targeting your learner: principles of adult learning, learning styles, and professional development...

Targeting Your Learner: Principles of Adult Learning,

Learning Styles, and Professional Development Strategies

Week 5

Designing and Delivering

E-Learning Environments

Table of Contents

I. Principles of Adult Learning

I. Adult Learning and Learning Styles

II. Adult Learning and Professional Development Strategies

Targeting Your Learner

Questions to Consider: Describe effective teaching

strategies and practices that you use in your role as a professional developer. How can you address adult

learning principles and learning styles as you design online professional development?

How can you align the Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards to your online professional development and to Adult Learning Principles?

Keep these questions in mind as your review this content presentation.

School cultures have not traditionally honored the principles of adult learning. The clearest way to contrast adult learning (often called andragogy) with

pedagogy (instructor directed learning) is to note that adult learning usually involves the learner in activities which match that person's interests, needs, style and developmental readiness.

According to “Adult Learning Theory: A Resource Guide”Compiled by Teresa Crafton, Indiana State University, there are two fundamental beliefs:

1) The learner may make choices from a rich and varied menu of learning experiences and possibilities.

2) Learners must take responsibility for planning, acting and growing.

“If we shift school cultures to support adult learning, professional development is experienced as a personal journey of growth and discovery which engages the learner on a daily and perhaps hourly basis. In the best cases, andragogy includes an emphasis upon self-direction, transformation and experience. One learns by doing and exploring . . . by trying, by failing, by changing and adapting strategies and by overcoming obstacles after many trials.”

I. Target Your Learner: Principles of Adult Learning

Source: http://sapphire.indstate.edu/~craftont/adultlrn.html

I. Target Your Learner: Principles of Adult Learning Online Learning has become a viable option for professional development

for teachers as adult learners. Consider some of the advantages of online learning:

Anywhere/anytime Just-in-time Active & independent learning with reflection Ease of access to experts Time for reflection (can return to discussions and build on comments/postings

later)

According to the research study, Identifying Student Attitudes and Learning Styles in Distance Education, “The last ten years have seen the widespread development of digital processing

and communication coupled to networked computing. This has opened up a broad set of teaching and learning opportunities, allowing a new emphasis on interaction and concept exploration.”

Source: http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/v5n2/pdf/v5n2_valenta.pdf

According to the study, the positive aspects of online education that learners identified included:

Flexibility and Convenience (time-shifting and associated advantages of time management)

Access/Interaction with Instructor Better Performance of learners/Teachers/Materials Collaborative Learning Environment Positive Learning Experience



According to the study, the negative aspects of online education that learners identified included:

Limitations on Interactivity (text-based communications, asynchronous timelag vs. synchronous)

Technical Problems Increased Workload Lack of Logistical Support (administrative and

technical) Costs (equipment, online phone charges, etc.)



Teaching Teachers as Adult Learners – from NCREL: "Adults will commit to learning when the goals and objectives are

considered realistic and important to them. Application in the 'real world' is important and relevant to the adult learner's personal and professional needs. Adults want to be the origin of their own learning and will resist learning

activities they believe are an attack on their competence. Thus, professional development needs to give participants some control over the what, who, how, why, when, and where of their learning.

Adult learners need to see that the professional development learning and their day-to-day activities are related and relevant.

Adult learners need direct, concrete experiences in which they apply the learning in real work.

Adult learning has ego involved. Professional development must be structured to provide support from peers and to reduce the fear of judgment during learning.


Source: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

Teaching Teachers as Adult Learners – from NCREL: • Adults need to receive feedback on how they are doing and the results

of their efforts. Opportunities must be built into professional development activities that allow the learner to practice the learning and receive structured, timely, helpful feedback.

• Adults need to participate in small-group activities during the learning to move them beyond understanding to application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Small-group activities provide an opportunity to share, reflect, and generalize their learning experiences.

• Adult learners come to learning with a wide range of previous experiences, knowledge, self-direction, interests, and competencies. This diversity must be accommodated and respected in the professional development planning.

• Transfer of learning for adults is not automatic and must be facilitated. Coaching and other kinds of follow-up support are needed to help adult learners transfer learning into daily practice so that it is sustained.


