Characteristics of the Online Learner

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Characteristics of the Online Learner
Learners (specifically adult) engage in learning or training for various reasons, i.e., learning new skills to, add value to their qualifications, mandated by their employers, optimize spare time etc. However, learners face the challenge of remaining motivated if they do not feel the training is relevant or practical. To develop effective training when preparing a training plan/instructional material, trainers/instructional designers must be conscious of not only performance and learning context, but also features of the target population. Not all learners are alike and differ in the way they learn. “The process of identifying these specific characteristics is called assessing the relevant characteristics of learners…we will call it simply learner assessment” (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2008, p.89). This paper will explore the learner characteristics of the online learner for development of online training program.
Characteristics of the Online Learner
“Effort to formulate a theory that considers what we know from experience and research about the unique characteristics of adult learners has been underway for more than five decades” (Knowles et al, 2011, p.58). Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2007) studied the characteristics of Online learners along demographic and effective parameters. Demographic factors used include age, gender, location, employment and marital status. Most research shows that in higher education programs online learning students tend to be typically older (25 years and above) than “traditional” students. Many studies show that more than half of these “non-traditional” learning students have full-time jobs; besides other economic activities, more than 50 percent are married, ...

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...otivation and Recruitment of Working Adults in the Pursuit of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1356&context=theses. Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2011). The adult learner. (7th ed.).
Elsevier Science
The Learning Process-Dynamic Flight. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dynamicflight.com/avcfibook/learning_process/ Rothwell, W. J., & Kazanas, H. C. (2008). Mastering the Instructional Design Process: A Systematic Approach (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer/Wiley.
Teaching adults online. (n.d.). Adult learning theory. Retrieved from http://teachingadultsonline.pbworks.com/w/page/19891104/Adult%20Learning%20Theory_br Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (2007). Characteristics of online learning students. Retrieved from http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Collaboratory/Teaching/students.html

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