Program Design

Individual Responses to other Group Blogs:
Andrew Buckle: Group 1 and Group 6
Scott Rafalski: Commented on Narrative Learning and Behaviorist Learning Group Blog on 4/5/13
Paul commented on Group 1 and Group 4


Program Design
Group 3
31 March 31, 2013
Amanda Bolin, Andrew Buckle, Sara Pratt
Scott Rafalski, Paul Starr


Introduction:

Road Scholars is an international program directed at retired seniors to engage in lifelong learning pursuits (Elderhostel, Inc., 2013). Although the program offers a myriad of choices, locations, and educational opportunities, the concern for many who may find themselves on fixed incomes, is a financial barrier to participating. The following program design is meant to provide elderly learners the opportunity to engage in the learning process in a low cost, local and interest based format.  This can be done through self-directed learning in which individuals take the initiative, with or without assistance, in diagnosing their learning needs (Corporate Training Partners, 2009).  This program seeks to partner with local community stores, senior centers, and neighborhoods. Utilizing local community or senior centers creates a low cost and engaging atmosphere to this demographic and minimizes planning out their parts, freeing them to engage in the learning process more.  

Objectives:
Provide low cost educational opportunities for aging public
Create partnerships with local community groups, sponsors and neighborhoods to serve aging public
Develop skills for retired people to increase quality of life
Provide activities for aging population that promote learning throughout life and possibilities to give back to the community with time or skills
To retool one’s learning skill set from passive to active.
Allow the learners to learn only what they need and want to learn.  (Self-Directed Learning)

Rationale:
As our aging public increases, young generations are prone to disregarding or leaving behind one of the fastest growing populations in the world, those over 65. With health care and resources, extended and increased quality of life is not only possible but becoming the norm. As this demographic has aged and retired many seek leisure activities and opportunities to engage their communities in differing ways then when they were part of the workforce.

Using a model from the Elder Hostel Inc., specifically through the Road Scholars program we seek to provide special interest educational opportunities right in the communities the learners live in. This will allow learners to further hone past or present hobbies, engage in the social learning environment, utilize their own past experiences to develop renewed or new skills and potentially put them into action within the community through neighborhood partnerships and mentoring opportunities (Elderhostel, Inc., 2013).

This program plans to model their program design off of Corporate Training partners, Self Directed Learning, by assessing that specific community of elderly individuals to find their readiness to learn and what they want to learn.  This first assessment will help tailor the offered community events to the specific population and what they would like to learn and find valuable to participate in.  When adult/elderly learners can find value in what they are taught, they are more likely to be engaged in that learning.  By allowing learners the opportunity to share these past experiences it provides them with the opportunity to feel like they are part of the group and validated.  The learning environment will work as collaboration between student, teacher and group.  Learners will come in with differing levels of knowledge from novice to expert.  Therefore, the learners themselves may have the ability to serve as a knowledgeable resource, trainer and even model and help fellow learners (Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L., 2007).  These learners will also be intrinsically motivated because they have chosen this learning and will be seeking self-gratification and satisfaction (Corporate Training Partners, 2009). 

Using community or senior centers already in existence and partnering with local businesses that specialize in interests such as gardening, interior decorating, or nutrition students will be able to be exposed to current trends and bring their own experience to the learning environment, a key element of Andragogy and Self Directed Learning (SDL).

Action Plan:
Provide the elderly population (ages 65 and greater) with learning opportunities within their own community that make the learners feel like they can share their experiences, direct their own learning, and give back to their community in order to feel a part of the community.

In order for our program to succeed we will need to start by surveying neighborhoods that have a large pool of demographics with people in the retirement age range.    We would assess the population of their readiness to learn and what is important for them to learn in order to know what businesses or organizations to target when looking for partnership.  We will then work on connecting with local businesses, city or town parks departments, and colleges/schools with special interest focuses such as lawn and garden centers, interior decorating, art and crafts, and others.  Then we would connect with local community and senior centers for educational space for these seminars or learning opportunities.  The program would then schedule a date, time, and space for the learning opportunity to take place with the organization of when their seminar would be and would make a monthly calendar to provide to the elderly population.  This calendar would allow the individuals to choose the topics they were specifically interested in learning about and give them time to plan around their own life schedules (attached below is an example of what a monthly calendar would look like). 

The organizations or groups that would partner with us would develop a half day seminar or presentation to share their product, skill, or process in the special interest field.  The organizations and groups would be responsible to develop the class and provide the volunteers; however, the organization or company would be allowed to market their services and merchandise as an incentive in providing the program.   A community organizer/facilitator would then provide a discussion for students to respond to the seminar content, bringing in their own past knowledge on the subject matter and gaining additional insight from their fellow classmates.
Students would then be able to take their learning and directly apply it to their own homes or with further partnerships within the community could volunteer their time to their own neighborhood by giving their service and knowledge in the special area.

Example Event:
Home Depot providing a presentation on How to Start a Home Garden
Date: 16 April 2013, starting at 8am
8-830am: Meet and greet with coffee
8:45-9:45am: Home depot Presentation
10-10:30am: Expert question and answer panel
10:30-11am: Group discussion
11-12pm: Gardening workshop


For example, many home and garden stores will offer classes on how to plant a square foot garden in their backyard. Having these merchants come to a local community center to share their knowledge with the specified student population. The merchant is able to give to the community through volunteering and marketing current tools, products and services. Students who attended are doing so based on interest of the subject matter and either bringing with them their own previous knowledge or are invested in the content enough to ask questions and seek learning on their own, both of which are internal motivators. After being provided information, a facilitator, likely part of the community center staff, can lead the dialogue or take away applications and organize a discussion on current trends with student’s previous knowledge. Through additional partnerships, students can go out into the community and provide basic landscaping help if they chose or take newly learned skills back to their own homes and engage in their own leisurely pursuit of the content. 






References
Corporate Training Partners (2009).  Self-Directed Learning: Be your own Chief Learning
         Officer. Retrieved from http://www.selfdirectedlearning.org

Elderhostel, Inc. (2013).  Road Scholar: Adventures in Lifelong Learning. Retrieved from
         http://www. Roadscholar,org/

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (2007), Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide, p83-92.