Adult learners are defined as those who may have delayed enrollment in higher education, may enroll as a part-time student, may be employed full-time, and may be responsible for family members (i.e., children, spouses). Understanding their unique needs is vital as data indicates that the number of students ages 25 and over who were enrolled in postsecondary institutions was 6.4 million, with trends expected to rise over time (US Department of Education, 2021). Adult learners may require varied learning mechanisms while completing a degree due to outside, extenuating factors. For example, adult learners often cite difficulties in digital literacy and report not feeling confident in using online technologies and learning platforms (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2021). Therefore, with many university programs and/or courses moving to online formats, it is necessary for instructors to navigate potential obstacles that adult learners may encounter within an online learning platform.
Technology access
It is possible that adult learners may not have been enrolled in college coursework for some time, therefore, a period of adjustment is to be expected. Almost all college courses today include some type of technology component to access course information and/or coursework. This can create feelings of unease, especially for adult learners who may not be technologically savvy, requiring added assistance when learning how to navigate the online coursework platform. Aside from requiring patience and grace from their course instructor as they learn to utilize online platforms, access to technology and organizational skills also play a role in the collegiate success of adult learners. For example, accessing coursework wherever internet service is available is a benefit of asynchronous learning, however, accessing coursework on a cell phone or tablet device may make online materials hard to read or navigate. Additionally, computers may not be readily available to students outside of their home, and there may not be readily available printers or scanners when submitting coursework. Instructors may need to develop practices that are designed to better understand student comfort levels and experience with technology and online learning prior to the start of the course so that they may anticipate the needs of their students. Resources such as tech support contact information or alternative means of receiving the course materials may be necessary to fully support adult students as they learn how to receive and participate in online learning.
Family and social obligations
Many college students, especially adult learners, have family and social obligations that may impact their ability to successfully complete asynchronous coursework. According to the Aspen Institute (2021), approximately one in five college students within the United States are parents. Family obligations are something that must be considered when instructing and mentoring adult students. Family member illnesses and participation of family members in extracurricular activities/social events require attention for a variety of reasons, all of which might impact the adult learner’s ability to always meet assignment deadlines. Learning to juggle both social and academic demands can lead to feelings of stress and burden. Removal of social and familial support networks has been found to have a negative impact upon the wellbeing of adults, therefore, it is important that adult learners maintain appropriate levels of social and familial engagement as it has been found to lessen burden and allows for access to formal and informal community and family supports (Olsen, 2018; Marsack & Samuel, 2017). To succeed in higher education, adult learners must stay connected to their support systems. Therefore, it’s essential to design coursework that not only ensures students gain a deep and meaningful understanding of material but also encourages them to maintain their ties with their communities, friends, and families.
Job and career responsibilities
Many adult learners enroll in higher education as part-time students and are tasked with navigating work demands with the workload and deadlines of asynchronous learning. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2023), degree-granting institutions enrolled 5.9 million part-time students in 2021. That enrollment is expected to increase by 10 percent, to 6.6 million students by 2031, therefore, it is imperative that institutions and course instructors develop strategies for addressing the needs of adult students in online learning platforms (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Many jobs require more than the traditional 40 hours of work from employees, which may leave adult students with very little time outside of work for participation in asynchronous learning activities. Course instructors can help to alleviate potential adult learner anxiety that may be caused by balancing work and school by being more flexible with due dates, or by allowing students to complete corrections to assignments and/or demonstrating their knowledge in alternate ways (e.g. allowing students to provide oral explanations of the material or allowing students to demonstrate basic application of the course material during a real-world situation from their lives or careers).
Establishing priorities in asynchronous coursework
Asynchronous learning allows students to pace and monitor their own learning, providing a level of flexibility that may not be available in synchronous coursework. In order to keep motivation levels of adult learners high, information presented within the course must be relevant and challenging, presenting students with real-world applications of the course material. While keeping the challenges faced by adult learners in mind, course instructors must consistently decide whether it is more important for students to end the class meeting the learning objectives, or if it is more important that students meet every assignment due date.
Course instructors must consider prioritized strategies when setting up an asynchronous learning for adult learners. Examples of such strategies are outlined below:
- Consider the “why” as course materials are developed and how the information is important to the development of the learners enrolled in the class. So that learners can recall and utilize what was learned long after completion of the course, it is important to present students with meaningful, real-world learning activities, while structuring deadlines and feedback in a way where students are not simply held to strict due dates but held accountable for demonstrating strong understanding of the material.
- Allow students to expand upon their learning by using activities such as online discussion forums. Online discussion style forums not only allow for demonstration of knowledge, but they also provide students with flexibility and control over when the assignment is completed. Moreover, discussion boards can create a sense of community between learners, which allows support between one another, and can allow students to be the primary means of feedback in a low-risk environment.
- Provide learners with the opportunity for autonomy as often as it strategically presents itself. When learners can make choices about how they interact with the course and demonstrate learning, it can help in maintaining heightened levels of engagement with asynchronous activities. Also, if course instructors are amenable to flexible timing in submitting course assignments by opening modules on a regular schedule, this allows learners the opportunity to control when coursework is accessed and assignments are submitted, and to better navigate work and family demands more effectively.
*Adapted from the Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University (2024), https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/asynchronous-strategies-inclusive-teaching
As the number of adult students enrolling in institutions of higher education increases and more coursework is offered through asynchronous methods, it is becoming increasingly important that instructors understand how to meet the needs of adult students. Adult students often enter higher education programs with technological barriers and social and career obligations that are as unique as the learners themselves. Asynchronous learning offers instructors the opportunity to meet the needs of adult learners in a variety of ways, making higher education a reality for a growing population of students. By structuring online coursework in such a way that the relevance of the material is made clear and learners are allowed opportunities to demonstrate mastery of the course material while juggling busy schedules, instructors can create meaningful learning experiences for all learners.
April L. Hill is a special education doctoral student at Texas Woman’s University. She has 17 years of experience in the public school system, both as a special education teacher and an administrator. Her research interests include the development of collaborative special education processes to create and maintain strong partnerships with families of children with disabilities.
Dr. Maria B. Peterson-Ahmad is an associate professor in the Teacher Education Department at Texas Woman’s University. She has numerous years of experience in K-12 public school settings teaching students in general and special education. Her research focuses on building strategic systems of teacher effectiveness, instructional coaching, technology in teaching, and the inclusion of students with mild to moderate disabilities in the general education inclusive classroom setting.
References
Marsack, C. N., & Samuel, P. S. (2017). Mediating effects of social support on quality of life for parents of adults with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47. 2378-2389.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Undergraduate Enrollment. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved [March 24, 2024] from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cha/undergrad-enrollment.
Olsen, D. L. (2018). Later life impacts of social participation on parents of adult offspring with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 123(1). 50-60.
The Chronicle of Higher Education. (2021). Meeting the needs of working adult learners. Guild Education.
The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. (2024). Asynchronous Strategies for Inclusive Teaching. Brown University. Retrieved [March 24, 2024] from https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/asynchronous-strategies-inclusive-teaching.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall Enrollment component final data (2003 – 2019) and provisional data (2021).