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As you’re developing continuing education courses, it’s common to wonder about the specific learning needs and motivations of adult learners. After all, adults have busier schedules and often have specific professional reasons for seeking additional education, so it’s important to customize the content to meet their needs.
Using a well-rounded learning management system (LMS) will help in the process. Here, we’ll discuss tips to create effective courses with an LMS and ensure you get the most benefit out of each feature the software offers.
What Makes Adult Learners Different From Younger Students?
Adult learners have different needs from those of younger students. They have more experience, need to manage their time effectively, and frequently have clear professional goals behind seeking continuing education.
Adult learning theory, also known as andragogy, is a framework that was developed by Malcolm Knowles to explain the distinct learning needs and patterns of adults. The theory suggests that educators need to understand several unique aspects that motivate adult learners, including:
- Most adult learners have busy schedules and time constraints they need to manage.
- Adult learners often have well-defined educational goals based on their current needs.
- Adults often show greater internal motivation to succeed and complete tasks compared to younger students, who need more external motivation from instructors.
- Adult learners will often choose to advance their education to gain a competitive edge in the workplace or in the job market, especially during an economic recession.
A 2024 study in the British Journal of Medical Science found that applying the key principles of adult learning theory is beneficial in nearly any adult educational experience.
So, as you’re creating a continuing education program using an LMS, consider the aspects listed above to ensure you present it in a way that aligns best with adult learning needs and motivations.
What Is the Best Way to Teach Adult Learners?
One of the best ways to teach adult learners is by using self-paced online courses. Adults seeking continuing education often have clear professional reasons for wanting to succeed, yet they also have busy schedules. So it makes sense to present educational materials in an accessible format that allows them to make progress when their time allows.
How Can You Make Online Courses Accessible for Busy Professionals?
The best way to make online courses accessible for busy professionals is by using an LMS. An LMS, such as our Elevate or EthosCE LMSs at Cadmium, allows organizations to easily create and customize learning materials and deliver them in a web-based format that professionals can access from anywhere.
It’s usually best to deliver courses in a simple step-by-step format, make them self-paced, and make course recommendations feel personalized based on each user’s current professional needs.
What Are the 5 Pillars of Adult Learning?
As you’re developing continuing education materials, you should also consider the five pillars of adult learning to ensure you check all the boxes that professionals are looking for. The five pillars are:
1. Adults Care About the Information’s Usefulness
Since adults have limited time to spend on continuing education, they want to make sure they’re getting the most valuable and relevant information based on their needs.
As you promote new courses, explain why each one is useful to specific professionals and present your audience with real-world situations where having the new knowledge will be useful.
2. Adults Have a Greater Desire for Autonomy
It’s common to develop a greater sense of self with age and become more aware of your capabilities. That’s why adult learners tend to seek a self-guided e-learning experience where they feel they can take charge of when they’re learning and how fast they make progress.
3. Adults Have More Life, Educational, and Work Experience
Adults have many professional and educational experiences they can draw on to learn new material. It can help when training programs use discussion boards or other social learning features. This way, users can learn from each other and connect their previous experiences to the learning materials.
4. Adult Learning is Often Motivated by an Immediate Need
It’s common for adults to seek more education when they have an immediate need for knowledge in the workplace or while trying to advance their careers. For example, when a new software they’ve never used is gaining popularity.
It’s another big reason self-paced learning is important for adults: so they can access the information and apply it as soon as possible.
5. Personal Goals Play a Big Factor for Adults
Adults tend to approach learning with their own personal goals. For instance, it’s common for adults to sign up for continuing education to advance their careers, find a new job, or future-proof their skill sets. If you’re looking to enhance motivation, having learners reflect on the reasons why they started a course can help.
What Are the 10 Methods of Teaching Adults With an LMS?
Now, let’s review 10 methods you can use to help teach adults within an LMS.
- Collaborative learning: Group projects and peer feedback can help your members connect and learn from each other.
- Experiential learning: Add interactive activities or simulations that reflect real-world scenarios to help apply concepts.
- Gamification: Using a points system, badges, awards, or learning-based games can help keep members engaged.
- Microlearning: Break down concepts, chapters, or projects into bite-sized chunks to manage time constraints and help with information retention.
- Problem-based learning: Present real-world problems during lessons that course members can solve with the information they just learned.
- Self-directed learning: Give users options to set their own goals and pace to complete course materials.
- Blended learning: Integrate online courses with in-person events or workshops to reinforce the material in a different way.
- Personalized learning: Use pre-assessments or questionnaires to help recommend relevant courses based on individual needs or knowledge gaps.
- Social learning: Discussion boards and social sharing can help members connect and share their personal experiences.
- Active learning strategies: Adding multiple-choice questions in videos, drag-and-drop exercises, or scenarios that require a response can help keep learners engaged.
How Do You Motivate Adult Learners and Improve Learning Outcomes?
Some tips to motivate and improve outcomes for adult learners as they progress through courses are:
- Offer support and guidance as needed to assist with any concepts that users are having trouble understanding.
- Encourage learners to apply the course materials at work so they can start to see the real-world benefits.
- Use varied learning methods throughout courses to account for different learning styles and keep the content engaging.
- Add emotional elements to the content, such as stories or humor, to bring course materials to life.
- Check in with members occasionally to see how things are going and if you can help with anything.
How Our Learning Management Systems at Cadmium Can Help
At Cadmium, our goal is to provide associations and nonprofits with learning, event, and video technology that can help create impactful experiences. We offer two LMSs that can help you take advantage of many of the tips discussed in this article and create successful continuing education courses.
Elevate is our LMS for associations and nonprofits. It can help you create learning materials for members, no matter where they are in their educational journey. You can use it to develop a searchable course library, develop a custom curriculum, add social learning elements, integrate live events, and monetize your content. Click here to learn more.
EthosCE is our LMS for healthcare professionals. It’s built to help organizations develop trusted continuing medical education programs with features to support compliance needs, track and report credits, add interactive learning options, and keep members engaged throughout courses. Click here to learn more.
