Distance Education & Informal Learning Activities for Personal Interest

Adults were asked about their usage of multiple types of distance education methods and the programs or courses for which they used these methods. Also, adults were asked about their engagement in various types of informal learning activities for personal interest (see the glossary in Appendix B for descriptions of distance education and informal learning activities).

• Approximately one-third (32 percent) of adults who reported having participated in adult educational activities within the previous 12 months reported using some type of distance education (table 16).
• Among both participants and non-participants in adult educational activities over the previous 12 months, the highest proportion of these adults who reported having engaged in any informal learning activities for personal interest were those who had a graduate or professional degree (89 percent) (table 17).