Adult Learning Theories & Instructional Strategies - Learning Plan
EDL 576/676 - Learning Plan
Assignment
1. Learning Event: Basics to Cultivating your Digital Footprint
2. Category: Online training/webinar
3. Purpose: The webinar focuses on bridging the digital divide for adult learners with low technological literacy and help educate on the basic of cultivating their online footprint for a better online experience while protecting their data.
4. Learning Context:
● The learning plan will be an online webinar that’s considered non-time bound once it initially has it’s initial “launch.” With completion of the webinar, they’ll receive a digital “checklist” to hep walk them through taking these steps for themselves as well as how to access a community channel to request support if they have questions. Specific areas of focus include tips on clearing their consumer data on search engines and creating a secure digital “life box” to ensure their personal information is available for family. This is a nonformal learning event with community support in the virtual community platform, Slack, for those who participate in the webinar. This learning event ensures that those who want to continue learning have the basic understandings of how their information can and will be used and how they can manage that with programs online.
● Questions:
○ What do we need ready for the presentation? Do we need to build out the content itself or just provide an overview of what it would look like?
5. Learners: Describe the audience for the Learning Plan. (~5-8 sentences) For example:
● The intended learners are adult learners (21+) who have basic technical abliities but who are interested and open to learning more in how to leverage the internet. Unlike other learning opportunities, the webinar can be accessed by anyone so consideration to varying generational gaps and experiences is taken into consideration. The webinar is specifically designed for a small group of 15-20 to allow for questions and interactivity, but the recording can be shared at large after it’s first stream.
6. Power:
● Ideally, this exercise will empower participants to take learning into their own hands and give them power over their own interactions with the online world (Brookfield, 2013 p. 19). However, it would be unreasonable to assume that there would not be some level of power imbalance in such a training at the start. Where I as a facilitator am very experienced, participants will vary in their experience level and knowledge. Since there’s not necessarily a way to predict who could engage with such a webinar, so ensuring that a baseline of respect and grace for understanding is built into the plan is important. Providing a safe space for questions while empowering participants to try and fail in their own time will be necessary to ensure that there isn’t resistance or frustration.
7. Adult Learning Theories:
● Fenwick's Five Perspectives - specifically the constructivist and situative:
○ I chose the constructivist approach for the main bulk of engagement to allow a level of reflection on their own relationship with the internet and how it impacts their view of online spaces (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020 p. 200).
○ In choosing the situative approach for the post-webinar learnings, I wanted to ensure that there was a community based aspect (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020 p. 200). This will provide valuable for participants to be able to ask questions and hear from their peers, providing different experiences than I may have while I’m still present to facilitate.
● Freire's Socio-emancipatory:
○ I selected Freire's socio-emancipatory approach as an important piece of facilitating this webinar. In thinking about banking vs. problem posing, it would be all too easy to just position myself as the expert without providing space for participants to explore their own relationship with the online environment (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020 p. 175).
Instructional strategies/activities:
● Building self-confidence - Learning Audit & Reflection-in-action:
○ During the webinar, we’ll start with a few basic questions to get started and get a baseline for the group. This learning audit will help participants understand where they start, where they end, and what they can use to motivate themselves going forward (Brookfield, 2013 p. 102). This relates back to the idea of reflecting on their relationship with the online space in real time as they navigate the webinar. This specifically refers back to the constructivist and socio-emancipatory approaches as it provides reflection in action in a communal environment. They will revisit these questions twice in the webinar. These questions include but are not limited to the following for participants to reflect (Scale of 1-5):
■ How confident do you feel confident in your ability to navigate online?
■ How intimidated are you in the online space?
■ Do you feel you can recognize virtual “red flags” as you navigate online?
■ How comfortable do you feel asking for help online?