Teaching Adult Learners

Learn the most powerful techniques for reaching and motivating adult learners. This course will teach you the latest and greatest educational methods to create the perfect student-centered classroom.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

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Offered in partnership with your preferred school

Central Texas College

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Learning method

Self-Guided

$129

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-Moderated

$129

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Starting April 16 | May 14

Details + Objectives

Course code: tal

If you're excited about the challenge of reaching and teaching adult learners, then you're in the right place! In this course, you will discover how to use the newest educational methods to create a student-centered classroom that's perfectly suited for adult learners.

First, you will be introduced to the unique needs and motivations of adult students and find out just what they expect from your class. After that, you will examine your students' different learning styles and multiple intelligences and look at how you can teach to each learner's strengths.

Next, you will delve into a host of innovative teaching techniques that will turn your students into active learners and set them up for success. You will discover high-tech, low-tech, and no-tech educational tools you can use to capture and hold your students' attention.

Following that is a challenging topic: how to organize your material effectively and design strong lesson plans. In addition, you will learn how to create effective tests and how to teach your students good study skills. You will also explore a wide range of assessments and how to grade them. Finally, you will learn how to make your classroom accessible and enjoyable for students with disabilities.

What you will learn

Explore the unique needs and motivations of adult students and find out just what they're expecting from your class
Examine your students' different learning styles and multiple intelligences and look at how you can teach to each learner's strengths
Learn ways to get misbehaving or under-achieving students back on track
Delve into a host of innovative teaching techniques that will turn your students into active learners and set them up for success
Understand high-tech, low-tech, and no-tech educational tools you can use to capture and hold your students' attention
Learn how to organize your material effectively and design strong lesson plans
Learn how to create effective tests and how to teach your students good study skills
Understand how to make your classroom accessible and enjoyable for students with disabilities

How you will benefit

Gain tricks and techniques for winning over this fun, exciting, and very demanding group of students
Gain the confidence you need to succeed in teaching adults with the information and hands-on activities in this course
Discover how to create a student-centered classroom that's perfectly suited for adult learners

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

A great classroom starts with a great teacher—and that's you! This lesson introduces how you can grow in your job as an adult educator by enhancing your professionalism and managing your time effectively. In addition, you will learn how to boost your confidence and establish your authority in the classroom.

Adult students are different than kids and understanding those differences can help you reach and teach them. This lesson explores what makes adult learners tick and how you can best meet their needs. In addition, you will learn about preparing for that big first day by getting your paperwork in order.

Jill loves testing the rules. Germaine is a shy bookworm. Claire is an artist. All of these adults have different learning styles and intelligences. This lesson explores two different models of learning styles and introduces eight intelligences you will want to factor into your lesson plans.

"Zzzzzzz" This is the sound of Darren snoozing in the corner as you're trying to lecture. Meanwhile, Emily and Sherelle are busy gossiping about their weekend. Does this sound like your classroom? If so, you will enjoy this lesson, which introduces many techniques to get misbehaving students back on track.

Remember the old days, when teachers lectured for hours while students took notes or dozed? Those days are gone! This lesson introduces a host of innovative techniques, from window paning and role-playing to mnemonics and visualization, that work like magic in a student-centered classroom.

"Proper prior planning" may be a cliché, but it's also an excellent idea. This lesson looks at the upfront work that can set you up for success in the classroom. To do so, you will discover the 12 steps for creating a dynamite course outline.

Just as an interior decorator accents a room with bright colors and great fabrics, you can accent your classroom presentations with the right audiovisual aids. This lesson looks at high-tech, low-tech, and no-tech educational aids and technology you can use to capture and keep your students' attention.

What motivates your students to learn? This lesson introduces 10 needs and desires that bring learners to your classroom—and you will discover how to tap into those motivators during your presentations. You will also learn how to create powerful presentation openings, content, and closings.

This lesson explores the A-B-C's of grading and the ways to write top-notch test questions. In addition, you will discover great tools for assessing any type of skill, from cake-baking to hairdressing. You will also find out how to avoid the most common mistakes teachers make when they assess students.

This lesson focus on making your class accessible and enjoyable for students with disabilities. You will learn about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), how to comply with this law, and common learning disabilities—dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in particular.

Even if you create great lessons, your students will succeed only if they have great study habits and efficient test-taking skills. This lesson explores ways to beef up your students' study skills and look at strategies for test-taking.

Enough about your students—this lesson is all about you! Whether you're a brand-new teacher or an experienced educator looking for new classroom opportunities, you will find tips here on how to power up your job search.

Instructors & Support

Annemarie Thompson

Annemarie Thompson is an award winning learning designer with over 15 years of experience in the distance learning industry. She produces courses on key teacher development topics including Differentiated Instruction, Classroom Discipline, and Classroom Management. Her courses have been offered by more than 100 colleges and universities and were the basis of an accredited online master's program.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Reviews

I enjoyed the humor and interesting supplemental articles that were included in the instruction. The course content was up-to-date and the examples were realistic. I learned something new from each lesson.

Excellent class for beginning instructors. Covered all essential materials for running one's classroom and then some. Excellent!

I am a long-time instructor, but it is refreshing to take a course and perhaps learn some new tricks!!!

I really enjoyed this class. This course gave me great information from classroom management to creating lessons.

I loved this course. I would recommend this course to someone who is interested in teaching or someone who wants to brush up on the teaching skills they have.

One of the better classes I have had.

I loved this course! It was very interesting. It easily met my needs to get CEU credits. I will recommend the course to other teachers.

I have already recommended this course to a number of early childhood teachers.

This was an excellent refresher.

This course gave valuable ideas for teaching adult learners. I loved the section on how to beef up students' study skills and strategies for test-taking. I plan on incorporating and sharing many of the fun study techniques in my own class.