Working with Adult Learners:
How Do THEY Learn?
What About the Web 2.0 Learner?
Teacher Quality Partnership
Cobb County School District and
Kennesaw State University
Patricia Jackson, CCSD
Jim Wright, KSU
June 3, 2011
Participant Learning Outcomes
• The participant will consider the research of
how adults learn in the design of instruction
for KSU interns.
• The participant will explore the concept of
“generational” learning as it applies both to
their own teaching style and that of their
adult students.
• The participant will develop an awareness of
how technology has impacted the instruction
of students of all ages.
Activating Prior Knowledge
What Do You Think?
• You can use your cell phone to text your
answer (Text CODE to 37607 )*
• You can tweet your answer ( @poll and CODE)
• Web browser http://poll4.com
• Or you can write your
answers on a piece of paper
*texting rates apply
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The Adult Learner
Malcolm Knowles (1973)
Malcolm Knowles, Elwood Holton III and Richard Swanson (2005)
• Adult learners need to know why they need to
learn something before learning it.
• Adult self concept is dependent on a move
toward self-direction.
• Prior experiences of the adult learner provide
the background for future learning.
• Adults become ready to learn when the need to
cope with a life situation or learn a new task.
• Learning is life-centered and is a process of
developing more competency.
• The motivation of adult learners is internal
rather than external.
Four Generations in America Today
Generations at School: Building an Age-Friendly Learning Community
Suzette Lovely and Austin Buffum (2007)
What are the traits, hot buttons and tipping points of
four generations working in America today?
How do these considerations impact how college
students of all ages learn?
How do these considerations impact how we teach
students in our schools and how they learn?
Learning Activity
Which Generation are YOU?
On the chart paper posted around the
room, please go and stand by the chart
that reflects your generation or the one
that you want to claim :
Veterans
Baby Boomers
Generation X
Millennials
Born
Born
Born
Born
1922
1944
1960
1980
– 1943
– 1960
– 1980
- 2000
Model: Station Teaching
Teaching Strategy : Cooperative Learning (10 Minutes)
As a small group, assign roles and then discuss
the following questions as you were a student
attending school during that era. Write the
responses on the chart paper.
What were some of the major historical events?
What were some of your favorite pop culture
memories (movies, music, fashion, etc.)?
Through what methods, did your teachers provide
instruction?
Four Generations in America Today
Generations at School: Building an Age-Friendly Learning Community
Suzette Lovely and Austin Buffum (2007)
What are the traits, hot buttons and tipping points of
four generations working in America today?
How do these considerations impact how college
students of all ages learn?
How do these considerations impact how we teach
students in our schools and how they learn?
Review of Research
Chart: Meeting the Needs of a Mixed Crowd
Generations at School: Building an Age-Friendly
Learning Community, by Suzette Lovely and
Austin Buffman (Corwin Press, 2007), p. 64.
Reprinted with permission from SAGE
Publications, Inc.
Article: Tune In: To what a new generation of
teachers can do” by Joan Richardson, Tools for
Schools, May/June 2008. Reprinted with
permission from Learning Forward.
Summarizing Strategy: Think, Ink, Pair, Share
Using the index cards on your table,
please write down three ideas that either
affirm your professional practice or
support you in thinking about changing
your practice based on what you have
learned about adult learners today (3
minutes).
Find a learning partner and share what
you have learned ( 3 minutes).