Critical Challenges and Barriers to Online Learning- Nontraditional Adult Students in a Nontraditional Teacher Licensing Program

Older adult students are drawn to distance education because of the need tobalance career family and continuing education responsibilities convenientlyeffectively and efficiently. When contemporary technologies are integratedinto the educational environment the lack of familiarity with thesetools creates barriers to learning. With teacher shortages in certain fieldsdistance education may address this crisis. This book offers recommendationsfor implementing online teaching training for nontraditional students. Theymust have clear paths of communication available especially when socialinclusion is limited by the online format; learning new pedagogy is secondaryuntil a level of technology competency has been reached; the adult studentswill commit to learning when the goals and objectives are applicable andpractical to their personal and professional needs; these nontraditional adultstudents have competing priorities and struggle with balancing family responsibilitiesjob obligations and commitment to the program; this is onlyexacerbated by the state university and program assessment demands required.The book targets teacher educators and educational researchers.