Annotated Bibliography: Access To Education

Introduction

The issue of access to education is an important topic to the field of adult education because obstacles, whether natural or artificial, intentional or unintended, can be barriers to learning or achieving an education; thus, overcoming these obstacles may promote education’s reach and effectiveness. Access is described from the standpoints of cultural-geographical, political, institutional, technological, programmatic and delivery, and the personal—all factors affecting learning by either enhancing or limiting “access” directly or indirectly.

Bibliography

Escueta, M., Quan, V., Nickow, A. J., & Oreopoulos, P. (2017). Education technology: An evidence-based review (NBER Working Paper No. 23744). National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w23744

This literature review attempts “to cover the full range of ed-tech interventions,” related to technology-based interventions through evidence from randomized control trials (RCT) and regression discontinuity design (RDD) studies. The evidence synthesized from quantitative studies covers four areas, including access to technology; the other three areas cover learning and behavioral interventions through the use of technology, allowing for some comparison. This review offers a good overview of many of the issues affecting education within the context of technology, investment, and general effectiveness; however, it lacks the much insight that qualitative oriented studies can provide with respect to the setting, context, and meaning as related to research subjects beyond generalized descriptions of demographics and technological options.

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Gregg, N. (2012). Increasing access to learning for the adult basic education learner with learning disabilities: Evidence-based accommodation research. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45(1), 47–63. doi:10.1177/0022219411426855

This article covers a good range of accommodation types in testing for those with various learning disabilities, as well as legal mandates that require them and a review consisting of evidence that does not invalidate their use with assessments, and where more research is needed. Indeed, lack of research is cited in instruction, testing, and workplace settings, as well as access to evaluation and use of accommodations. This is important as the author begins the article describing likely dire life scenarios of those with learning disabilities often leading to disenfranchisement. This lack of research then hinders understanding by educators and policy makers, in turn limiting access to those with such disabilities by the way policies and testing are crafted, important considerations to keep in mind in collecting sources and designing new research.

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Grimes, D., & Warschauer, M. (2008). Learning with laptops: A multi-method case study. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 38(3), 305–332. doi:10.2190/ec.38.3.d

This longitudinal case study that investigates content delivery through laptops combines both qualitative and quantitative methods to overcome some of the limitations of prior studies it cites in providing a more complete picture of the studies’ settings and results. In a K-12 setting in three schools (i.e., not in an adult education context), the study found that laptop use of most beneficial in mathematics, but because the authors are quite careful in pointing out the limitations of their study and use a mixed approach, this paper offers the reader a balanced view of conditions affecting learning, the studies outcomes, and opportunities of future research—particularly if the study were to be replicated in an adult education setting in the context of today, given the significant developments in social media and otherwise use of technology since the publication of this study. The authors employed surveys, conducted interviews, made observations, and collected various reports in assessing conditions qualitatively.

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Kara, M., Erdoğdu, F., Kokoç, M., & Cagiltay, K. (2019). Challenges faced by adult learners in online distance education: A literature review. Open Praxis, 11(1), 5–22. doi:10.5944/openpraxis.11.1.929

This literature review uses coding and comparative analysis of various studies to determine main issues facing adult learners engaged in online distance learning. All of these challenges are specific to individual circumstances. Unlike other studies that focus on institutional circumstances, delivery, and technology in and of themselves, this review helps the reader understand the more human-centered issues that may limit access by exploring adult students’ other priorities (home and work), skills and resources lacking, and degree of confidence that eat away at the students’ ability to give their full attention, that may limit ability to learn by otherwise effective delivery. These issues are lumped into three categories (i.e., internal, external, and program-related), to describe personal, at home circumstances, resources, and challenges with interacting with tutors and other learners, as well as with an institution’s programming.

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Lloyd-Smith, L. (2010). Exploring the advantages of blended instruction at community colleges and technical schools. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(2), 508–515. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1497198766?accountid=13158

This paper appears to be a literature review that summarizes the benefits of blended instruction, not just for students but for community colleges and technical schools. Examples provided include flexibility in time management for both faculty and students, better student engagement through the use of different media, and efficient use of facilities and resources to suit individual needs. While this paper is informative, it seems to advocate for and does not critically analyze issues concerning blended learning, only pointing out few drawbacks; therefore, the reader should consider other publications that would complement this one by including information about drawbacks to ensure a fair view of the issues concerning blended learning. Exploring more in depth some of the challenges students and institutions face with evidence would have added greater value to the benefits indicated rather than merely stating that certainly challenges existed. Also, the benefits presented are from the perspective of preparing students for the workforce (i.e., fit into society) and does not touch on other important considerations related to adult learning and education in general; the author could have touched on other benefits well beyond preparation for employment, managing programs, and logistical efficiencies.