Source: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

II. Target Your Learner: Adult Learning and Learning Styles

Adults typically have different motivations for learning than children such as those pointed out by Cantor (1992, 37-38):

What motivates Adult Learners? Maintain social relationships Meet external expectations--the boss says you have to upgrade skill X to

keep your job Learn to better serve others -- managers often learn basic First Aid to

protect their employees Professional advancement Escape or stimulation Pure interest

Instructors should be aware of the possible motivations behind their participants' enrollment to better shape the instructional activities.

Source: http://www.cyg.net/~jblackmo/diglib/styl-a.html#What%20motivates%20adult%20learners?


Cantor also points out that adults have different barriers than children on their way to learning. (1992, 39)

What Are the Barriers to Adult Learning? Other responsibilities such as: families, careers, social commitments Lack of time Lack of money Lack of child care Scheduling problems Transportation problems Insufficient confidence

Having to learn, if told by boss, county, state, but not interested or ready

Source: http://www.cyg.net/~jblackmo/diglib/styl-a.html#What%20motivates%20adult%20learners?


Learning styles research has given educators new directions for making changes in their classrooms. The single most widespread change has been to open classrooms to more than one approach to intellectual work. Different social groupings, alternative activities, more complex projects have all been introduced as efforts to create opportunities for students to use their various strengths in dealing with course material.

Despite the wide range of models, the concept of learning styles has gained growing attention from educators because it provides a stable-enough characterization to plan pedagogical strategies. These strategies appear more responsive to students’ needs. They seem to provide better learning opportunities. They give fresh direction to alternative teaching. And, especially, they describe middle-level models for progressive educators engaged in student-centered, experiential philosophical positions. Listed below are some general conclusions for teachers that seem to cut across the various models:

Students will learn better when using preferences in which they're successful. Students will be better learners when they can expand their preferences. When teaching accommodates various preferences, more students will be successful. Teachers can construct activities that include specific (& multiple) learning preferences. This can be done by adding alternatives or, completing learning cycles that incorporate all styles or,

by utilizing wholistic, complex tasks.

Source: http://www-isu.indstate.edu/ctl/styles/learning.html#LSTEACH

The Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards are derived from the National Staff Development Council’s (NSDC) Standards for Staff Development. Click on the following links to reach each of the two organization’s websites. The following slides will give you more information about Maryland’s standards.

Like the NSDC standards, the Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards rest on several fundamental assumptions about contextual factors that are critical to ensuring that professional development is effective.

The NSDC standards were developed in 1995 and revised in 2001. The Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards are derived from the 2001 version of the NSDC standards.

III. Target Your Learner: Adult Learning and Professional Development Strategies

The Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards

National Staff Development Council’s (NSDC) Standards for Staff Development

Source: http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/instruction/prof_standards.htm


From Maryland Teacher Professional Development StandardsFrequently Asked Questions:

1. Why do we need standards for teacher professional development?Standards can serve a variety of important functions. First, they provide a clear vision and definition of high-quality professional development. Second, these standards and the related indicators can guide design, planning, implementation, and evaluation of professional development. These standards can also inform decisions about allocating resources for professional development, and they can support quality control and accountability systems.

2. Who articulated these professional development standards?These standards were developed by the Maryland Teacher Professional Development Advisory Council, a 26-member group of distinguished K-16 educators, community leaders, and representatives from the business community. The State Superintendent of Schools convened the Council in January 2003 and charged the group with recommending a practical, policy-relevant definition of high-quality professional development. Following an extensive review of research on professional development, as well as numerous sets of standards set by other state departments of education, districts, local and regional reform initiatives, and professional associations, the Council articulated these standards for Maryland.


Context for High-Quality Teacher Professional Development in Maryland:

Professional development is most effective when it takes place in vibrant professional learning communities. These learning communities take various forms, but they all value

ongoing learning by teachers and students. They encourage individual and collaborative experimentation, practice, and reflection. They foster collegiality and problem solving, and they emphasize continuous improvement in classrooms and schools.

Think about: How will your school project help to establish a learning community? How will it encourage collaboration? Reflection? Problem solving? Continuous improvement?




Professional development is most effective when there are strong leaders. These leaders recognize the value of high-quality professional

development, encourage and facilitate teacher participation, and communicate about the benefits of professional development to key stakeholders (e.g., parents, school boards, county commissioners). Ideally, leadership for professional development is distributed among teachers, principals and other administrators, district staff, MSDE, and institutions of higher education, and various cultural organizations. At the same time, no single formula defines the appropriate distribution of leadership.

