Moore (n.d.), in listing adult learner characteristics, provided the following implications for technology use: (a) Adults should be provided with adequate resources and technology tools to direct their own learning; (b) Adult learners should regularly be required to relate classroom content to actual life experiences; (c) Appropriate beliefs about learning are developed over time by providing students with many opportunities to ask their own questions and engage in personal inquiry; and, (d) Motivation and interest can be supported by designing authentic projects or tasks that the learner can see are relevant to their future needs.
Fidishun (n.d.) asserted that to facilitate the use of andragogy while teaching with technology, technology must be used to its fullest. In addition to the arguments of online being flexible for learning, self-paced, anytime, and anywhere, learners may also adapt the lessons or material to cover what they need to learn and eliminate the material that is not appropriate or that they have already learned. The design must be interactive, learner-centered and facilitate self-direction in learners. Educators must become facilitators of learning, and structure student input into their design and create technology-based lessons that can easily be adapted to make the presentation of topics relevant to those they teach.
Commenting additionally on the value of andragogy in technological learning, Rossman (2003) posits that andragogy provides (a) a context for developing distance education programs, (b) a framework to build a climate conducive to adult learning, and (c) a process for involving the adult learner more actively in the distance learning process.
Gibbons and Wentworth (2001) expressed a concern about colleges and universities that are rushing at an alarming rate to answer the call of the growing number of online learners. They raised a crucial question: Can faculty make effective use of the online learning platform to design, construct, and deliver a meaningful online course that addresses the motivations, needs, learning styles, and constraints on nontraditional learners, while achieving the same learning outcomes as “on ground”? They seek to address this question by revealing the need for substantive differences between online and “on ground” teaching methodologies.