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Milana, M. (2012). Political globalization and the shift from adult education to lifelong learning. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 3(2), 103–117. doi:10.3384/rela.2000-7426.rela0070

This paper explores the shift from “adult education” to “lifelong learning” to reflect the changing perspective from personal to economic growth, and their effects on the political system and educational planning, programming, and delivery. The author calls for more research on the changing roles of nation-states and at transnational levels in affecting the type of education espoused in policy (and their reasons for doing so) and social justice guarantees. While this paper does not focus on practical matters of access, it does provide a broad view of the changing perspectives and policies that would affect it by the redefining of education and its goals. For example, if education or learning is to be focused for the purposes of economic development, then education or learning to broaden one’s personal experiences and understanding of the world is likely to suffer. Likewise, an economic focus with a commodification of education, even if framed to meet individual needs, have an underlying framework designed to meet the needs of labor and economic markets. This paper is important in understanding the undercurrents that shape education systems and policy and how it can ultimately affect the individual and individual options, particularly in seeking and acquiring an education that goes beyond developing practical skills.

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Perry, K. H., & Mallozzi, C. A. (2017). ‘We have education, I can say that’: Worldview and access to education for adult refugees. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 491-513. doi: 10.1111/ijal.12152

From the construct of worldview, this qualitative study explores the various factors, such as cultural differences, that influence refugees’ access to education, decision making, and how certain barriers may ultimately limit opportunities once resettled. This study explores 13 refugees’ understanding of the world through various means, such as expectations, perception and literacy, and the barriers to education or recognition of the education they may have obtained overseas. Likewise, the authors note the barriers imposed by domestic government and employer policy that detract refugees from accessing education, support, and opportunities once resettled, and how differing worldviews may also play a part in constructing these barriers. As the authors note, it is important to understand the different worldviews of not only refugees but our own if we are to fully integrate refugees into society as productive members that take full advantage of the knowledge, skills, and potential they may bring that is otherwise wasted. Worldview then is an important consideration in the design of new research as it adds another dimension of factors affecting access.

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Prins, E. (2017). Digital storytelling in adult education and family literacy: A case study from rural Ireland. Learning, Media and Technology, 42(3), 308–323. doi:10.1080/17439884.2016.1154075

This article explores digital storytelling (DST) as it may be applied to adult education and family learning, and analyzes its multimodality potential using Janke’s (2010) interdependence model of critical literacy, in Irish settings. Findings support the notion that access to secondary discourses are enhanced, avoiding being “locked [in one’s] local communities; that is, enhancing access to other perspectives outside one’s immediate environment. With respect to access, this article is important in describing how adult learning could be enhanced to broaden one’s experience outside of one’s community, in contrast to (but not necessarily opposed to) affirming the perspective of the community in which one lives. The article includes examples of how technology has managed to achieve this broadening of or liberating experience with new technology and human experience, important additions to literature that might otherwise tend to focus more on issues of politics and social justice.

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Shaw, C. M., & Tan, S. A. (2015). Integration of mobile technology in educational materials improves participation: Creation of a novel smartphone application for resident education. Journal of Surgical Education, 72(4), 670–673. doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.01.015

In this quantitative study, a mobile app by the University of Florida is shown to be an effective means to increase engagement of medical residents relative to an email form of engagement; whether the app was effective as a learning tool remained unclear. While other studies covered broader social issues with respect to access, this study highlights the more practical application of techniques to improve engagement (i.e., read as “facilitating access”), from a perspective different (albeit sterile) from the other studies and by a professional group outside of the typical group often discussed in adult education. This study did more than test engagement: the authors make an important note about user/generational preference in information consumption (though they didn’t explore this further), and makes for an interesting addition to a collection of literature often from the perspective of educators and education policy makers.

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Photographer: Sebastian Mantel. Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/turned-on-macbook-pro-near-black-framed-eyeglasses-M1qSY_IuF4c

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