XplanaZine

Contrary to conventional wisdom and expectations, the “early adopters” of the University of Oklahoma’s online Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree were not tech-savvy teenagers. Instead, in the late 90s, one year into our new online program, we found that the average age was 53, although we had many students in their 70s. The majority of the older learners were women, who returned to higher education for many reasons. We did not have much insight into those reasons at first, but, after observing the same perennial flowering year after year, we began to understand the nature of the passion for knowledge and self-actualization that so characterized older learners.

In addition to being intrinsically motivated by the subject matter itself, older learners (over 55 years of age) expressed a profound respect for a college degree, as well as for the institution itself. In many cases, they had encouraged and even paid for the college education of their children, even when it meant financial sacrifice and a dream postponed in their own lives. As a result, older learners tend to bring a unique passion to their studies. They are highly motivated learners who expend a great deal of energy and who are not afraid to “invest” themselves in the process. As a consequence, they can be very demanding, and they require any program they embark upon to reciprocate.

Older adults are often the most enthusiastic and self-disciplined students in an online program. They tend to have different interests and their online experiences can be quite diverse. Further, their skill sets, world views, and general knowledge base tend to be quite different than those of their younger counterparts. For example, few older online learners have played interactive video games such as CounterStrike, Doom, or Half-Life. Few older Internet users maintain extensive archives of music or movies to swap over Kazaa or other file-sharing programs. On the other hand, senior Internet users are likely to be adept at online banking, day-trading financial instruments, buying and selling via e-bay, conducting online research for information on health, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and services. Older Internet users are often quite adept at bargain-hunting for travel deals, and they often download legal forms or templates for power of attorney, living trusts, wills, leases, limited liability corporations, bills of sale, rental agreements, and more. For them, the Internet represents a way to do what they have done for years, but in a manner that is more efficient, cheaper, and convenient. Moreover, it is a way to learn about things and to obtain information “on demand” rather than having to wait for months or years for a professor’s book to be published.

Older learners (age 55 and up) give many reasons for choosing online delivery. Most revolve around issues of convenience, flexibility, program focus, and the quality of instruction. Specifically, the following factors are cited:

1—Accessible 24-7, with uncomplicated interface: Many older learners, despite being officially “retired” from their jobs, maintain busy professional lives, which can include ongoing consulting, part-time employment, volunteerism, heavy travel, and extended family commitments. As in the case of younger traditional and non-traditional students, a key factor for success is the design and management of an interface that is both easy to use and always accessible. Technical support is vital. Further, the design of the interface must accommodate vision and hearing-impaired learners. This requires a simplified design, without the extensive use of Flash or plug-ins so that specialized Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation software can be utilized, if needed. Accessibility means not only that the server housing the website and the course management software is always functional, but also that there are redundancies built into the system so that the courses are easily accessible over a dial-up modem, and do not require huge bandwidth. Further, it is designed so that if firewalls or security software make logging into the course management software problematic, it will not negatively impact the learner, because course content, texts, documents, and descriptions of required work are also housed on a separate simple website.

2—Full degree program, rather than a certificate: Older learners, as in the case of younger learners, prefer to work for a college degree. In fact, the acquisition of a bachelor or master’s degree is often the primary motivation, and more often than not, represents a “dream delayed” or at least postponed for years. It is not unusual to hear empassioned testimonials about how meaningful it was to earn a degree, particularly after supporting their children’s and grandchildren’s college educations. Further, because individuals are working far longer than earlier generations, and technological change obliges one to retool oneself, often a degree represents the opportunity to advance oneself professional and explore new avenues. The degree program is viewed as an investment – not only in time and one’s self-esteem, but of money and resources. As in the case of younger students, older students often expect a return on their investment.

3—Appealing curriculum: In contrast with traditional students, who will often endure boring, outdated, or irrelevant subject matters and course content, older students are much more demanding. They have already passed through the “rite of passage” years, and are not involved in the extramural learning experiences of dorm or fraternity/sorority living. Instead, college is defined by the relation of the student with the curriculum, which can be defined in terms of course content, subject matter expert “spin,” one-on-one interaction involving professor guidance and interaction, student-student idea-sharing and collaboration. Key “hot buttons” for older students are relevancy, practicality in the short-term, mind-expanding, values and ethics grounding, self-efficacy enhancing, self-esteem and human dignity reinforcing, respect and good “netiquette,” and inclusive.

