Serving Adult Students at a
Distance
New Ideas, New Approaches
Brazil’s 16th International
Distance Learning Congress
31 August to 3 September 2010
Iguazu Falls,
Parana, Brazil
Overview
Why focus on adult learners?
 What are their needs?
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
An example case
What is Excelsior College
 How does it help adults?
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Aggregation
Assessment
Advising
Instruction
Support
Results
Overview - continued

How does it help adults?
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

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
Aggregation
Assessment
Advising
Instruction
Support
Results
The Adult Learner
Defined
 Profile
 Needs
 Resources (lack of)
 Reason for caring



National priority
Economic Impact
Example
Military student
 Much training
 Correspondence study
 College courses
 One-at-a-time
 Degree enrollment
 Multiple transcripts

Example - continued
 Issues
 Work
 Family
 Relocation
Excelsior (history)
 Inspired
by OU
 Created in 1971 by Regents, State of
New York
 Accredited
 Open Enrollment
 Philosophy
Philosophy
What you know is more important
than how or where you learned it?
Excelsior (history)
 No
instruction
 External degrees
 Aggregation – assessment
 Change of status
 Change of name
 Entry to instruction
Excelsior (today)
Four schools
 30,000+ students
 140,000+/- graduates
 American’s largest nursing program
 Student profile




Age
Sectors
Locations
The Excelsior Process
 Aggregation
 Assessment
 Advising
 Instruction
 Support
services
Aggregation
 “Five
Transcript” challenge
 Instruction sources
 Training (military/corporate)
 Exams
 Portfolio
Assessment
 Institutional
credits
 Individual learning
 Credit fit to degree
 Capstone
 Learning outcomes
Advising
Course “fit”
 Concern for cost
 Guidance/encouragement

Instruction
study – 1970’s
 Online = 2003
 Face-to-face = 2009
 300 courses
 Three levels
 Independent
Support
 Library
 Tutorials
 Coaching
 “Practice”
exams
Results
 Retention
 Persistence
 Completion
 Learning
outcomes
 Nationally normed instruments
 Surveys
Questions