of our daily conversations. Those of us who teach students at a distance may need to log in to a learning management system (LMS) such as Blackboard, Schoology, Canvas, or Brightspace. We access our LMS from our computer. There is no more apt metaphor for reflecting the rate of technological change than the computer. Sometimes the computer requires that we install software and then we have to reboot our computer for it to take effect. We process students and information; we plan learning activities with an eye to inputs, flow, and outputs; we provide feedback to individual learners and to programs. Indeed, we program learning experiences and ourselves. Technology has had an enormous impact on society and adult learning. It has been instrumental in bringing about the information society, which has created new jobs and eliminated others. And as we have seen, globalization is technology driven.
The move to an information society has been a function of technological developments associated with an information explosion. Within a short span of time, electronic, communication, and information technologies have changed society and affected how people go about their daily lives. From texting a colleague via cell phone, to ordering a ride to the airport via a smartphone app, to our car's sensors alerting us to vehicles in our blind spot, everyday life has been irrevocably influenced by technology.
Concurrent with these technological advances has been an information explosion. There are “2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day” and “90 percent of the data in the world was generated in the last 2 years” (Marr, 2018, para. 1). Data center storage capacity was about 1,450 exabytes worldwide with researchers predicting that storage capacity will be 2,300 exabytes by 2021 (Taylor, C. 2018). One exabyte is one million gigabytes. In this information-rich society, there is an increasing need for continuing education and for learning how to ask good questions and assess the veracity of the information.
Technology has changed where data is stored. At one time, information was stored on punch cards that programmed everything from player pianos to textile looms (Foote, 2017). By the late 1800s, data was stored on phonograph records and on film (History of Online Storage, 2017). Storing computer data on magnetic tape occurred in the 1950s (History of Online Storage, 2017). In the last 30 years we have seen floppy disks give way to 3.5-in. disks, to CD-ROMs, to jump or flash drives and cloud storage, which allows individuals to store data remotely and access it through the Internet.
A major societal shift, such as moving from an industrial to an information society, results in profound changes in the society's structure. In an industrial society, machine technology extended physical ability; in an information society, computer technology extends mental ability. Material wealth has great value in an industrial society; knowledge and information are key assets in an information society. The social structure changes from hierarchies and bureaucracies to multicentered and horizontal networks. These changes in society's underlying structure can be seen most dramatically in changes in the workforce. As noted earlier, the shift is eliminating certain classifications of work while creating others not previously dreamed of. For example, with the rise of Internet travel sites, fewer travel agents are needed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019b). However, software developers are predicted to be in increasing demand (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019a).
In addition to the creation and elimination of jobs, technological changes are affecting workers in other ways, such as where work is done. We check our e-mails and take calls on our commutes prior to arriving at the office, use videoconferencing instead of traveling, and virtual assistants are increasingly part of our workday to help us remember appointments, take notes, or launch video meetings (Barker, 2018). Working remotely or working from home has become increasingly popular. Approximately 3.9 million Americans report working from home at least half of the week, which is a 115% increase since 2005 (Guta, 2019). The average telecommuter is 46 years old, almost equally likely to be a man as a woman, and has at least a bachelor's degree (Guta, 2019).
Yet others have cautioned against the unquestioning adoption of technology in the workplace, for information technologies have created something of a paradox. Designed to get work done more efficiently by fewer employees, information technologies have instead offered more ways to communicate, increased the demand for information, and raised the level of expectations regarding the print and graphic presentation of material. Think of the volume of mail one now handles through e-mail; this technology seems to have increased our workload and expectations of timely responses.
Technology's pros and cons are also evident in life beyond work. Respondents to a Pew Research survey noted that advantages of the living in the information age include having knowledge at your fingertips to live a better life in addition to having access to an array of services at the click of a mouse (Anderson & Rainie, 2018). Those who see the digital world as potentially dangerous to our well-being cite information overload as resulting in stress, anxiety, and depression. They state this information overload can negatively affect individuals' analytical thinking and memory (Anderson & Rainie, 2018).
Clearly, technology and the information age that it spawned are changing the nature of adult learning. Professionals' knowledge becomes outdated in a few years. Older adults must learn new ways to communicate with their grandchildren whether it be via FaceTime, texting, or through a virtual assistant such as Alexa. We must be able to function in a fast-changing society, and this necessitates continued learning. Technology is not only making learning mandatory, it is providing many of the mechanisms for it to occur. Learners can teleconference, attain information through an intelligent tutoring system that presents materials based on learner responses, or receive training through virtual worlds that ask learners to participate in a scenario via computer (Quinn, 2015). For example, those in counseling courses may pick an avatar and take the role of a counselor or client in a computer-simulated counseling session.
Simultaneous with the development of technologically sophisticated delivery systems is the development of new roles for educators and trainers. Although the “digital divide” has referred to those who can and cannot access technology, it can also refer to those who cannot use technologies effectively (Wei & Hindman, 2011). With smartphone use growing, more individuals can access the Internet, but possessing digital literacy skills such as knowing how to effectively search for and evaluate information or send effective e-mails, texts, and video images is also necessary in the twenty-first century (Rosen & Vanek, 2017).
A Pew Research team surveyed 2,752 Americans age 18 or older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to uncover their “digital readiness” for personal learning (Horrigan, 2016, p. 7). Digital readiness included individuals' self-reported skills at using technology, including their familiarity with technology terms such as MOOCs, distance learning, or digital badges. Researchers assessed learners' trust of technology with survey questions such as: “I find it difficult to know whether information I find online is trustworthy” (p. 9). Respondents needed to indicate whether these statements described them “very well,” “somewhat well,” “not too well,” or “not at all well” (p. 9). A last indicator of readiness was how much respondents used technology. There were five groups along the spectrum of digital readiness. “The Unprepared” comprised 14% of respondents and were more likely to be women age 50 and older who came from lower income households and possessed lower levels of education. They do not adopt technology very readily, and “need help setting up tech devices and are not familiar with ‘ed tech’ terms” (p. 3). They were not confident about their computers skills or their ability to judge online information as trustworthy. Five percent of respondents were classified as “traditional learners” (p. 3). They were more likely to be women, minorities, and have lower levels of education and income. They are active learners, but they don't use the Internet to pursue learning and have concerns about their ability to judge online information. “The Reluctant” made up 33% of respondents and were more likely to be men age 50 and older who had lower incomes and education. “The Reluctant” had higher digital skills than those who were “Unprepared,” but they did not know new educational technology terms and did not use the Internet for learning. Group four, the “Cautious Clickers,” owned more technology and had higher levels of confidence in their ability to separate truth from fiction on the Internet