4—Appealing course content and overall design: The quickest way to engage a younger learner may be to shock, offend, or challenge authority and the eternal verities. Although younger learners may, in fact, prove to be rigid, dogmatic, and highly critical, they are used to an “in your face” culture, particularly with respect to way they are marketed to. Thus, they often find such approaches invigorating and debate-inspiring. In contrast, older learners often react negatively to a “shock treatment” educational strategy. It is often better to start at a point of consensus, on firm and agreed-upon ground, before plunging into values- or epistemology-challenging territory. One is best not to guess, however. It is very important to get to know your older learners. This can be done by means of formative evaluations and needs assessments.

5—Opportunity to study with renowned experts in the field: Before enrolling in a program, older learners often take extra time to check out the field. This does not only involve doing online research, but also involves visiting amazon.com and purchasing books by experts (or at least widely marketed pundits) in the field. Seniors tend to buy more books than other age groups, and they devote time to educate themselves. While this is a positive aspect of older learners’ willingness to be self-starters and independently motivated, with a “take charge” attitude, a word of caution is appropriate here. Omnivorous reading on a theme or subject may result in an unbalanced approach, and the faculty member or member must be patient with the learner and guide him/her to an understanding of what is considered to be legitimate in the field. There will be a sorting-out phase as the learner begins to be able to separate legitimate intellectual inquiry from opinion, ideology, dogma, or pure invention.

6—Reliable technical support: From log-in procedures to selecting anti-virus software, all online learners, including older students, are often frustrated if they believe that they are battling alone. Because anti-virus and anti-spam programs can indiscriminately block e-mail and access, it is important to anticipate that many of the issues will have to do with communication. Besides procedural issues, technical aspects of online communication dominate senior learner’s communication. Knowing that many seniors have online access through America Online, then through either DSL or high-speed cable modem will also make a difference as technical support personnel develop specific FAQs and help procedures for most likely scenarios.

7—Virtual library and associated research support: Older learners are, generally speaking, eager to explore a subject both in terms of depth and breadth. They appreciate the opportunity to tailor a research project to their own interests, and to obtain information that allows them to achieve professional, academic, and personal learning and life objectives. The idea of simple skill-and-drill activities, and memorization activities is not attractive, unless there is an obligatory certification test that must be taken. Having always-accessible online library resources as well as guides to effective researching are factors in older learners’ successful completion of courses as well as their overall satisfaction.

8—Integrated and accessible services (enrollment, bursar): The ability to provide a simple procedure for completing applications, obtaining advising and mentoring, enrolling in courses, paying one’s bursar bills, and checking grades is of vital importance to any online program. The program that provides seniors with an integrated look at all the services in one screen, where the learner can easily click and go to the appropriate location is important. If the look and feel are similar to ones that most are likely to be familiar with, all the better. Before investing in expensive redesigns, it is a good idea to assemble a focus group, and to conduct needs assessments and evaluations.

9—Online advising and academic support: Older learners come to higher education after long breaks – often as many as 20 years. They may be unsure of their abilities, and afraid of failure. Even more destabilizing to their confidence levels is the fact that many may have had negative experiences in traditional undergraduate or graduate programs. Online advising, with 24-48 hour turnaround is mission-critical. Trust must be developed between the learner and the advisor, and the advisor must demonstrate that he or she will respect the interests and goals of the learner, while providing solid, academically-sound guidance to help achieve success.

10—Opportunities to interact with other learners, exchange ideas, etc.: Seniors, even more than other learners, may suffer from a sense of isolation or depression. They may be dealing with the loss of loved ones, a move away from their family home, retirement, health issues, reduced income, and a host of emotional issues that confront older adults in today’s society. The ability to develop an online learning community can be extremely helpful, and can be a key determinant of academic success, as students find a way to establish connections, support each other’s ideas, collaborate on projects, and share ideas. Needless to say, it is always important to review the basics of “netiquette” as well as privacy issues. The jury is still out in terms of what constitutes the best way to establish an online community. A few things can be said with certainty, however, with respect to groups that include senior learners. First, asynchronous discussion boards are more effective than synchronous chats, for reasons ranging from time zone differences to the need to type quickly over a fast connection. Second, guided rather than random discussion helps break the ice and maintains relevance. This requires the instructor to view himself or herself as a facilitator and to provide thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, and to require learners to respond to each other as a part of their grade.

Since 1996, I’ve been in contact with more than one hundred older learners who have decided to take online courses for all the reasons discussed above, and more. Many of the additional motivations have to do with philanthropic, humanitarian, community-building, and service reasons. For me, this is one of the most exciting areas and it holds a great deal of promise – in addition to personal development and enrichment, the technology and knowledge transfer that takes place in online courses will have a multiplier effect, and help the development of individuals and groups. This aspect definitely deserves additional study.