Think about: How will your school project encourage participation? How can you ensure that your experience is viewed as beneficial not only by the participants but also by the stakeholders?



Context for High-Quality Teacher Professional Development in Maryland: Professional development is most effective when there are adequate resources.

Resources include money, people, and time. Just as leadership should be

distributed, resources (people and money) can come from a variety of sources, with no single organization or stakeholder group expected to shoulder the whole burden. Careful analysis of how time is used in school schedules, district calendars, negotiated agreements and other policy documents can lead to more time for teacher learning. All of these resources will be used most effectively when allocations are coordinated and when there is careful assessment of the returns on investments in professional development. As with leadership, no single formula defines the adequacy of resources. Instead, resources are adequate when they ensure that all teachers can study, practice, and implement the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective with their students.

Think about: How will you make adequate use of resources when developing your school project (teacher’s time, district money)?




Professional development is most effective when there is consensus around clear expectations for what teachers should know and be able to do to help all students learn. These expectations are shared among all stakeholders and district and

school leaders work to build understanding and consensus around them. The expectations are reflected in negotiated agreements, job descriptions and assignments, performance appraisal systems, systems of rewards and incentives for teachers, and in the design and content of teacher professional development.

Think about: What expectations will you set for your school project? Who will you consult with to ensure that expectations reflect a consensus?



The Maryland Teacher Professional Development Standards are made up of Standards and Indicators that Define High-Quality Professional Development

6 Content Standards: The first six standards define the content of professional development. Specifically, the standards address (1) mastery of academic content aligned with Maryland standards and quality instruction, (2) using research to inform practice, (3) professional collaboration to improve instruction, (4) mastery of knowledge and skills to meet diverse learning needs, (5) teachers’ skills in providing safe, secure and supportive learning environments for all students, and (6) mastery of skills necessary to communicate effectively with parents as partners in their children’s learning.

3 Process Standards: The next three standards concentrate on the processes of planning, organizing and designing professional development. These standards call for (1) examining disaggregated student data to determine the content, (2) using rigorous, ongoing evaluation to assess results for teachers and for students, and (3) incorporating best practices in adult learning into the design.



Maryland Teacher Professional Development Content Standards I. Content knowledge and quality teaching - Effective professional

development deepens all teachers’ content knowledge and the knowledge and skills necessary to provide effective instruction and assess student progress.

II. Research-based - Effective professional development ensures that all teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to apply research to decision making.

III. Collaboration - Effective professional development ensures that teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to collaborate with others to improve instruction.

IV. Diverse learning needs - Effective professional development ensures that all teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to meet the diverse learning needs of all of their students.

V. Student learning environments - Effective professional development ensures that all teachers are able to create safe, secure, and supportive learning environments for all students.

VI. Family involvement - Effective professional development ensures that all teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to involve families and other community members as active partners in their children’s education.



Maryland Teacher Professional Development Process Standards I. Data-driven - Effective teacher professional development relies on rigorous

analysis of data. II. Evaluation - Rigorous evaluations assess the impact of professional

development on teaching and student learning. III. Design and teacher learning - Effective professional development content

and process reflect best practices in workplace learning and in-depth understanding of how and why adults learn.




As you plan for your school e-learning project, remember you need to TARGET THE LEARNER!

Maintain a clear vision of your learner. Keep in mind….

Adult Learning Theory

Learning Styles Professional Development

Standards

Resources “Adult Learning Theory: A Resource Guide” Compiled by Teresa Crafton, Indiana State

Universityhttp://sapphire.indstate.edu/~craftont/adultlrn.html

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/

“Identifying Student Attitudes and Learning Styles In Distance Education”http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/v5n2/pdf/v5n2_valenta.pdf

Maryland State Department of Education http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/instruction/prof_standards.htm

Indiana State University, Center for Teaching and Learninghttp://www-isu.indstate.edu/ctl/styles/learning.html#LSTEACH

Telecommunications for Remote Work and Learninghttp://www.cyg.net/~jblackmo/diglib/styl-a.html#What%20motivates%20adult%20learners

targeting your learner: principles of adult learning, learning styles, and professional development...

Documents

adult learning principles

learning styles

adult learning theory

learning opportunities

advantages of online

elearning environments

adult learners

professional developer