I had a chance to connect with my learning partner, and we had a very interesting discussion about trends in adult education. We also discussed trends in our respective fields of work.
We both found it interesting how adult education has shifted towards online programming. COVID-19 has certainly accelerated this process, but this change was nevertheless long in the making. My learning partner reflected that their daughter, who is in university, prefers the online learning method; at the same time, my learning partner reflected that he learned in a more conventional environment and faced challenges with online learning (which I share). We also discussed how online learning poses some challenges, particularly those relating to motivation and engagement. Adult learners face unique challenges as their time is often occupied by work, home life and other hobbies. Finding time for self directed, online learning can be difficult when weighed against them. We felt that the concept of the flipped classroom could come in to play when it comes to motivation. Weekly online discussions with other students and the instructor could help alleviate this issue. These scheduled discussions could help provide learners a sense of ownership of the material (as it had to be discussed with others), and a feeling community in the class. Naturally, this is challenging to organize when a program has asynchronous start dates.
My learning partner spoke about how in his field, graphic design, there has been a shift towards online content creation. Companies (or individuals – such as influencers), feel the need to produce significant and frequent content for their online platforms (Instagram, blogs, social media), and in varied forms (videos, podcasts). The downside to this mass content creation is that the quality of the work is not always very high. This change has been long in the making since print media has gone down in popularity/distribution due to the accessibility of personal computers and smartphones. It will be interesting to see how this has an impact on traditional graphic design programs, as they try to adapt to meet the needs of the content-creator market.