2. this will cover older students, working students and other non-traditional students. This will cover those that are new to technology and look at common tools and strategy to succeed in an online environment. So the question being what can help a nontraditional student or regular online student succeed in an online environment when they are new using these digital tools.
3. Digital learning promotes deeper learning in
4. three main ways: personalized skill building in
5. preparation for deeper learning; schools and tools
6. that foster deeper learning; and extended access
7. and expanded options (see Exhibit on page 12).
8. These three elements represent complementary
9. theories of change, important lines of evidence
10. and research, and three distinct rationales for
11. investment.
12. presented new challenges to most adults, as they are faced with having to constantly keep up
13. with the changes around them. Today more then ever, adult learners need to update their
14. knowledge for skills improvement, job advancement, and personal growth and understanding
15. (Lawson, 2005). Career changes and job changes are commonplace, which means today’s adult
16. must be able to acquire and assimilate new information to be able to survive. Adult learners
17. have several important characteristics that need to be considered. First, they need to feel that
18. whatever they learn is important and relevant to their lives. Second, adults like to be selfdirected
19. and responsible for their own learning, which is why distance learning is such an
20. appealing option for knowledge dissemination. Third, the life experiences of adult learners
21. form the foundation of their learning environment. Fourth, adult learners are goal oriented and
22. want the learning to be clearly defined with achievable goals. Fifth and finally, adult learners are
23. more motivated to learn information directly related to their job or social life (Rutherford,
24. 2004). Any training or education program must understand these characteristics of adult
25. learners to ensure the program is structured around their needs.
26. Traditionally, knowledge and training was provided in one of two ways: on-the-job
27. training supplied by your employer or personal learning by attending courses at a college or
28. university. However, both businesses and educational institutions are turning towards using
29. technology-based distance learning to make information and content available to adult learners
30. on their own schedules and pace. “It has become apparent that computer competency is
31. necessary not only for citizens to function efficiently on a personal level in our society, but to
32. develop, advance and succeed in their professional lives.” (Orr, Allen, Poindexter, & Canning,
33. 2001, p.26) However, this also presents a problem, as computer-based learning presents
