Learning New Technologies Through Everyday Educative Experiences

Most learning across the adult lifespan arises outside the circumstances of formalised educational provisions, such as taught courses, training programmes or professional development interludes. In fact, it occurs through everyday experiences as adults engage in activities and interactions in work, community and family settings. Some of those experiences are inherently educative. They provide forms of indirect guidance and support for learning and sometimes direct assistance in developing further what they know, can do and value (i.e., learning) that would not otherwise be acquired through their own discovery efforts alone. These kinds of experiences can be labelled as ‘educative’, originally coined by Dewey but re-defined here to accommodate the broader array of experiences through which individuals learn than through intentional efforts of schooling. For instance, evidence suggests that adults’ engagement and activities in community, workplace and family settings offer a range of such educative experiences. These experiences are distinct from those availed through formalised educational programmes and acts of teaching. Moreover, these kinds of experiences are distributed across a range of social, cultural and economic activities in which adults engage. They can offer support and guidance when new challenges are being faced in and across communities. The role of educative experiences is examined in the context of older adults’ learning to engage with new technologies in this review paper. It draws upon observations from work life history studies and quantitative data from the Program of International Assessment of Adult Competence. It is proposed that there are close and more distal forms of guidance and support that individuals engage with in becoming competent with new technologies that are increasingly being utilised across all aspects of economic, cultural and social life. This provides a context in which the concept of educative experiences can be appraised as a means for this kind of learning to progress.