Systemic Myths of Online Learning and the Adult Basic Education Learner

"Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?" Erich Fromm  

Systemic myths or misconceptions that exist include:
If you can use a smart phone, you can do online learning. Really?!? (that is my disappointed inside voice). My professional voice: this does not capture the reality of adult basic education learners, nor computer or digital literacy, in the slightest.

Someone else will do it.  The compassionate approach is hard to marry to a business model at the post-secondary level.  Pulled and pushed by political and economic forces and paradigm shifts, institutions cut that which isn't sexy or profitable.  Life skills, trans-vocational programs, and adult basic education programs all fall under that sphere. Volunteer literacy programs (the "someone else") play an essential role in the services needed at the pre-highschool level, but in no way can they match dedicated services provided by a community college. 

Class sizes have gone down so literacy levels are rising. (Translation: We don't need it anymore): Statistics are a funny thing, aren't they? Especially when the latest international survey of adult literacy skills precluded those who are Indigenous, ESL, EAL, or with learning needs or disabilities.  Funding models have changed the way learners can access education at the ABE level as well. 

We can just fund or provide short programming that leads directly into a career program or trade. This is a wonderful idea, with the exception of two very pertinent facts.  Firstly, until the prerequisites for trades and career programs eliminate high school English, Math and Sciences, a solid pre-high school curriculum will still be needed to create opportunities for adults who enter at the basic education level.  Secondly, there is no magic curriculum powder that precludes the way the human brain learns.  If a learner is starting at a grade 1-6 level, it is almost neurologically impossible for them to be ready for a grade 10 trades exam in 6 weeks. 

We need to focus more on improving learning at the high school level. Initiatives that integrate transition programming at the high school level are innovative and create successful learning paths for students.  Yet, again, if students' abilities aren't at the high school level, these programs are moot.  In addition, unless teen pregnancy, bullying, sexual abuse, child abuse, learning disabilities, poor teaching or inadequate teaching resources, systemic racism, poverty, and a host of other social issues vanish, we will always need basic education programming at the adult level.