About Carol Whittington Expertise Ask me questions about creating training for adults. As an Instructional Designer, I have experience in eLearning, instructional systems design, instructor-led training, adult learning theory, instructional design, using new technologies, such as web 2.0 technology, for training, and synchronous online training, such as webinars.
Experience Over 11 years expertise in instructional design including not only formal instructor-led training and eLearning, but also applying Web 2.0 technologies to informal, social, and mobile learning programs. This includes developing community management best practices, blogging, and including social features such as ratings and comments within courses. I have designed instructor-led training and eLearning for both biotech and high tech corporations. I have also designed and developed online tutorials and led online webinars on various topics and currently run my own business designing and developing learning solutions.
Organizations ASTD, eLearning Guild, Women in Consulting, Phi Kappa Phi
Education/Credentials MA Education, Instructional Technology
BA Biology
Past/Present Clients Partial list includes Cisco and Google as well as several biotech firms.
Question I am considering teaching adult learners. I do not want to go through a certification program to teach children just adults what training would I need and where would I be able to obtain the training?
Answer Hi Andril,
It depends on what you want to teach. There are no general certification programs as there are for teaching children, but that doesn't mean you don't need to know how to teach to adults. There are many people that call themselves trainers, but really don't understand what learners need to help them learn the material the trainer is trying to teach.
I would recommend that if you are truly interested in becoming an adult trainer, you start looking into organizations like ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) at http://www.astd.org. They have certification programs that help you understand what you need to know to effectively teach adults and give you credibility in the field. ASTD is the leading professional organization for trainers in the US.
You can also look at your community colleges or local universities. Many have some sort of program in instructional design or instructional technology. They are often in the Education Department, but not specifically a child education program. This type of program will give you a deeper insight into the study of teaching adults (also known as "androgogy").
If you are looking to teach a specific course, such as ESL, GED or something similar, then you may need to be certified to teach these specific courses, since they require the trainer/teacher to have specific knowledge so that the students can pass certain exams. Again, your local community colleges or universities may have information on these certification programs.
I hope that this gives you a start in the right direction.
Carol
