Motivating the adult learner
Motivating the Adult Learner
Another aspect of adult learning is motivation. At least six factors serve as sources of motivation for adult learning:
Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships.
External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority.
Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and improve ability to participate in community work.
Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and stay abreast of competitors.
Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.
Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to satisfy an inquiring mind.
A number of studies including Government commissioned bodies have carried out extensive research over the years into the common problem of non-participative and disengaged learners. The Government’s ambition is to make the UK the number one country for supplying advanced ICT and related skills. It is providing support to encourage innovative approaches in workplaces to develop staff with higher-level skills, especially those who have lower level ICT skills. In the magazine (2002) it is suggested that: ‘the better a person’s skills, the easier it is to find work, promotion and be flexible when it comes to training’.
Training: this is linked to the issues of time and costs. In most institutions there has been a need to establish a training programme for staff in how to use ICT to deliver on-line courses, maintain them, and to deliver outreach programmes to different student groups (young students, senior citizens, and ethnic minority students for example). Linked to this are issues of staff resistance, and in some cases,
Another aspect of adult learning is motivation. At least six factors serve as sources of motivation for adult learning:
Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships.
External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority.
Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and improve ability to participate in community work.
Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and stay abreast of competitors.
Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.
Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to satisfy an inquiring mind.
A number of studies including Government commissioned bodies have carried out extensive research over the years into the common problem of non-participative and disengaged learners. The Government’s ambition is to make the UK the number one country for supplying advanced ICT and related skills. It is providing support to encourage innovative approaches in workplaces to develop staff with higher-level skills, especially those who have lower level ICT skills. In the magazine (2002) it is suggested that: ‘the better a person’s skills, the easier it is to find work, promotion and be flexible when it comes to training’.
Training: this is linked to the issues of time and costs. In most institutions there has been a need to establish a training programme for staff in how to use ICT to deliver on-line courses, maintain them, and to deliver outreach programmes to different student groups (young students, senior citizens, and ethnic minority students for example). Linked to this are issues of staff resistance, and in some cases,