Adults as learners
Since many of the persons who take online courses are adults, it is especially important for those facilitating such courses to understand how adults approach the learning situation.

Principles underlying Effective Practices in Adult Education
Brookfield (1990) lists six principles which he believes underlie the effective practice of adult education. These will be summarized in this section with some additional perspectives from other authors.

Characteristics of facilitators of adult education
Given the above principles of adult learning, we now turn to the characteristics of the "ideal" facilitator of adult education. See how you match up!

Characteristics of adult education programs
In this final section, we will touch on a number of diverse issues pertaining to the design of courses or programs for adult learners.

Activity
These activities are designed to help you consolidate some of the concepts introduced in this lesson. If you are taking the course for credit, they may be required.