Introduction. The choice of approaches to the selection and design of adult education technologies is complicated by a number of key contradictions that have accumulated in the course of the development of ideas about andragogy. To overcome them, it is advisable to analyse scientific data on the problem and summarise ideas about the key parameters of adult education performance and about possible approaches to the practical application of existing andragogical knowledge.
Aim. Identification of the scientific and methodological basis for selecting and designing adult education technologies, with the goal of subsequently creating models for implementing andragogical practices using digital tools.
Methods. The methods of generalising analysis of the content of scientific and scientific and methodological sources on approaches to the selection and design of adult education technologies were used.
Results. The study systematises information on various approaches to solving the problems of modern andragogy and on key deficiencies in scientific ideas. It characterises the contradiction between external demands for adult training and the satisfaction of adults’ own educational needs. The study formulates assumptions regarding the possibility of harmonising the ideas of different participants in andragogically significant relationships, as well as the process and outcomes of this harmonisation.
Scientific novelty. It is revealed that the modern transformation of the complex of contradictions, both appearing in recent years and described earlier by specialists in the field of adult education, can be presented in the form of two irreducible projections. One of them is proposed to be called ‘optics of conformity’, the other — ‘optics of lifelong learning’. The maintenance of both projections (optics) is proposed to be considered as the functionality of practitioners who organise training and develop programmes.
Practical significance. The data presented in the article can be used by developers of basic and additional educational programmes, organisers of adult education, designers of andragogically significant content and methods.