Today, Tom Vander Ark talks with Tom Arnett about adult education. Tom recently spoke at the Arizona Department of Education Adult Education Institute where he caught up with Tom Arnett. Tom Arnett is a Senior Research Fellow at the Christensen Institute — the disruptive innovation folks that helped popularize blended learning.

 

In this episode, Tom and Tom speak between sessions at the AdultEd conference in Phoenix — a meeting that represents the breadth of adult education in America — from high school completion to career training; with instructors from school districts, community colleges, and juvenile justice. At the conference, Arnett talked about making blended learning work for teachers and Tom Vander Ark talked about trends in AdultEd. In this conversation, they compare notes and Tom Arnett talks further in depth about making blended learning work for teachers, and Tom Vander Ark speaks further about trends in adult ed. They are both excited to see the new learning options being made available to adults that need access the most, the new technology coming to adult ed, entrepreneurship in the curriculum, and organizations adopting blended learning.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:28] Tom Vander Ark welcomes Tom Arnett to the podcast, and he gives an overview of his session at the Arizona Department of Education’s Adult Education Conference about the teacher’s experience with blended learning.

[2:56] The key ways blended learning can improve a teacher’s experience in a classroom.

[4:24] Teaching adults; questions raised and topics touched at Tom’s session at the conference.

[6:09] The discussions around helping organizations adopt blended learning.

[7:58] Trends in adult education.

[9:28] Broader aims in adult education, K-12 vs. adult ed.

[10:16] The importance of supporting teachers in the effort of adult education.

[11:39] Interesting, new technology coming to adult ed.

[14:19] The value of learner supports, and how adult learning in a blended setting is different than it used to be.

[17:00] The benefits of when employers are supportive of adult learning.

[18:34] The important trend of programs pulling more entrepreneurship into their curriculum — moving into a project-based world.

[19:35] 50/50 on College; Millennials views on entrepreneurship.

[20:31] AI behind everything — what it means for adult ed.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Arizona Adult Education Institute

Christensen Institute

Guild Education

 

Suggested Listening:

If you enjoyed this conversation, check out:

“S1: E40 Getting the Right Data to the Right People in the Right Way”

 

Get Involved:

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