Knowles, M. (1970). The modern practice of education: androgogy versus pedagogy. New York: Association Press.

His theory of andragogy identifies characteristics of adult learning. Adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for decisions. He makes the following assumptions:

1. Adults need to know why they need to learn something

2. Adults need to learn experientially,

3. Adults approach learning as problem-solving, and

4. Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.

http://tip.psychology.org/knowles.html

Lifelong Learning: A Dream is a vision that brings to mind Regional Information Coaching. http://www.newhorizons.org/future/Creating_the_Future/crfut_knowles.html There he lists skills, abilities for self-directed learning:

• be in touch with curiosities, divergent thinking
• perceive one's self objectively and accept feedback about one's performance
• diagnose one's learning needs as competencies required for life roles
• formulate learning objectives in terms of performance outcomes
• identify resources for accomplishing learning objectives.
• design a plan of strategies for making use of learning resources
• carry out a learning plan systematically and sequentially
• collect evidence of the accomplishment of learning objectives and have it validated through performance

The New Horizons website has a good collection of links related to education issues. Their online book Creating the Future has twenty five perspectives on the future of education.

Creating Learning Communities is an online resource center by A Coalition for Self-Learning. They have published a book Creating Learning Communities.

An noteworthy self-teaching curriculum is the Robinson Self-Teaching Homeschool Curriculum put together by Dr.Robinson and his children.

Andrius: I want to think about the work of Sarunas Raudys on neural networks and consider how it relates to over learning and under learning.

A learning program designed by Project Zero at Harvard University involves four kinds of thinking:

• Thinking through Thinkpoints
• Thinking through Dispositions
• Thinking through Transfer
• Thinking through Assessment

Support for Lifelong Self-Learners Using the Internet

Paul Brna, Paul Irvine and David Duncan Computer Based Learning Unit Leeds University Leeds, England

Michalis Karamanis Hellenic Pedagogical Institute Athens, Greece http://www.scre.ac.uk/personal/pb/projects/neltegem/

Some more links on self-learning, but not so interesting:

http://www.lib.ied.edu.hk/edarticle/Jan_2004/independent.htm List of paper on indenpendent study - but they are locked in a walled garden.

http://www.utas.edu.au/accfin/conference/papers/Addison Hutchings paper.pdf Pat Addison, Glen Hutchings. At the Crossroads: Self Directed Learning and the Revitalisation of Accounting Education

Mok, M. M. C., & Cheng, Y. C. (2002). A theory of self-learning in a networked human and IT environment: Implications for education reforms. International Journal of Educational Management, 15(4), 172 – 186.

http://www.aare.edu.au/04pap/mok04933.pdf Magdalena Mo Ching MOK, CHENG Yin Cheong, Phillip John MOORE. The development of measurement scales on self-learning of secondary students