“Are They Ready?” Exploring (Non-Traditional) Students’ Self-Directed Learning Readiness and their Acceptance of E-Learning Tools

Abstract

Accommodating ‘Non-traditional’ students’ (NTS) needs (Kerres, 2012) is anincreasing concern for traditional brick and mortar universities. This alsoapplies to teaching and learning in the online distance education context: “Asthe online learning environment is characterized with autonomy, self-regulation becomes a critical factor for success in online learning” (Barnard,Lan, To, Paton & Lai, 2009, p.1). This paper investigates the differences inself-directed learning readiness of non-traditional and traditional students inGerman higher education as well as the acceptance of digital teaching andlearning approaches with respect to their selfdirected learning readiness.Thus, the central research questions are: