Traditional classrooms, especially at the higher education level, are full of "traditional-looking" students. They have some common characteristics. Usually, they're in their late teens to late 20s and have a strong educational background.

Distance education students are a little different. Historically, we had some general characteristics telling us who distance learners were.  For example, we knew that with telecourses (distance education via television) many of the learners were women who stayed at home during the day.  However, with the advent and increased penetration of online distance education, through the Internet and the Web, the ability to paint a definitive picture of who distance learners are has changed. 

Look at the table below from the National Center for Educational Statistics on a survey on distance education courses offered by higher education institutions in 1995.  This sample was based on mailings to 1,274 postsecondary institutions in the US, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with 1,203 returns (94% response rate).  (Note that this chart does not total to 100% because learners could belong to more than one category.)

Some other considerations or characteristics, based on other studies, show that (in general), distance education students:

• Sometimes feel isolated.
• May be technology-phobic.
• Are usually more highly motivated.
• Bring "richer" life experiences to the class because of their previous work or academic experience.

You will find out more about distance education learners, including the need to conduct an audience analysis as you design courses in Destination 4: Distance Education Learners. The group that you most likely will develop distance education courses for is adult learners. Destination 2: Adult Learning provides you with some basic theory and application of adult education, as it pertains to the distance education environment.

Destination 1: 4 of 5