Sharan B. Merriam - Learning in Adulthood

In the future, jobs will be increasingly automated, and more positions will be taken by robots. There is concern that technology will usurp the jobs of those who drive cars and trucks, workers in middle management, and even stock market analysts. How will educators, trainers, and workers need to adapt? Findings from a Pew Research study reveal that respondents believe that job education will be accomplished in multiple ways on multiple platforms from in-person training to self-directed learning, to engaging in virtual reality scenarios. Workers will be encouraged to gain skills in things that are less likely to be replicated by artificial intelligence. Such skills as creativity, collaboration, “complex communication” and the “ability to thrive in diverse environments” will be stressed (Rainie & Anderson, 2017, para. 14). They predict that mentoring and apprenticeships will be increasingly used in the workplace (Rainie & Anderson, 2017). Leadership and conflict resolution skills will still be in demand (Rainie & Anderson, 2017). Although college degrees will still be important, employers may accept other forms of credentialing, such as digital badges, and competency may be measured in “real world work portfolios” (para. 20). Some fear that training will not meet the needs of those seeking employment in the near future because of a lack of funding, jobs changing too quickly, and the challenge inherent in teaching soft skills (Rainie & Anderson, 2017).

Developing simultaneously with the emphasis on learning to learn is the notion of the learning organization (see Chapter 2). To survive in the global economy, organizations must learn quickly (Serrat, 2017). The growing body of literature on the learning organization positions learning, information processing, and problem-solving skills as central to the survival of both the individual worker and the organization. Kanten, Kanten, and Gurlek (2015) recognize the importance of the learning organization in the age of globalization. They note, “Due to globalization, rapid changes, and [a]diverse workforce, learning organizations have become an important factor for organizations to gain competitive advantage. Learning organizations are considered a key process which contributes to organizational success” (p. 1359).

Closely related to shifts to a service and information economy are changes in America's labor force. As previously mentioned, the service sector jobs are expected to grow followed by jobs in the health and social assistance sector (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Not surprisingly, women, minorities, and the elderly are overrepresented in the lower paying service jobs. Since the mid- 1950s, however, the labor force has changed from one dominated by blue-collar occupations to one where most jobs are considered white collar. Changes in the composition of the workforce are also occurring along racial and ethnic lines. Although White non-Hispanic workers account for the majority of workers −78% in 2017—(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018), the percentage of White non-Hispanics in the labor force has declined 2% since 2005 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005) while the percentage of people of color in the workforce has risen. African Americans comprise 13% of the workforce compared to 11% in 2005, whereas Hispanics made up 17% of the workforce in 2017 compared to 13% in 2005 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005, 2018). Asians account for 6% of the labor force (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Perhaps the greatest change of all has been the participation of women in the workforce. “In 1950, there were 18.4 million women in the labor force, which accounted for about one-third of the total labor force” (Toossi & Morisi, 2017, p. 3). By 2024, “women in the labor force will increase to 77.2 million… for a 47.2% share” (p. 3). Economic necessity and the freeing of occupations traditionally assigned to men have contributed to this change.

In summary, economic factors are shaping the nature of our society, and by extension, the nature of learning that adults are most likely to undertake. A global economy, the shift to a service and information society, and consequent changes in the configuration of the labor force are determining to a large extent where learning takes place, what is offered, and who participates.

Technology has changed the way we live and learn. Technology-related vocabulary is part of our daily conversations. Those of us who teach students at a distance may need to log in to a learning management system (LMS) such as Blackboard, Schoology, Canvas, or Brightspace. We access our LMS from our computer. There is no more apt metaphor for reflecting the rate of technological change than the computer. Sometimes the computer requires that we install software and then we have to reboot our computer for it to take effect. We process students and information; we plan learning activities with an eye to inputs, flow, and outputs; we provide feedback to individual learners and to programs. Indeed, we program learning experiences and ourselves. Technology has had an enormous impact on society and adult learning. It has been instrumental in bringing about the information society, which has created new jobs and eliminated others. And as we have seen, globalization is technology driven.

The move to an information society has been a function of technological developments associated with an information explosion. Within a short span of time, electronic, communication, and information technologies have changed society and affected how people go about their daily lives. From texting a colleague via cell phone, to ordering a ride to the airport via a smartphone app, to our car's sensors alerting us to vehicles in our blind spot, everyday life has been irrevocably influenced by technology.

Concurrent with these technological advances has been an information explosion. There are “2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day” and “90 percent of the data in the world was generated in the last 2 years” (Marr, 2018, para. 1). Data center storage capacity was about 1,450 exabytes worldwide with researchers predicting that storage capacity will be 2,300 exabytes by 2021 (Taylor, C. 2018). One exabyte is one million gigabytes. In this information-rich society, there is an increasing need for continuing education and for learning how to ask good questions and assess the veracity of the information.

Technology has changed where data is stored. At one time, information was stored on punch cards that programmed everything from player pianos to textile looms (Foote, 2017). By the late 1800s, data was stored on phonograph records and on film (History of Online Storage, 2017). Storing computer data on magnetic tape occurred in the 1950s (History of Online Storage, 2017). In the last 30 years we have seen floppy disks give way to 3.5-in. disks, to CD-ROMs, to jump or flash drives and cloud storage, which allows individuals to store data remotely and access it through the Internet.

A major societal shift, such as moving from an industrial to an information society, results in profound changes in the society's structure. In an industrial society, machine technology extended physical ability; in an information society, computer technology extends mental ability. Material wealth has great value in an industrial society; knowledge and information are key assets in an information society. The social structure changes from hierarchies and bureaucracies to multicentered and horizontal networks. These changes in society's underlying structure can be seen most dramatically in changes in the workforce. As noted earlier, the shift is eliminating certain classifications of work while creating others not previously dreamed of. For example, with the rise of Internet travel sites, fewer travel agents are needed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019b). However, software developers are predicted to be in increasing demand (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019a).