Adult Learner Engagement, Empowerment, Faculty-Student Interaction, and Technology Strategies

Strategies, Tools, And Best Practices For Both Synchronous And Asynchronous Learning

Online education cannot be successful without good, reliable broadband internet (Cullinan et al., 2021). Students can tap into resources already available at many universities and colleges, such as the college library, increased Wi-Fi output, and mobile hotspots in and around the campuses (Hirsch & Varn, 2021). Adult learners may have a family that they have to support and therefore have limited funds for internet service. Some families have already taken advantage of the government’s low-income programs to provide low-cost fiber connections in the home for students in K-12 schools (Hirsch & Varn, 2021). This program also benefits older siblings, and even adults, attending university or college. Other universities and colleges loan laptops to students as long as they are enrolled in their courses at least part time (Jaggars et al., 2021).

One study demonstrated how even in a completely virtual program, students still need practice with live teachers (Silva de Castro et al., 2019). Students that are ELLs can benefit from tapping into practice of native English with an instructor. English Language Arts concepts, such as Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing are directly related to how well ELLs scored on their proficiency tests and professors should take that into consideration when providing instruction, activities, and assessment (Paterra, 2021).