Google It

Self-directed learning occurs on a daily basis and is so prevalent in our lives that we rarely recognize it. Think about it, when did you last conduct a Google search that started with “How do I…”;  I’m guessing you did a search like this today.  As adult learners in a digital age, we seek and find new information almost every day and sometimes multiple times a day.  We learn new things like: a new word or maybe that’s a new ‘text” form of a word, a new cooking technique (thank you Food Network), or a new technical skill like how to correctly format an APA style paper.

In Learning in Adulthood, Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner (2007) refer to self-directed learning as a method of learning that empowers the individual learner to take an active role in the learning experience from start to finish, from initiation through to evaluation. As adult learners we don’t often think of the above listed “learning opportunities” as real learning because that’s something that only occurs in a formal setting, right?  How do we as college administrators help students to bridge the gap between their daily self-directed learning and the type of learning that occurs in a formal or informal program?  How does success in one area translate to the other? Does it translate?  What role does access to resources, individual personal goals, and cultural and social support play in the success of the self-directed student?

When I stop and think about all the things I’ve learned in the last year…well, it’s amazing to really stop and think about it!  I find myself feeling something akin to empowerment and a certain amount of “oh yeah – I can learn new things!”  My empowered, capable feeling easily transfers over into formal self-directed learning; I hope it does for all of you as well …we are, after all, enrolled in an online (a.k.a. self-directed) Master’s degree program! So the real question is how do we empower self-directed learners to see their own hidden ability for success?  Maybe we should Google it!

For all of you “How do I…” web sleuths:

Ask a Librarian	Online reference service from the Library of Congress.	www.loc.gov/rr/askalib
Answerbag	Community-driven question and answer site.	www.answerbag.com
AllExperts	Web's oldest question and answer site. Operated by About.com.	www.allexperts.com
Askville	Log in with your Amazon.com account to ask or answer questions.	askville.amazon.com
Answers.com	Semantic Q&A search by Answers.com.	www.answers.com
eHow	Database of how-to articles and videos.	www.ehow.com
Minti	Answers and advice articles for parents.	www.minti.com
WikiAnswers	Wiki-based Q&A service from Answers.com.	wiki.answers.com
wikiHow	Collaborative, wiki-based how-to manuals.	www.wikihow.com
Yahoo! Answers	Web's leading community-powered question and answer site.	answers.yahoo.com

Courtesy of:  http://www.refseek.com/directory/answers.html