Not Your Grandma’s Oldsmobile: Navigating the Changing World of Adult Learning The adult learner is becoming more paradoxical. He/she is becoming more technologically dependent, yet more ubiquitous, searching for equilibrium, yet looking for applicative answers to real world questions, attending courses with the intention of learning, yet desperately in need of being inspired. The world of learning theory has been addressing these issues, but bringing it altogether is the difficult part. So how does one create a learning environment for the 21st century ubiquitous, technology savvy learner who is desperate to be inspire and inspire others? Instructional Design Scholar, author and award winning educator, T M “Tim” Stafford will help unwrap this learning “trilemma” and help create an understanding of the evolution of learning, an understanding of epistemology and how to move towards transformative practice. This fun and engaging time together will inspire you to embrace the shifts in paradigm for the new breed of learner and a new level of instructional design.

1. 
NotYour Grandma’s Oldsmobile:
Navigating the ChangingWorld of Adult
Learning
IACETWebinar – January 16, 2013
T M ”Tim” Stafford, MS MA
Director of Digital Media Center & Sr. Instructional Designer
Liberty Building Forensics Group® - Zellwood, Florida

2. Introduction: Goals of this Session
 Create a theoretical framework for current andragogy.
 Evaluate some technological implications for the expansion of
models of higher order thinking skills like Bloom’s Taxonomy.
 Analyze the connection between objectives and evaluations
 Analyze the emerging theory of connectivism and how it
reflects a change in andragogy.
 Questions and answers

3. Theoretical
Framework of Adult Learning

4. KeyTheories of Adult Learning
 McClusky’s Theory of Margin
 Illeris’s Three Dimensional Learning Model
 Jarvis’s Learning Process
 Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model

5. McClusky’sTheory of Margin
 The adult learner seeks to strike a balance (L:P) between:
 The Load of Life (L) which acts like an independent variable
 The Power of Life (P) which is the power to manage L
 Impact: Education becomes a load that can become dispensable if it
becomes overwhelming to the power to perform.

6. Illeris’Three Dimensional Learning Model
 The adult seeks to strike a
balance (C:E:S) between:
 Cognition – The ability to
understand
 Emotion – The ability to
maintain balance with
personal issues
 Social – The ability to ping
ideas against cultural norms
and mores and reconcile
them.
 Impact 1: Adults need to
understand the WHY of
learning
 Impact 2: Adults need to
understand HOW it will
impact THEIR world

7. Considering ReflectiveTeaching
 4 Critical Lenses of Reflective
Teaching
 The lens of autobiography –
What has been my experience?
 The lens of the student – Who
am I in the process?
 The lens of experience in
relation to colleagues – How
are others affecting me with
what they know?
 The lens of theoretical
literature – What do I know and
where are there gaps in my
knowledge? Where are there
biases and assumptions in my
knowledge?
Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model

8. Epistemology and the Learning Process
 Connections between belief and
learning (Markman, 2012)
 Connections between
experience and learning (Jarvis,
2984)
 A simple world view structure –
connected beliefs about:
 Politics
 Education
 Economics
 Religion
 Social Issues
©2011 The Nehemiah Institute
Used with permission

9. SOWHAT?!!?
Theory
 McClusky’s Theory of Margin
 Illeris’ Three Dimensional
Learning Model
 Brookfield’s Reflective
Teaching Model
 Epistemological Connections
Practical Application to
Instructional Design
 Instructional design needs to
address the balance that is
needed for a learner’s personal
success.
 Instructional design needs to
address the impact of the learning
on the world of the learner.
 Instructional design has to be
reflective – This is a key element
of transformative learning
(Mezirow, 1997)
 Instructional design needs to
understand the worldview issues
that impact the learner.

10. 
Higher OrderThinking Skills

11. The Expansion of Bloom’sTaxonomy
 Traditional Bloom’s Taxonomy Revealed the Principles of Higher
Order Thinking Skills.
 An Updated Version Tackles Technological Culture
Advancements.
 How to Effectively Utilize Technology in the Development of
Higher Order Thinking Skills.

12. Revised Bloom’sTaxonomy

13. Expanded Bloom’sTaxonomy

14. ConnectingTechnology and HOTS

15. SOWHAT?!!?
Subject
 Bloom’s Taxonomy
 Technological Considerations
Practical Application to
Instructional Design
 Instructional design needs to
address the highest order of
thinking skills
 Technology can be leveraged to
help learners achieve the
highest order of thinking skills.
 Social learning is on the rise
and technology will be the
driver behind robust changes
in instructional design.

