IDEAL aims to study the impact of distance education on the participation of adult learners in European higher education by analysing: the current offer of distance education in Europe, and who it is designed for and the social profile and needs of current and potential distance education students.
Increasing attainment levels of adult learners in higher education is an important objective of lifelong learning. EU Member States agreed to raise the benchmark for adult participation in lifelong learning to 15% by 2020. However there is still a long way to go. As data from the Labour Force Survey demonstrate, the average rate has fallen since 2005 to only 8.9% in 2011. The IDEAL consortium believes Open and Distance Learning (ODL) can contribute significantly to making higher education more accessible to adults, and ultimately to many. Project Link. More...