Closing the Gap: Opportunities for Distance Education to Benefit Adult Learners in Higher Education
The project aimed to:
- offer insights into the needs of adult learners for the benefit of both policy makers and distance education providers;
- strengthen the social dimension of higher education by better meeting the needs of adult learners;
- increase the participation of adult learners in higher education through distance education.
The objectives of the project were:
- to provide an overview and in-depth analysis of European higher education pro- grammes in the field of Open and Distance Learning (ODL);
- to assess the overall potential of ODL offered by European providers and to deter- mine future problem areas and potential areas for growth;
- to outline the social profile of current and potential ODL students in European higher education;
- to identify motivations and major obstacles to ODL experienced by (potential) ODL students;
- to improve the quality and comparability of data on distance education for adult learning at a European level as a basis for future policy-making.
The project has thus been designed to gain a better understanding of distance education offered by higher education institutions. It addresses the question specifically: ‘How can distance education offered by European higher education institutions be better matched to the needs of adult learners?’
