Learning Anytime, Anywhere: Advanced Distributed Learning and the Changing Face of Education

Source: Educational Researcher, Volume 36, Number 2, March 2007.

The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative was undertaken to make education, training, and lifelong learning accessible at any time, anywhere. It has developed specifications and techniques that are being adopted globally by governments, businesses, and schools. Although ADL currently focuses on government and business applications, it has significant implications for the classroom structures, processes, and activities of K–16 education.

The authors describe the ADL initiative and its implications for K–16 education and call for increased attention from educators and education researchers to the opportunities and challenges represented by anytime, anywhere, distributed learning.