Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ America's Adult Education System Is Broken. Here's How Experts Say We Can Fix It.

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Sometimes even when news media is trying to do the right thing it misses the mark. There's a lot to like about this story but the method of interviewing 'experts' and on the basis of that recommending solutions to a problem is flawed. Yes, I agree with some (not all) of these experts and support some of their solutions, but that's irrelevant. The people selected as experts are almost all involved with one or another solutions provider, not a researcher in the field with a much broader perspective. And even if they were, the sample size is far too small to get a range of opinions. We don't know which views represent a genuine consensus and which are idiosyncratic. The result is a set of recommendations firmly rooted in 'the way it has always been done, only more so', for example, more in-person classes, more job training, etc.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 1:30 p.m.

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