Professional Development colleagues,

Janet Isserlis has said "arguably we're all adult learners". Gina  
Lobaccaro has brought up the context of technology learning. I would  
like to put these together. In the area of learning basic technology  
skills, who is the teacher and who is the learner? Most adult  
education (including ESOL) teachers tell me -- some with glee, some  
with despair -- that many, most or all of their students know more  
about using computers, the Internet or mobile phones than they do.  
This applies to beginning level ESOL students (who may be very  
sophisticated in using technology) as well as others.

In the context where enrolled learners and the teacher need to learn  
more about technology in order to solve practical problems, let's  
look at learner leadership and critical thinking. What prevents and  
what enables learner leadership in the adult ed classroom where  
computers and language, or computers and literacy, or computers and  
other basic skills are being taught together? Is a teaching/learning  
paradigm shift needed for enrolled learners as well as teachers? From  
what to what?

Technology -- including mobile phones -- can be complicated and  
frustrating. Technical problems need to be solved in order to do  
important things like communicate in an emergency (for example to a  
relative overseas using text messaging in the first language).  
Critical thinking may be needed to solve those problems. How do  
teachers integrate critical thinking skills when these problems  
present themselves in the classroom, for example when a document file  
cannot be found, a printer will not work, a Web address is wrong, a  
mobile phone has run out of minutes unexpectedly. How do/can teachers  
take advantage of these opportunities to support critical thinking  
and learner leadership? How can enrolled learners help a teacher to  
make the paradigm shift. How can a teacher help enrollees to do the  
same?

I know that VALUE has taken the position that adult education needs  
to do more with technology -- and I agree. I wonder, Marty, if you  
have some thoughts about what an adult education classroom looks like  
where teachers and enrolled learners are together learning more about  
technology and how to use it well. I wonder if others also have  
thought about how learner leadership and critical thinking can take  
place in this context.

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net