ADULT LEARNING, SOCIAL SCIENCES, AND TECHNOLOGY: A COMBINATION FOR THE FUTURE

ABSTRACT

As people age and mature, their interest in the social and behavioral sciences increases. Occupations where personal experience becomes increasing valuable intellectual property are viewed as professions and desirable paths to pursue versus occupations where valued knowledge has a half-life and decays over time. Employers competing for competitive advantage and talent understand and value having the human energy of their organizations capable of contemporary work skills. Improvements in and the availability of information processing technology and tools allows collaboration and distributed learning. The right equation for teaching the social sciences in the future lies in the active mixture of an environment that is friendly to adult learners, satisfies the needs of the stakeholders, and leverages investments made in technology.

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