Teaching Internet skills to adults
George Geddes
University of Strathclyde
Scotland
Paper: 1/2 hour
Empowerment, Enhancement, Enrichment
This paper describes a ten-week evening class run by the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Strathclyde. It will include an outline of content and methods used to teach Internet use to adults from a variety of backgrounds. As part of the course content is based on choices by the participants, the motivation of the students will be discussed. Course structure, and teaching methods are closely related to the needs of the class members.
The paper will also consider why teaching adults differs from teaching children. In the first year after taking over as tutor, decisions were taken for pragmatic reasons. Subsequent reflection revealed that many issues were common to adult education. In future years, greater awareness of these may lead to modification of approach and content.
The paper relates to eLiteracy and empowerment of the learner. Teaching Web searching should ensure that the learner gains increasing skill in search techniques. In addition the student may need practical help such as dealing with e-mail 'spam'. Finally, and again related to Web searching and, say, newsgroups, it is essential that the students develop critical ability. The process which takes place in selection of resources for a library, or contributions to a journal, is essentially transparent to the user. Novice searchers have to be aware that the Internet lacks quality control.
Some content of the course has been slightly modified based on experience, but since approximately half the time is devoted to topics agreed by the students, there is less opportunity for reflection. In practical terms, the closing session (writing a basic web page in HTML) proved so popular that a ten-week class on Web page design using HTML was included in this year's programme and was well attended.
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