Distance education in European higher education: the potential

An important objective of European education policy is to explore possibilities of increasing the participation of adult learners in higher education by means of distance education. Against this background, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), together with the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and StudyPortals (SP), set out to examine the potential of the distance education programmes provided by higher education institutions on adult learning in Europe. Their research project entitled Impact of Distance Education on Adult Learning (IDEAL) was funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. The specific aims of the IDEAL project are to: (1) offer insights on the needs of adult learners to both policy-makers and distance education providers; (2) strengthen the social dimension of higher education by better meeting the needs of adult learners; and (3) increase the participation of adult learners in higher education through distance education.

This report focuses on the analysis of study three, 'Distance education in European higher education - the potential', which examines the profile of potential students within the target group of adult learners. The aim is to find out their profiles, their reasons for entering distance education, and the barriers they face in doing so. The report presents the research methodology and data set and an overview of the empirical results of the analysis of the three different methodological approaches. The last chapter provides a synthesis of the findings and general conclusions. The report is accompanied by five detailed country case studies: Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, and the UK.

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