The world of higher education is now global with online learning a driving force in much of the world. Globalization of higher education has created vast new opportunities for e-learning, particularly for adult students. However, adult learning online is different from online for traditionally aged students. Global universities are increasing their online programs to take advantage of economic considerations, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for learning online. Using online learning for adult education is essential in the changing global world. Connotations of adult learning theory for professors using online learning are many and varied. Traditional pedagogical styles will not work effectively with adult learners who desire concrete, hands-on, practical information with learning activities characterized by active involvement, task-orientation, flexibility, and creativity. Online students often want opportunities to acquire skills directly applicable to job competencies for current employment or preparation for a future job.
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In this knowledge-intensive society the need for advanced education has become more prevalent, both for individuals and for societies. The university and all of the higher education enterprise will change in profound ways to serve this changing world, just as higher education has changed in the past. This is a period of significant change in higher education as universities attempt to respond to the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities present in this global society (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2019). These changes will be driven by economic and market forces which are almost impossible to predict. Therefore, the most critical challenge facing higher education leaders is how to develop the capacity for change; if change is inevitable, the capacity for change is perilous (Garretson, Lemoine, Waller, & Richardson, 2020).
Global higher education institutions continuously search for the most current and most effective technology to make the university more competitive and better prepared to survive (Everhart & Seymour, 2017). As knowledge-driven organizations, colleges and universities are greatly affected by the rapid advances in technology that are transforming society and social institutions (Chan, Hackett, Lemoine, & Richardson, 2016). Global higher education institutions use powerful digital networks to deliver educational services to anyone, at any place and any time, dramatically reshaping global society (Leahy, Holland, & Ward, 2019). In a very real sense, higher education is evolving from a system of colleges and universities serving traditional students from local communities into a rapidly expanding knowledge industry serving the world (Lemoine & Richardson, 2019).
To compete in today's economic environment, higher education institutions need to become adaptive businesses, capable of responding quickly to changing customer demands. Continuously changing environments require higher education institutions to continuously reassess their goals and management strategies (Potter & Devecchi, 2020). Therefore, success of these higher education institutions will come from the ability to manage networks of knowledge and to collect, document and analyze data involving complex systems (Siu & García, 2017). Thus, the focus needs to be on flexibility, learning and development of new knowledge determined by learning instead of specific solutions (Richardson, Garretson, Waller, & Lemoine, 2019).