Toward constructivism for adult learners in online learning environments

Introduction Many commentators have argued that distance education requires a qualitatively new pedagogy built on a unique relationship between the instructor and the learners. Traditional education or one-way televised learning at a distance often produces boredom. Students learn passively because the instructor is the sage and the source of knowledge (Markel. 1999). Besides, adult learners always bring their unique learning characteristics to the learning situation. so an effective instructor should recognize learners' characteristics to help them learn best (Ference and Vockell. 1994).