As eLearning designers, our mission is to engage a very special audience: adult learners. This isn't about just slinging content their way and hoping for the best. We need to deeply understand adult learning psychology to develop courses that not only attract but also engage and educate our learners. But here’s a crucial insight: adult learners can be quite the skeptical audience. They often come with a mixed bag of experiences—some good, some downright discouraging. In fact, a study by the International Journal of Educational Technology found that 58% of adult learners are initially reluctant to digital learning due to past negative experiences. Additionally, as the McKinsey Global Institute reports, up to 375 million workers (or 14% of the global workforce) will have to switch occupational categories by 2030 due to digitization, automation, and advancements in AI. This rapidly changing landscape can induce a mix of anxiety and resistance among adult learners who may feel overwhelmed by the need to adapt continually. Yet, the demand for eLearning solutions has never been greater, with the market projected to reach $325 billion by 2025 according to Global Market Insights. Your role? Transform these challenges into opportunities. By crafting eLearning experiences that are relevant, responsive, and rewarding, we can flip the script. Let's give those who have had less-than-stellar past experiences compelling reasons to change their minds and fully engage with our courses.

As an instructional designer, you want to create courses that make a difference in your audience’s lives. You want to create experiences that inspire them, change mindsets and drive performance. In short, you want to create courses that resonate with them and hit the mark, every time.

Adult Learning highlights that adult learners are fundamentally different in their methods of learning in comparison with children. As an L&D professional, you need to understand these differences and figure out the best ways to apply them to meet your learner's needs. With adult learners, you will encounter unique expectations, demands, and challenges. The key is to accommodate these and design training and eLearning courses in a manner that is most effective and engaging for them. While there are multiple methodologies to make this happen, there is a model proposed by Lila Davachi, Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University that is known to be effective. Known as AGES (Attention-Generation-Emotion-Spacing), this model highlights four key elements that are essential for effective adult learning to happen.

Most of adult learning strategies are based on the idea that adults learn differently from non-adults. The term that often comes up is “androgogy,” which Malcolm Knowles coined to describe how adults learn in contrast to “pedagogy” or on how children learn.