Most of the people never heard the word “Andragogy” even people from the field of education. While pedagogy is the term for child to adolescent education so is the term androgoy the equivalent, but mainly used in adults education. The term was first used in 1833 by the German Alexander Knapp, but developed and made the term popular, was the American Malcom Shepherd Knowles.

Knowles implemented andragogy as an education technology especially for adults learning and learning technologies. When searching the internet there are many scrips and writings concerning the Knowles andragogy, but something confusing are the definitions about Principles, Assumptions, Models, Outcomes and the number of the items. The main reference referred, is the elearning industry.

4 Principles of Andragogy

1. Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
2. Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for the learning activities.
3. Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their job or personal life.
4. Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented. (Kearsley, 2010)

5 Assumptions of Adult learners

1. Self-concept: As a person matures his/her self-concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being
2. Experience: As a person matures he/she accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning
3. Readiness to learn: As a person matures his/her readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles.
4. Orientation to learning: As a person matures his/her time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application. As a result his/her orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject- centeredness to one of problem centeredness.
5. Motivation to learn: As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal (Knowles 1984:12 in Smith, M., 2002)

In the digital age, the kind of learning has changed, especially in adult learning. Adult learns are eager to learn to develop their skills, but often have a lack of time to do. The field of eLearning opens a door that provide adult learners with possibilities to extend their skills from home, from school, on the job, and where ever they find an appropriate place.

Adult learners are a special group who act voluntarily to develop and extend their owned skills. Adult learning should provide determined goals and following outcomes:

• Adults should acquire a mature understanding of themselves.
• Adults should develop an attitude of acceptance, love, and respect toward others.
• Adults should develop a dynamic attitude toward life
• Adults should learn to react to the causes, not the symptoms, of behavior
• Adults should acquire the skills necessary to achieve the potentials of their personalities
• Adults should understand the essential values in the capital of human experience.
• Adults should understand their society and should be skillful in directing social change

Pro and Con Andragogy

Pro

• Flexibility to hitch discussions within the bulletin board rib discussion areas at any point of time or come online with classmates and instructors remotely in chat rooms
• Instructors and students each report eLearning fosters additional interaction among students and instructors than in giant lecture rooms
• Active or workplace work is simulated in an exceedingly virtual room
• Fewer penalties from non-compliance
• With success finishing on-line or eLearning courses builds understanding and certainty
• Encourages students to require responsibility for his or her learning

Con

• Learners with low motivation or unhealthy study habits could fall behind
• While not the routine structures of a conventional category, students could wander off or confused regarding course activities and deadlines
• Students could feel isolated from the trainer and classmates
• Pedagogue might not forever be offered once students are finding out or want facilitate
• Slow web connections or older computers could create accessing course materials frustrating
• Managing pc files and on-line learning computer code will generally appear advanced for college students with beginner-level pc skills

Bibliography

Gaya, J. (2013, January 21). Retrieved from Pros And Cons Of Campus Learning Vs Online Learning: https://elearningindustry.com/pros-and-cons-of-campus-learning-vs-online-learning

Pappas, C. (2013, May 9). The Adult Learning Theory - Andragogy. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/the-adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm-knowles

Smith, M. k. (2002). Retrieved from Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy, the encyclopedia of informal education,: hhttp://infed.org/mobi/malcolm-knowles-informal-adult-education-self-direction-and-andragogy/

© 2017, Andreas Holzer - Learning Theories