Challenges Faced by Adult Learners in Online Distance Education: A Literature Review

“The articles were firstly organized in an article database created by the researchers and were analyzed by using Constant Comparative Analysis method as suggested by Glaser (1965).”

“Interaction is also considered as a key factor in online distance education and it is a good predictor of learning (Picciano, 2002).”

“…or internal challenges such as the incongruences between the course materials and learners’ preferences, learners’ lack of prerequisite knowledge about courses and programs (Grace & Smith, 2001; Pierrakeas et al., 2004) or their lack of interest in the course materials (Willging & Johnson, 2009).”

“In spite of the increase in the number of adult learners and consequently in the diversity of the students in online distance education, the number of the studies related to them are fewer in the literature than those studies about traditional learners (Chu & Tsai, 2009; Ke, 2010; Remedios & Richardson, 2013).”

“Considering the advantages of online distance education, adults compose the largest audience for online distance education (Ke & Xie, 2009; Lim, 2001) and consequently the limits of the diversity expand in online distance education practices.”

“These sorts of challenges include too difficult assignments (Rao & Giuli, 2010; Willging & Johnson, 2009), lack of clarity in assignments (Dumais et al., 2013), and too difficult or demanding courses or programs (Willging & Johnson, 2009; Xenos et al., 2002).”

“This challenge is partially a source of another challenge, which is limited physical environment to study (Kahu et al., 2014; Selvyn, 2011; Zembylas, 2008; Zhang & Krug, 2012).”

“It is also known that the adult learners, who have diverse educational background and goals, want to reflect their experiences on their educational process (Lindeman, 2015).”

“Besides, their engagement in education is more irregular and varied compared with the traditional ones (McGivney, 2004).”

“Considering the advantages of online distance education, adults compose the largest audience for online distance education (Ke & Xie, 2009; Lim, 2001) and consequently the limits of the diversity expand in online distance education practices.”

“Deschacht and Goeman (2015) emphasized that future studies should be focused on preventing the dropout of adult online learners.”

“Specifically, they display significant differences from traditional students in terms of their academic, psychological, and life characteristics (Richardson & King, 1998).”

“This requisite is reported in many of the studies in the literature as the source of a major challenge for adults; creating balance between work and family or other social responsibilities (Doherty, 2006; Selwyn, 2011; Yasmin, 2013).”

“…that the older adults who are 50 and above unlike the young and middle-aged adults have difficulty to participate in the collaborative activities satisfactorily due to the insufficient technical skills and insufficient interaction on the internet (Nor, 2011; Dzakiria, 2012; Chang & Kang, 2016).”

“The lack of sufficient feedback (Östlund, 2005), the needed tutor assistance (Pierrakeas et al., 2004), and the lack of synchronous communication with tutors (Joo, 2014) are also among other interaction problems between the tutor and the learners.”

“The participants of the studies were accepted as adults only if they met the adult learner definition by Kahu et al. (2013).”

“This challenge is partially a source of another challenge, which is limited physical environment to study (Kahu et al., 2014; Selvyn, 2011; Zembylas, 2008; Zhang & Krug, 2012).”

“Yasmin (2013) found out that the adult learners who start to study after a long period of time have a difficulty focusing on studying.”

“In another study with graduate students, Venter (2003) listed the sources of isolation as “inadequate structure, discipline, and guidance by tutors”, “inadequate interaction with tutors and among learners”, “lack of feeling of belonging to institution or being a student”, and “lack of time due to…”

“Former research has concentrated on what to do to improve quality and adult learners’ performance in online distance education (Johnson et al., 2018; Thompson & Porto, 2014).”

“…some of the factors affected adult learners’ decisions to persist in or drop out of the online degree programs such as basic physical constraints from work, scholastic aptitude, family/personal issues, motivation for studying, academic integration, interaction, and motivation (Choi & Kim, 2018).”

“2009) and pedagogical support for learning materials (Dumais et al., 2013).”

“This requisite is reported in many of the studies in the literature as the source of a major challenge for adults; creating balance between work and family or other social responsibilities (Doherty, 2006; Selwyn, 2011; Yasmin, 2013).”

“In addition, adults have multiple roles such as spouse, parent, colleague, and student, each of which means additional responsibilities and workload (Thompson & Porto, 2014).”

“Studies show that interaction among adults or their engagement in the social learning groups is quite low (Furnborough, 2012; Östlund, 2005; Venter, 2003; Zhang & Krug, 2012).”

“One of the domestic challenges is concerned with technical problems such as disconnection problems and lack of broadband Internet speed experienced by adults in their study locations (Dzakiria, 2012; Kahu et al., 2014; Ostlund, 2005; Rao & Giuli, 2010).”

“Correspondingly, adult learners are required to have time management skills or appropriately structure or schedule their studies to create this balance (Calvin & Freeburg, 2010; Zhang & Krug, 2012).”

“…the increase in the number of adult learners and consequently in the diversity of the students in online distance education, the number of the studies related to them are fewer in the literature than those studies about traditional learners (Chu & Tsai, 2009; Ke, 2010; Remedios & Richardson, 2013).”

“According to the related literature, the learning materials provided by distance education institutions are unsuitable since they do not meet learners’ learning preferences (Grace & Smith, 2001).”

“Additionally, the materials might have heavy academic language or be unsuited to learners’ worldview and experiences (Joo, 2014).”

“The review findings demonstrated that the older adults who are 50 and above unlike the young and middle-aged adults have difficulty to participate in the collaborative activities satisfactorily due to the insufficient technical skills and insufficient interaction on the internet (Nor, 2011; Dzakiria, 2012; Chang & Kan…”

“For instance, through systematic reviewing previous literature, Mehmet Kara et al. (2019) indicated that adult learners usually fi nd it dif fi cult to search for and access available information due to their insuf fi cient technical skills and interaction on the internet.”

“Similarly, lack of concentration due to distractions from family members and family responsibilities has been found in some previous studies to be a challenge to meaningful online learning (Figueroa et al., 2020; Kara et al., 2019).”

“Some findings of this study were predictable and expected, as they are supported in prior persistence literature (e.g., Kara et al., 2019).”