The adult learner does not care about what 18-year-old, residential students care about. Every minute that we have with an adult learner is a minute they are not spending on another priority. People are going to need more skills just to keep working, and adult learners who are in the process of learning have additional challenges to get required skills, keep active in the labour market but at the end of the day, week, month or year, also get to the point where they want to be in their life. 

Labour market in general, course providers, workers and adult learners trying to acquire new skills are all facing the challenge in trying to figure out what adult learners can do without taking time off to do a classical course because there are so many other priorities on the daily basis that makes time management even more valuable. Figuring out how existing skill in learners can be recognized and valued in their workplace makes additional space for recognizing micro-skills or issuing micro-credentials for adult learners /workers and in this way helping them to get where they are trying to go for themselves but also contribute to their workplace and company.

The learners of the future may slide between work and school in a way that might completely transform how  courses and especially online courses are designed and the institutions trying to teach new-age learners online are just getting started. The question is how aware are they what the new-age learners need...