Learner Characteristics
Traditional vs. Distance Learners
Workers in education —teachers, trainers, instructional designers, or support personnel— may find themselves involved with both traditional and distance learners. Most of the tasks undertaken by these workers are effective regardless of the type of learner; however, workers must have a clear understanding of the differences so that they make changes in their deliverables when necessary. The best place to begin this understanding is with solid definitions of traditional and distance learning, as well as descriptions of the types of individuals that are typical practitioners of each type.
The Traditional Learner
Traditional learning is so well known to us that it seems silly to create a formal definition. In fact, a brief search of the Internet shows that others feel the same way too. Traditional learning and traditional education seem to always be compared to something else without providing a clear foundation for that comparison. Wikipedia states, “Traditional education refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate” (Wikipedia, 2008 ). So for the purposes of this discussion, the customs that I associate with traditional learning are a classroom with desks and students at them, a teacher at center stage, delivering a lesson plan on a pre-determined topic, at a prescribed time. Students hear the lecture, complete assignments, and respond by completing an assessment.
Learners who participate in this type of learning environment may range in age from 5 to 95. If they are an adult, they have likely finished compulsory schooling (K-12). If they are a young adult (age 15-25), they may work part-time, are still financially dependent on their parents, and have no dependents (spouse or children) of their own. An example of a learner in a traditional learning environment is a person with little or no professional experience who continues on to university after completing their compulsory education. Another example of this type of learner is the middle-aged professional who wishes to pursue additional formal education, but who is not either knowledgeable about the alternatives (such as online or distance), or does not have access to the technology that the alternatives require. They may simply be more comfortable in the traditional setting.
The Distance Learner
In Teaching and Learning at a Distance, Simonson et al cite this definition of distance learning, given by Schlosser & Simonson (2006),
“Institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors”
The institution could be a traditional state-sponsored K-12 or higher school, a community center, or a corporate university. The curriculum could be either teacher-centered, as in the case of state-sponsored compulsory systems, or it could be learner-centered, as in the case of a community program, or authority-directed, such as the case with corporate training.
The key to distance learning is distance. Distance can mean time (same time, different times), or it can mean space (same space, different spaces), or intellectual (teacher vs. learner) (Simonson et al, 2009). For a corporate trainer, it might mean working with an outsourced vendor whose trainers must deliver the corporation’s training to the vendor’s employees. In this situation, the distance might not be just time or space, but of affiliation.
Most groups involved in distance education require some type of technology to bridge the gaps between time and space. This technology may be very low-tech, as in a correspondence (written) course, videoconferencing sessions, or the Internet and the WWW. With the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, distance learning is splintering into sub-sets based on the technologies. CSUGlobal is a conventional online environment that depend on a browser, and a delivery portal, but there are universities, such as University of Cincinnati who are blazing trails in places like Second Life, a virtual world based on role-playing and powered by gaming technologies (University of Cincinnati, 2008). m-learning, learning that takes advantage of untethered mobile devices such as eBook readers or 3G-connected PDAs or iPods is also emerging as a variant of distance learning (Alexander, 2004).
Learners who participate in distance learning may range in age from 5-95. If still enrolled in compulsory education, students may participate in distance learning because of health issues, or because their families live remotely, or to take advantage of resources available at other locations. For young or mature adults, distance education may provide a level of convenience and flexibility that traditional learning does not. Or they may prefer the more solitary learning that some styles of distance education provide.
The Difference
The difference between traditional and distance learning is found in where and when each type of learning takes place. Traditional learning is very static, always in the same place and at the same time (as determined by some schedule). Distance learning is more fluid; however, within any given course, the structure generally remains consistent. Distance learners may participate at any time or in any place, or they may join a session at a specific time from wherever they can connect. Distance learning also generally involves one or more technologies that deliver the content, although correspondence courses may still work in a more traditional, low-tech framework of set paper-based lessons, activities, and assessments.
My Learners
My learners are customer care agents who are employees of two vendors which use radically different call center models. These models are:
- A traditional brick-and-mortar call center, using face-to-face training
- A virtual call center, using an instructor-led online classroom
My learners come from radically different cultural backgrounds as well. The agents from the traditional call center are from the Deep South, and are frequently part-time college students. The agents from the virtual call center are part-time agents, are frequently work-from-home parents, and live in all sectors of the US.
Just about the only thing my learners have in common is that their learning is dictated by my company. They must learn the content in order to keep their job, and to be successful in it. There is little to no collaboration with the learners on setting objectives, selecting activities, etc. These two vendors have very different approaches to using technology for instruction. The traditional call center is limited to Power Point presentations and activities; they are a “paperless” company so learners are not permitted to take notes during instruction. The virtual call center uses a web-conferencing portal that includes discussion forum, and “learning paths” that guide learners through text-based content (LMS, PDF, knowledge base, Power Point).
Their Needs, Values and Prior Knowledge
Anyone working with adult or nontraditional learners must have a clear view as to their needs, values and prior knowledge. For my learners, this table outlines these characteristics.
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| Values |
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| Prior Knowledge |
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My Practice
Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgarten (2006) created a list of 13 characteristics that describe adult learners. On the left, I’ve selected the ones that I believe are important to consider when working with my learners. The column on the right is the remaining items from Merriam, et al.
Characteristics I see in my learners:
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Other important characteristics noted by Merriam et al:
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I chose the items in the left column because my learners are also employees. They need to see that their hard work during training will provide benefits to them in their work as a customer care agent. Since they have a limited time to learn the skills and knowledge for their job, they must be effective and efficient during class. If they are unprepared to apply themselves during training, they won’t perform their role satisfactorially.
