As many of us know, everyone’s learning style can be slightly different. Some people learn visually, while others can learn and remember information by listening or writing. Just as individuals have their unique learning styles, organizations also have different learning styles. Knowing this is important – do you know your organization's learning style?

As instructional designers, we can only prepare successful distance learning projects by considering the learning style and needs of organizations. In this regard, it is crucial to understand some fundamental principles. Based on our experiences, knowing the basic principles of adult education is particularly important as we rapidly progress into the digital education era. Research has shown that adult professionals learn in much more specific and different ways compared to university students.

Without further ado, let's move on to the research results and the principles we should pay attention to:

1) Adult professionals want to be involved in learning with their own experience and knowledge.

When adult professionals start learning, they bring a wealth of personal experience and attitudes with them. These individuals are now professionals, spouses, parents, and have a wealth of knowledge based on their experiences.

Effective distance learning designed for adults should embrace, consider, and utilize this knowledge and experience. Therefore, we should always use the following experiential techniques in e-learning:

• Discussions; comments, topic-related forums.
• Real-life cases, presented as stories.
• Problem-solving games.
• Replaying scenarios with variables they can define.

These types of activities allow adult professionals to utilize their past experiences and become more engaged in learning.

2) Adult professionals want to express their own opinions on the subject.

People do not argue with their own data. They are more likely to lean towards a viewpoint derived from their experiences or from the information presented to them in the training. Interactive learning activities should leverage adults' passion for sharing their knowledge, validating their experiences, and gaining knowledge through practical activities. Learning will develop further only if individuals are given a chance to reflect, review, relate to, and think about how they can apply the content.

So what can we do for this strategy?

• Ask them to write down strategies when tackling a topic.
• Provide data and ask them to draw conclusions about its meaning.
• Ask them to list ideas that can be easily applied in real life.

When adults generate their own data and draw their own conclusions, it becomes much easier for them to internalize learning.

3) They want to have fun.

Humor and games bring joy and fun to distance learning for adults who cannot spare much time for their professional development amid the necessary obligations.