Learning in Adulthood. Sharan B. Merriam
finance, and entrepreneurship (Khan Academy, 2019). In addition, the “flipped classroom” utilizes blended instruction where some course content such as videos or a podcast are viewed or heard outside of class time and activity-based instruction such as solving math problems is accomplished in class (Moffett, 2015). King (2017) lists common uses of technology in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 Common Uses of Technology
SOURCE: King, 2017, pp. 30–31.
| Reserving airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, vacations, and so on | Maintaining a personal calendar |
| Accessing health-related information | Filing income tax |
| Reading books | Taking an online class |
| Online shopping | Learning how to do something new |
| Watching television and movies (live and on demand) | Tracking investments |
| Listening to music | Trading stocks |
| Checking the weather | Researching the next car |
| Hunting for an apartment or house | Finding a date or mate |
| Communicating with friends and family | Communicating work-related information |
| Sending pictures to friends and family | Sending birthday “cards” |
Technology has always changed people's lives. Gutenberg's printing press, for example, “expanded the number of words available… [which] increased the depth and breadth of communication” (Parker, 2014, p. 223). Multiple copies of materials could be delivered to learners, so the consistency of knowledge increased. Fast-forward to the early 1990s when personal computers became more reasonably priced and the use of the Internet moved beyond the scientific community to more commercial use. The ability to create and share knowledge increased exponentially. Technology continues to enhance learner engagement.
Technology also drives how students experience education at a distance. Correspondence courses were delivered via mail and then by radio and television. Later, two-way synchronous communication between the teacher and learner was accomplished via telephone and interactive television. As online instruction has increased, so have discussions concerning online learning theory, online course designs, and devices on which this instruction is delivered, including tablets and mobile telephones. Scholars have also explored the best practices for teaching online and in blended courses, and they have also predicted how technology will continue to change the learning landscape.
This attention to online learning is warranted as participation in online learning is rising. In the academic year 2015–2016, 42.9% of undergraduates had taken distance education courses (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019b) compared to 20% in 2008 (Radford, 2011). Eighty-three percent of the students taking distance education courses in the higher education context are undergraduates (Allen & Seaman, 2017). Individuals may also take web-facilitated or blended courses. See Table 2.2 for definitions of online learning.
Table 2.2 Definitions of Types of Online Learning
SOURCE: King, 2017, p. 207.
| Proportion of content delivered online (%) | Type of course | Typical description |
| 0 | Traditional | Course with no online technology used—content is delivered in writing or orally |
| 1–29 | Web facilitated | Course that uses web-based technology to facilitate what is essentially a face-to-face course; may use a course management system (CMS) or web pages to post the syllabus and assignments |
| 30–79 | Blended or hybrid | Course that blends online and face-to-face delivery; substantial proportion of the content is delivered online, typically using online discussions, and typically has a reduced number of face-to-face meetings |
| 80–100 | Online | A course in which most or all of the content is delivered online; typically has no face-to-face meetings |
Technology in adult education is a broad topic. Authors have written books on adult learning and technology (Bryan & Wang, 2013; Kidd, 2009; King, 2017). In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of the history of distance education. This is followed by popular online learning theories. We review the challenges of and best practices for online learning as well as the place of technology in our everyday, informal learning. We conclude the chapter by examining the future of technology in adult education.
History of Distance Education: From Mail to MOOCs
Online learning is the latest iteration of distance education which is defined as “Education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are [physically] separated from the instructor” (Allen & Seaman, 2017, p. 6), although some have argued that online learning is a “distinct branch of the educational evolutionary tree” because learners can more easily collaborate in online learning whereas distance education provided more self-directed access to learning (Garrison, 2017). Correspondence courses united teachers and learners as far back as the 1830s in Sweden (Holmberg, 1986 as cited in Picciano, 2019). In the United States, the Society to Encourage Studies at Home was founded by Anna Eliot Ticknor in 1873 (Caruth & Caruth, 2013). Anna, the daughter of Harvard University professor George Ticknor and cousin to Harvard University president Charles William Eliot, indicated that the “Society's purpose was to encourage ladies to develop the habit of devoting time every day to study” (p. 143). The society served over 7,000 women who could pick among six disciplines to study including “English, History, Science, French, German, Art” (p. 143). The society “was revolutionary and provided women an opportunity to obtain a liberal education aside from the elite women's colleges” (p. 144).
Sherow and Wedemeyer (1990) have presented a detailed history of correspondence courses beginning in 1890 when the University of Wisconsin offered industrial and technical courses as well as courses toward bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees via mail. When University of Wisconsin President Charles Richard Van Hise saw the success of “commercial correspondence schools” (p. 13), he appointed “William Lighty as full time Director of Correspondence Instruction” to develop and oversee liberal arts instruction and Louis Reber as the director of Wisconsin's Extension Division who took charge of the industrial training courses (p. 14) and by 1914, extension programs at 32 universities in the United States were offering correspondence courses.
Universities used radio and television to supplement correspondence courses. Nearly half the population of the United States had access to educational programming via radio in the 1920s and by the mid-1950s, most educational stations were part of the National Association for Educational Broadcasters and they received financial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation's Fund for Adult Education (Sherow & Wedemeyer, 1990). Television gained popularity in the