Education 2.0 & 3.0

As society has evolved, so too has education. To meet the changing needs of our world, an explosion of online education has focused on adult learning. Adult education covers a wide range of topics, as many adult learners strive to improve their lives through professional development or changing careers (Mace and Bacon 2019).  For career fields that require hands-on work and interactions with clients, for example, online education presents a unique challenge for educating adult learners. Therefore, to reach these students, understanding appropriate educational models in an online format is essential (Diep et al. 2019). As society changes to include more online learning opportunities, the field of education must stay abreast of these shifts and use these strategies to provide the best education possible for new and longtime professionals. When teaching courses online, consider applying evidence-based strategies to improve engagement, satisfaction, and comprehension for your students of all ages. The following five tips have been developed from research geared toward pivoting live classes into effective online or blended learning courses.

There are many similarities to adults and students when it comes to learning. If you were an auditory learner in school, you probably still prefer that learning method [1]. If you were a verbal learner you still prefer that. Adults are able to learn from additional styles as they know what they need to pick out from training, and they know the impact it will have on their job if they do not. The motivation to learn is more relevant to adults than it is to students, but trainers need to be aware of learner preferences.

In a public-private partnership that could signal the future of higher education, the University of Memphis has teamed up with FedEx Express on a new initiative that will give more than 11,000 FedEx employees the opportunity to earn a tuition-free degree from UofM Global, the university’s online learning program..

By far the most effective means of keeping adult learners engaged is to make the coursework RELEVANT to them.