Alternative Adult Education
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Participation in adult education grew steadily from the early 1970s through the mid-2000s. By 2002 participation included more than 52 percent of the working adult population. American adults desperately need further education. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2005 some 60 percent of all U.S. jobs were expected to require skills that during the early 2000s were held by only 20 percent of the population. About 40 million adults possess poor or no reading skills.
The overall aging of the population, with people living longer and healthier lives, means many more retirees will likely seek education as a path to personal enrichment. A September 2004 report from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicated that a number of other factors were driving adult education. These included rising immigration levels, advancements in technology, and economic globalization. Widespread unemployment following the economic slowdown of the early 2000s also created the need for many individuals to pursue new careers.
The popularity and proliferation of Internet-based, online (or "distance") learning represented the dominant trend in alternative adult education by the end of the 1990s, and this continued into the mid-2000s. As the cost of attending traditional educational institutions continued to escalate, many employers believed that continuing online education for their employees made simple mathematical sense. Also, the flexibility of Internet courses, accessible at all hours, meshed with the time constraints of many already overscheduled working adults. The trend did not go unopposed, however, particularly among some members of the higher education community itself. Critics argued that online education, particularly prepackaged online courses, would dilute the quality of higher education and undermine the development of critical thinking skills.
From 1987 to 2000, over 100 traditional, four-year colleges in the United States closed. During the same period, the number of for-profit colleges or universities increased from 400 to 1,600. Many analysts say that in the future, higher education will move away from traditional liberal arts studies—which, they charge, are aimed at elites—toward more practical education that stresses skills immediately applicable in the job market. The new trends target middle class, working adults over 24, who make up an increasingly large percentage of the $200 billion per year higher education market.
Adult education is defined in a variety of ways. The National Center on Education Statistics adopts a broad definition and includes voluntary and required educational activities that involve the presence of an instructor. These encompass courses teaching English as a second language, adult basic education, General Educational Development preparation classes, adult high school, and credential programs leading to a college or university degree or a post-secondary vocational or technical diploma.
The 1990 Perkins Act defines vocational education as "organized educational programs offering a sequence of courses which are directly related to the preparation of individuals in paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree." Post-secondary occupational curricula typically offer programs in the following categories: agriculture; business and office; marketing and distribution; health; home economics; technical education, including protective services and computers and data processing; engineering, science, and communication technologies; and trade and industry. Vocational education is also provided at the secondary level.
The National Assessment of Vocational Education found that 5.8 million students were enrolled in post-secondary vocational education in 1990, making up about 35 percent of all undergraduate post-secondary enrollment. Vocational enrollment represented an even larger share of the non-baccalaureate undergraduate population, approximately 50 percent of which reported majoring in a vocational program area.
Proprietary, for-profit colleges set up campuses in locations such as shopping malls, near where working adults live, and schedule classes for evenings and weekends. Many focus offerings in business and technical fields and stress job placement. Examples include DeVry Technical Institute, the University of Phoenix, and ITT Educational Services, Inc. They pose a challenge to traditional colleges and universities, particularly the 1,250 U.S. community and technical colleges. Private, for-profit institutions enroll eight percent of all post-secondary students, but 16 percent of all black students, 14 percent of Hispanic students, and four percent of Native American students, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Proprietary schools target under-served students such as working parents, returning students, and employees who need ongoing training.
By the late 1990s, two forms of distance instruction existed: traditional correspondence-based instruction, which is oriented for independent study; and telecommunications-based instruction, which offers the teaching and learning experience simultaneously. Some scholars distinguish between distance learning and distance education instead of using the term "instruction." Distance learning is exemplified by programs designed to encourage self-directed learning such as do-it-yourself books, while distance education requires formal evaluation and two-way communication with an institution as well as independent study.
Distance instruction is delivered through media such as audiotape, videotape, radio and television broadcasting, and satellite transmission. Microcomputers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web continued to shape the distance learning of the mid-2000s. Although broadcast television was often used for distance instruction in the mid to late 1990s, by the early 2000s, most institutions had begun to adopt the Internet as the favored medium for computer-based instruction.
Two primary forms of communication are used to deliver distance instruction: asynchronous and synchronous. The main distinction between the two is whether teachers and learners are participating at the same time. Asynchronous methods use recorded instructional materials that allow participants to be separated in time and distance. Thus, telecommunications systems such as television or electronically-stored media such as video, audio, and computer software are among the technologies employed. Synchronous programs use technologies offering live, interactive instruction. Instructional Television Fixed Service and point-to-point microwave are among the most common live interactive systems linking classrooms within the regional area surrounding an institution. The students are able to see and hear one another as well as the instructor. Other examples of synchronous communications include audio conferencing and real time computer communications.
The organization and administration of distance instruction in the mid-2000s varied according to the type of institution offering the instruction. Some universities offer distance learning programs exclusively, while others provide distance instruction as one of a number of programs. Entire degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels can be obtained via Web-based courses over the Internet.
Accreditation of distance instruction establishments vary by state and region. Institutions that also maintain a traditional campus often have the distance instruction component accredited as part of the main institution. One accrediting body specific to the industry is the Distance Education...
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