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INTRODUCTION
In order to unlock the secrets to successful adult learning in the online environment, you have to have the keys. We have found that instead of looking outward, simply looking inward will uncover the keys that adults already have stored deep inside. The keys to unlocking the secrets to successful adult learning online are embedded in the basic principles that guide adult learners. In this first of a three part series, we will explore the origins of adult learning principles in order to identify and apply them to online learning.
HISTORY OF ANDRAGOGY
The concept of adult learning really is not as new as we think, nor is it as old as we think. Whereas we can say that adult learning existed at the time of Plato and Socrates, it only means that adults engaged in the learning process. How they learned was the same as how children learned, which was that teachers taught and chil dren (and adults), listened. This focus squarely on the teacher is called the pedagogical process of learning and has continued to be the primary model for all (young and old) students by telling them what, how, and when to learn (Cullen, 1999).
It was not until the early 20th century that the pedagogical model no longer seemed to "fit" adult learners. The need for a different approach to adult learning became apparent in reaction to the economic and political changes in societies across the globe that required adults to learn expediently and with an immediate ability to apply what was learned in the workplace (Savicevic, 1991). This trend waxed and waned for a few decades until the mid-1960s, when Malcolm Knowles renewed interest in the idea and began to pursue it in earnest (Knowles, 1984).
Drawing from knowledge provided by a number of prominent learning and developmental theorists, Knowles shaped his perception of adult learning and based it upon several principles that rivaled those in established pedagogy. The foundation of Knowles' approach to adult learning, which he called andragogy, was built upon two main points: an acknowledgment of the knowledge and experience gained by adult learners and the idea that the learner-rather than the instructor-is central to the process (Knowles, 1984). As he pursued his research, more...