16. Connecting
Objectives and Assessments

17. Objectives and Assessments:
Bookends of the Learning Journey
Bookend#1
• Define the
objectives.
Bookend#2
• Create
assessments
to prove that
the
objectives
were met.

18. Bookend #1 – Define the Objectives
 Objectives are clearly beyond – “Students will be able to…
(SWBAT)”
 Objectives have the power to position the coursework in a
much more holistic framework. Questions to consider:
 How do the objectives connect with the subject matter?
 How do the objectives connect with the company’s mission?
 How do the objectives connect with the industry at large?

19. Bookend #1:
Define the Objective Framework
Industry Mission
Corporate
Mission
Departmental
Mission
Course Objectives

20. Bookend #1:
Example - IACET Presentation
The Mission of
Instructional
Design as a
Discipline
The Mission of
ASTD
The mission/
objectives of
the local
chapter
Tim’s Objectives

21. Kirkpatrick’ s 4 Levels of Evaluation (1994)
 Reaction - how the learners react to the learning process
 “Was the learning worth my time?”
 Learning - the extent to which the learners gain knowledge and skills
 What knowledge was acquired?
 What skills were developed or enhanced?
 What attitudes were changed?
 Behavior - capability to perform the learned skills while on the job
 “Do people use their newly acquired learning on the job?”
 Results - includes such items as ROI, efficiency, morale, etc.

22. Bookend #2:
Framework for Evaluation
Reaction
Learning
Behavior
Results
Aligning the Objectives

23. SOWHAT?!!?
Subject
 Bookend#1: Objectives
 Bookend #2: Evaluations
 Future Bookend:
Collaboration – Learner
collaboration is not just a
fad, but will be the driver in
corporate business learning.
Practical Application to
Instructional Design
 Instructional design needs to
address the intertwining
objective structure that
exists when designing
coursework.
 Instructional design needs to
create evaluations that align
to the objectives.
 Instructional design needs to
follow a more robust
framework of evaluations
that speak to all aspects of
the learning success.

24. Framework
for Networked Learning

25. Eight Principles of Networked Learning
(Siemens, 2006)

26. SOWHAT?!!?
Element of Theory of
Connectivism
 Connectivism
 Network Learning Theory
 Ubiquitous Learning (u-
learning: a combination of e-
learning and m-learning)
(Sung, 2009)
Practical Application to
Instructional Design
 Connectivism harnesses the
power to combine the strengths
of the learner with the rich
networking of social media to
create new learning spheres.
 NLT gives principles by which the
complete diversity found in the
connectivist theory has the
promise to empower an
exponential yield from collaborate
and ubiquitous learning.
 U-learning gives instructors the
ability to facilitate and coach
learners towards areas of
advancement that intrinsically
motivate them, while capitlizing
on teir areas of strength as an
internal SME (consider MOOC’s)

27. Trends of the Changing Adult Learner (Marx, 2006)
 Technology will increase the speed of communication and the
pace of advancement or decline.
 Release of human ingenuity will become a primary
responsibility of education and society.
 Social and intellectual capital will become economic drivers,
intensifying competition for well-educated people.
 Greater numbers of people will seek personal meaning in their
lives in response to an intense, high-tech, always on, fast-
moving society.

28. References
 Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
 Marx, G. (2006). Sixteen trends, their profound impact on our future: Implications for students,
education, communities, countries, and the whole of society. Alexandria, VA: Gary Marx and
Educational Research Service.
 Mayer, R. E., & Clark, R. C. (2010). Instructional strategies for receptive learning environments. In K. H.
Silber & W. R. Foshay (Eds.), Handbook of improving performance in the workplace (Vol. 1, pp. 298-
328). San Francisco: Pfeiffer, An Imprint of Wiley.
 Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformation theory of adult learning. In P. Cranton (Ed.), In defense of the
lifeworld (pp. 39-70). State University of New York Press.
 Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, R. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive
guide (Third ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 Siemens, G. (2005, November 5). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation [Weblog post].
Retrieved from http://www.astd.org/LC/2005/1105_seimens.htm
 Sung, J.-S. (2009, December). U-learning model design based on ubiquitous environment. International
Journal of Science and Technology, 13, 77-88. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.

29. Contact information
 Tim Stafford, MS, MA
 E-mail –
t.stafford@libertybuilding.com
 Phone – 407 703 1319
 Website
 www.tmstaffordllc.com
 Twitter - @tmstaffordllc