E-learning for adult literacy, language and numeracy: summary of findings

4. Conclusions and main recommendations

There is no doubt that introducing and integrating digital technologies into educational provision is a complex process. Many factors have to come together to ensure that e-learning programmes are successful for adults with LLN needs. Our findings from our review of the literature, online seminars, stakeholder interviews and case study emphasise that success occurs when the e-learning fits:

• The adult’s lifestyle;
  
• The tutor’s pedagogic goals;
  
• The tutor’s e-learning proficiency;
  
• The purpose and culture of the education and/or training organisation;
  
• All other locations where learning takes place, including the home.

Good fit with individual learners’ lifestyles is the overarching success characteristic that we identified through our research. This fit is not easy to achieve. It requires ongoing monitoring and development as the teaching, learning, organisational and digital ecologies continue to evolve.

We consider that the success or otherwise of programmes that use e-learning to support adults wanting to develop their LLN skills can best be predicted by considering these ecologies from within an evolutionary framework (Davis, 2009). Davis describes ecologies of people in and around the classroom who all contribute to the success of learning. The e-learning that takes place is supported by four tiers: bureaucratic entities, such as the Tertiary Education Commission; commercial interests, including telecom companies; professionals in tutor-training organisations and professional societies; and political agents at all levels of society, from the local community to the international stage. Amidst this framework, tutors are the key players: they are the essential individuals who keep the edifice functioning.

This evolutionary framework recognises that ecologies change as people adapt their behaviour, whether individually or in groups, in accordance with new understandings and ways of doing things. Such change leads to changes in organisational structures and procedures, and those changes, in turn, lead to more change among the individuals who work within the organisation or access its learning provisions. And so the process continues. In short, the process is an ongoing, dynamic one, and it also has to be an integrated one, in which all ecologies work well together. Tutors provide an example of this process in action. They and those who support them can help or hinder development of the ecologies that work to make an educational organisation or environment e-learning “friendly”.

E-learning also has the benefit of opening up greater interaction between learners’ study, work, home and community environments, simply because the learning environment can be extended into those places. These extensions of the locations where learning takes place stretch out the opportunities and time that adults have available to develop their LLN skills. (The time needed to develop such skills can take hundreds of hours, yet this factor is often underestimated.) Mobile learning that encompasses digital technologies continues to expand the options for LLN, but this facility also increases the complexity of e-learning development within and across organisations.

The often intensive and challenging nature of developing adults’ LLN skills explains the need for organisational development and commensurate professional development for staff. Resource development is also vital. However, e-learning can also be used to support these developments at both local and national levels, while digital technologies provide educators with opportunities to share ideas and resources through partnerships and learning communities, and across geographic boundaries.

With these considerations in mind, we recommend that leaders at all levels of educational provision apply Davis’ (2009) evolutionary framework and its underlying models to support the development of human behaviour that is likely to result in successful e-learning for adults with LLN needs. Relevant leaders include employers, ITOs, tutor educators, e-learning coordinators, chief executives, vendors of e-learning products and services, and policymakers.

As we stated at the beginning of this report, the government knows that the tertiary sector is likely to be challenged in its efforts to provide sufficient education for all adults wanting to develop their LLN skills. Blending face-to-face training with e-learning for individuals and groups has the greatest chance of addressing this need, but these types of provision must be accompanied by professional and organisational development within and across organisations. We therefore conclude our report with nine recommendations for action at the regional, national and international levels. Although some of these recommendations may appear generic, they can all be conceptualised within LLN contexts.