TECHNOLOGY AND ADULT

LANGUAGE TEACHING
OUTLINES:

1. Extending and distributing adult learning

2. Teachers harnessing technology for adult learning: beliefs
and decisions
3. Authenticity and Autonomy
4. What do adult learners expect of technology
EXTENDING AND DISTRIBUTING
ADULT LEARNING

• Beliefs about the relationship between what happens within

and beyond the classroom setting suggest an increasingly
seamless expansion of the context of learning.
• Tasks may be started within the classroom for group or
individual completion beyond; most make use of an online
environment to provide the home base for this extended
scenario.
 “My goal was to free up some time in class for the discussion in class, so my
classes are much less grammar practice etc. They are much more dedicated to
speaking so that I can have more time for speaking in class – face-to-face
speaking. The technology allows me to get extra time for that.”
(Vida)

 Her webpages and blog provide out-of-class support for online reading
and listening, grammar and vocabulary development;
TEACHERS HARNESSING
TECHNOLOGY FOR ADULT LEARNERS:
BELIEFS AND DECISIONS
• Each teacher talks about technology allowing them to fill
some particular ‘needs gap’.
• For Susan, technology was available to help provide for
individualized or differentiated tasks.
 Awareness of the nature of her learners, who come with so many
different levels of both language and ICT skills. She has to provide
opportunities for differentiation and scaffolding to help them map a
path through their learning trajectories, and this scaffolding derives
not just from her, but from their co-learners.
 “It’s got to be appropriate and it’s got to be relevant to my students,
so it’s not just a case of I like it. I like to use it at the right time. “
(Susan)

 The use of technology is shaped by her understanding of her adult

learners within an ESOL setting, negotiating formal language learning
and life beyond the classroom.

 The importance of timeliness.

 Susan use different technologies to give her learners a sense of direction,
but she is mindful that tools such as PowerPoint and indeed the interactive
whiteboard can tip the balance towards teacher-centered focus, and she
emphasizes the opportunities for learners to come to the board and interact
with the content.
REACHING INTO THE ADULT’S
WORLD: AUTHENTICITY AND
AUTONOMY
• Independent learning is key.
• Decisions about technology use constantly revolve around
what happens within classrooms and what can be provided
for more self-directed learning opportunities.
• All use technology to make ties with the adult’s world.
(authenticity)
 • The use of authentic materials ,i.e.
materials they find in their real life,
their career, their business.
AUTHENTICITY • Exposing learners to things they
meet in their professional and
private life is very important. One
textbook will not be enough.
 • Littlwood (1996) identifies two key
conditions for learners to be able to act
independently: ability and willingness.
• Ability: knowledge about alternatives and
AUTONOMY
the necessary skills for carrying out the
appropriate choices.
• Willingness: motivation and the confidence
to take responsibility for the choices
required.
WHAT DO ADULT LEARNERS EXPECT
OF TECHNOLOGY?
• Adult’s bring their own expectations, beliefs and learning
preferences to the classroom.
• The relationship between learner expectations and teacher
example is strong.
 technology use may not be experienced in the same way by all
learners, WHY?

o Learners come from a wide range of home contexts,

with a range of experience and levels of confidence with
ICT.
 • Most of her activities take place
outside the classroom.
• Her learners make use of her wiki
VIDA’S
EXAMPLE space.
• She encourages the use of mobile
technology.
• Learners participate in a forum
discussion again outside the
classroom.
TO COCLUDE:

The picture that the concept of andragogy provided us with

was of:
o The adult learner as moving towards independence and the
teacher’s role as one which scaffolds a transition to self-
direction
o  the adult learner’s life experience as a resource and a point
of reference for learner-centered activity
o the adult learner’s readiness to learn and awareness of
themselves as learners

o The learner’s orientation to learning, that is the adult learner

knows why he/she is learning and the goals they aim for.
THANK YOU!

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