Digital Professional Development

Andragogy makes the following six assumptions about the design of adult earning:

1. Adults need to know why they are learning something before learning it.

2. Adult learners have the concept of being responsible for their own lives and the decisions they make. 

3. The role of the learners' experience is important.

4. Adults are ready to learn when it comes to things that directly affect their lives.

5. Adult learners are life-centered in their orientation to learning

6. Adults are motivated by internal pressures.

When designing courses, instructional designers need to prepare in advance procedures that involve the learner in the planning of the content. These elements are as follows:

1. Designers need to prepare the learner by getting feedback on what the learner would like to learn.

2. Designers need to establish a climate for learning by providing a relaxed, respectful, supportive, and comfortable environment.

3. Designers need to have a planning process that gives learners a voice in their learning.

4. Designers need to perform a diagnosis of needs with students by devising a plan to understand what behavior, performance, or competencies learners would like to gain from the curse content. 

5. Designers need to set the objectives by working with learners.

6. Designers need to devise a learning plan by ensuring that class content flows in sequential order and the learning flow should make sense. 

7. Designers need to provide learning activities that allow the learners to explore the concepts and align with the class learning objectives.

8. Designers need to evaluate the learner to ensure class objectives are met, and then the instructor and learner re-diagnose the class's needs.