Nontraditional Students and Information Technology

The adult college student, caught between the competing demands of work and home, has recently become a valuable commodity in today’s fast-changing American universities. The authors argue that the response of the university to the personal circumstances and credentialing needs of adult learners, accentuated by the forces of globalization and the availability of new information technologies, particularly the Internet, has been to focus upon the efficient delivery of information deemed important in our post-industrial society. This response, particularly well exemplified by the virtual classroom, is not conducive to the fluid and open-ended inquiry associated with progressive education. In the end, the authors speculate, adult students may taste the true progressive and constructivist approaches to learning better outside the confines of formal higher education.

A Theoretical Model for Designing Online Education in Support of Lifelong Learning

The escalating infusion of online education to promote lifelong learning has triggered a re-examination of teaching and learning not witnessed since perhaps the advent of the printed textbook. Textbooks changed the landscape of individualized learning as professors added reading to their inventory of instructional strategies. Today, distance education, in all its manifestations from programmed instruction to Web-based courses, requires instructors to employ new strategies in course design and delivery in order to engage students and promote learner-centered activities. The rapid growth of distance education (especially for the adult learner) serves to challenge traditional methodologies in which education is designed, delivered, and assessed. This chapter introduces a new model for designing instruction using this state-of-the-art venue, an archetype for effective instructional design for lifelong learning.

Impact of E-Learning on Adult Education

In the present consumer educational market, educational institutions are rapidly incorporating more online opportunities. The various issues that learners and instructors cope with are addressed from the literature and our adult students. The key issue is creating a quality learning experience for adult students. Not only does the instructor need to incorporate what we already know about adult learning, but they must also approach the course development with a constructivist mindset. The major force in creating a quality learning experience is the discussion generated. Instructors must assist students in creating their own knowledge and develop the ability to discuss in a virtual environment.

The Online Adult Learner

While the online adult learners are growing in numbers, the diversity in what motivates them and what they expect from an online course has grown as well. This chapter explores the current literature as well as qualitative and quantitative data from course surveys and student reflections in online courses taught by the author in an attempt to profile these learners, determine why they are taking online courses and investigate their evolving attitudes toward technology. It includes summaries and student quotes to portray the individual thoughts of online adult learners.

Online Pedagogical Effectiveness in Adult Contexts

A longitudinal study of students in the Training and Development program at Curtin University of Technology has been undertaken in an attempt to develop a framework which describes the dimensions of pedagogical effectiveness in online teaching and learning. The research began in 2004, and data have been collected from the sample group of students in the program from 2004–2007. As a result of analysis and review of the findings, the Online Pedagogical Effectiveness Framework (OPEF) emerged incrementally. The new framework challenges the traditional importance placed on the centrality of teaching skills and the need for student interaction in online teaching and learning, which according to this study, diminished over time. This has ramifications for the interchangeability of the roles of teacher, learner, and instructional designer peers and colleagues.

Perspectives of Online Doctoral Students in Educational Leadership

This study examines the perspectives of adult learners in an online Educational Leadership doctoral program. A qualitative survey research instrument was used to elucidate and explore phenomenological themes connected to student attitudes and perspectives regarding the experience of adult online education, the perceived challenges of an online doctoral program, the perceived benefits of an online doctoral program, student or teacher-connected strategies for success within online graduate education, the on-ground residencies in connection with the asynchronous aspects of the program, the perception of an online doctoral degree within their fields, and recommendations for online doctoral programs in the future. The findings suggest that strategies to increase student success in doctoral online programs should include a recognition of differentiated instruction toward multiple intelligences, increased communication of the dissertation or program timeline, an examination of how online students meet the contact hour requirements through teams, residencies, and individual time management, and an exploration of the social aspect of online learning.

Digital Games for Online Adult Education

Digital games are a strong motivating and engaging factor in adult learning. When students are engaged in the learning process, they learn and retain more. Engagement can come though emotion, relaxation, and especially through fun. This chapter provides guidance to online adult educators searching for ways to use digital games more effectively in their practice and give an overview of pedagogical approaches to digital games in online training and learning. In addition, benefits and pitfalls associated with using digital games in online adult education and general attributes of digital games are provided. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the potential of digital games in online Adult education. Therefore, it will be a useful reference for teachers with an interest in the use of digital game based learning for online Adult teaching and training. It is expected that this chapter helps educators make the most effective use of the electronic games available today, offering expert guidance on digital games to serve the needs of all Adult learners.

Project Management for Project-Based Learning

This chapter reports the results of a case study in which the final project outcomes of small virtual instructional design teams using Project Management in an online graduate-level course are compared with teams using a less-structured approach. Based on the findings, the author offers the following recommendations for structuring project-based learning in small virtual teams: (a) assess through pre- or in-course questioning individual motivators of success and performance in virtual teams, (b) provide teams with templates with which to document roles, responsibilities, milestones and key deliverables, and (c) offer time and schedule management tips to reinforce/extend entry skills in team project management and participation. This case study can serve as a resource to eLearning practitioners seeking research-based best practices for both managing and participating in project teams that may have limited human and material resources and that may be distributed over a number of geographic locations and time zones.

Applying Distance Learning and Structural/Pedagogical Methods to an Adult Learner Program

Adult learner students are becoming a key segment of the undergraduate college market; however, adults have a different set of needs, orientations, and approaches to learning. This paper examines the background and characteristics of adult learners, together with various approaches to meeting the needs of these non-traditional students (distance learning, intensive and block scheduling, modular learning, etc.). The application of these methods and techniques are illustrated in the structure and implementation of a real-life adult learner program for business undergraduates.

A Costume Odyssey a.k.a. Teaching Costume History in a 21st Century Classroom

This chapter will explain how we have integrated the Course Management System-WebCT into the teaching of Costume History at the University of Houston’s School of Theatre and Dance. It will focus on two topics, (1) delivering the course in hybrid mode to enhance student learning experiences, and (2) conducting course evaluation to collect student feedback on the course design and delivery for future improvement.