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CLASS 2:  
The Need for Adult Education in Agricultural and Extension Education
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 Objectives:
   At the end of this lesson you should be able to:

List and explain 10 reasons why adults
need continuing education

Identify future trends which may affect the offerings of adult classes to adults
In this lesson we will examine the need for adult education in the United States.
field demo
 meeting clip art
 adult ed class
Instructional Activities:
small red globe Start off by seeing how much you know about the need for adult education in agriculture and extension education with this pretest. 
The answers can be found in the Class 2 folder on Vista.
small red globe Read Chapter 2 -  "Need for Adult Education" in Effective Adult Learning by Birkenholz. 
This reading is available in the Class 2 folder on Vista.
small red globe Is there really a NEED for Extension agents to know much about adult education? See what Patrick Borich, former director
of the Minnesota Cooperative Extension Service says in "Clients Face Uncertainty, Too" in the Fall 1988 issue of the Journal of Extension.
small red globe Read Zidon's article, "Adult Education in Agriculture: An Old Timer's Dream," from the September-October 1999
issue of the Agricultural Education Magazine.
small red globe Read Claycomb's article, "Relevant Agricultural Education is Needed at the Two-year College Level in the 21st Century,"
from the September-October 1999 issue of the Agricultural Education Magazine.
small red globe Read Franklin and White's article, "The Future: Adult Education in Secondary Agriculture Programs," from the
September-October 1999 issue of the Agricultural Education Magazine.
small red globe Why do adults participate in adult education activities?
Read Norland's article, "Why Do Adults Participate," in the Fall 1992 issue of the Journal of Extension.
small red globe Is Extension on target in meeting the educational needs of its clients?
See what Russell believes in "Swatting Flies--Eating Elephants" in the October 1995 issue of the Journal of Extension.
small red globe Do young farmers have educational needs? Read Nelson and Trede's article, "Educational needs of Beginning Farmers
as Perceived by Iowa Extension Professional Staff," in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Extension.
small red globe What will the Extension audience look like in the 21st century?
Read Grogan's article, "Targeting Audiences for the 21st Century," in the Winter 1991 issue of the Journal of Extension.
small red globe Do the top 10 Forecasts from Outlook 2008 have implications for adult education in agriculture?
small red globe View the PowerPoint Presentation on The Need for Adult Education in Agricultural and Extension Education.
Download the presentation as a PowerPoint file.


Assignments:
Discussion:
Complete Worksheet 1 and include in your course notes (these will be helpful for your reflection journal and the final exam).

 After you finish this lesson, go to the course discussion board and
respond to the question posted (and at least one peer's response).

Additional Resources:
Items in this section are supplemental; you will not be tested on them.  Included may be other points of interest or different approaches related to the topic.
--Did you know the US government has an office for adult education?  Look around the site for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

--Are you familiar with this popular journal-Adult Education Quarterly?  All issues (including current) are online and searchable.  It is a scholarly, refereed journal so it's a good source of additional information for papers and projects.

--The McKimmon Center on NC State's cmapus offers many adult education programs, but did you know about the research they conduct?
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