Adaptive Learning, Competency Based Education, and Personalization : Implications for Distance Education and Adult Learners

Abstract

This paper takes an exploratory look at the constructs of competency-based education (CBE) and adaptive learning and their possible impacts on distance education and the adult learner. As re-emerging constructs within the higher education landscape it is important to track the history of these concept, how they have been implemented in the past, and how they may be implemented in the future to benefit adult learners studying at a distance. This paper also examines how the constructs fit within the theory of transactional distance and the community of inquiry model, and how higher education, specifically in the United States, may need to change in order to allow adaptive learning and competency-based approaches to be integrated into institutions. Although this paper is a snap shot of the status of these constructs, it will be important to continue to track these concepts to understand which systems and models work and which may not have promise for our learners.