Engagement in Online Learning Through the Lens of Adults' Learning Experience

Abstract

The article aims to critically examine the role of engagement in the study of the educational experiences of adult learners in online learning. The authors highlight the existence of a gap between the nature of adult educational experiences and the lens through which these experiences are studied and evaluated. This lens is the learners' engagement. The authors highlight the complexity of the construct of learner engagement and point out the inadequacy of assessing it solely through behavioral markers. The theoretical framework of the article is the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model for studying the educational experiences of learners in the digital environment, based on the notion of the socially constructed nature of learning. The article shows how the idea of lifelong learning as the formation of a new professional identity of adults is consistent with the idea of an ontological turn in education. By conceptualizing the educational experiences of adults as active participants in the learning process, the authors propose to consider engagement as a characteristic of these experiences. The authors identify external and internal factors of learner engagement. Based on previous research, internal factors are proposed, namely learners’ prior experience, future self-image, and personal goals. External factors are based on the self-determination theory, where the needs for competence and belongingness become particularly salient for engagement in online learning.