Who Are Today's College Students?: Understanding the 21st Century Higher Education Digital Learner

Background Literature

Distance education has been defined by many since its existence. Early in the age of distance education, Keegan (1980) suggested the following elements were components of this type of learning: “ 1) Separation of teacher and learner, 2) Influence of an educational organization, 3) Use of media to link teacher and learner, 4) Two-way exchange of communication, 5) Learners as individuals rather than grouped, 6) Educators as an industrialized form” (p. 6). Three decades later, Allen and Seaman (2017) utilized the following definition for distance education “Education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor synchronously or asynchronously” (p. 6). The emphasis, in many definitions of distance education, is on the delivery method, interactions, and the participants involved (both instructors and students). Therefore, in order to connect with today’s college students, online instructors first must understand the cliental they serve in the online or hybrid courses they teach in order to instruct these students effectively in the online learning format.