Adult learners are different from children in school. They think differently and they learn differently.When our children go to school, they are are passive. The curriculum is fed to them. They complete the assignments and get graded on how well the teacher perceives their performance.
Adult learners have experience and they seek knowledge and skills they don't yet have. They participate in the educational process in an active manner. And they establish the quality of their work.
Distance learning graduate programs are designed with the adult learner in mind. The curriculum is flexible and the needs of the students are paramount. The curriculum challenges the student expand their study beyond the lesson plan and the assignments.
There are some graduate programs which offer all of the coursework online. In these programs it is common for all of the student contact with the school to be online including classes, content, assignments, professor feedback and student advising.
There are some programs which only provide the coursework through on-campus residencies. Students have to attend the university to take the classes. The distance learning aspect is that these residencies are usually a week or two and all of the assignments are completed at home and delivered to the professor by some form of email.
There are some programs which are a hybrid of both of these. Some of the courses are online and some require the residencies on the campus.
Adults can easily find all kinds of graduate programs designed with the mature learner in mind. By attending one of these programs an experienced adult can continue home and work life while working on a graduate degree. By using a distance learning doctoral program, a motivated adult learner can obtain the highest level of education while maintaining the world they have created for themselves in their home and career.
