Abstract
Rapid renewal of information with the rapid development of technology prevents individuals from using their knowledge and skills throughout their lives. Today, instead of participating in long education programs such as undergraduate or associate degree programs, short-term education programs that are specialized according to their fields of study are increasingly in demand. Investigating which communication environments individuals prefer in career focused learning communities in which individuals participate in lifelong learning is important in terms of shedding light on the design process of these environments. The purpose of this manuscript is firstly to reveal the opportunities offered by lifelong learning to individuals, then to determine the preferences of the communication medium based on the experiences of individuals participating in career focused learning communities offered within the scope of lifelong learning, and finally, to provide suggestions for the design of communication environments to people who create and manage career focused learning communities.
TopIntroduction
Today, where the information is produced, accessed, shared and consumed rapidly with the change of information and communication technologies, there is a need for individuals to catch up with the changes and update themselves constantly in order to be successful in social and professional lives. After losing the acquired information through diploma programs that are outdated within 3-5 years, individuals turn themselves to educational programs where they can always keep themselves up to date. While they are actualizing this, they are also supposed to carry the responsibilities of an adult life. Through open and distance learning, career focused learning communities emerging from this need provide individuals opportunities to progress at their own pace of learning without leaving their daily life behind and to have flexible experiences that are open to communication and interaction. Career focused lifelong learning communities can be defined as communities formed by learners who want to improve themselves within the scope of professional, individual, and social skills. In keeping up to date professional, individual, and social skills in today’s business world; lifelong learning communities such as e-certification programs, private courses and MOOCs have gained great importance.
In career focused learning communities conducted through open and distance learning, continuity of lifelong learning is ensured by providing individuals with different opportunities and features working in different works that are having opportunities to have an access to the education in desired fields and improve themselves. Different communication opportunities in these communities, such as synchronous and asynchronous communication, are offered to provide social interaction. Individuals communicate with both employees of the institution and/or other learners by choosing the communication environment that suits their habits and preferences. Conducting studies to determine the preferences of the communication environment of the learners and to investigate what should be considered before designing the courses is important to shed light on these aspects for the instruction designers.
The main purpose of this manuscript is to determine the communication environment preferences of individuals participating in career-based learning communities offered within the scope of lifelong learning. For this purpose, the answers to the following questions were sought:
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Who participated in the programs?
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What are the participants' experiences in career focused learning communities?
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What are the main motivations of participants to participate in career focused learning?
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What are the communication preferences of the participants in career focused learning communities?
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What are the learners' views on career focused learning communities?
Key Terms in this Chapter
Lifelong Learning: A learning process that continues throughout one’s whole life in order to reach the rapidly developing, changing and renewed information that will help the individual to succeed in social and professional life, cope with the problems, provide solutions when needed, and develop his competencies.
Massive Open Online Courses: Courses that are generally free, designed for large groups of students, accessible by anyone with an internet connection, and without any entry requirements.
Open and Distance Learning: Learning process in which learners are distant from each other and learning resources in terms of time and/or space, and their interactions with each other and learning resources are based on remote communication systems.
E-Certificate Programs: Short-term education programs for personal and professional development of individuals designed on the basis of lifelong learning philosophy.