 
 

Dr. Tammy Dewar
tammy@calliopelearning.com

last revised 10/7/99