Recruitment

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What Audience Do You Hope to Serve Through Distance, Blended, Hybrid, or Remote Live Instruction?

Early research on distance learning in adult education in the United States illustrated the importance of finding 'the right' learners and setting them up correctly if programs were to succeed in offering distance education (Askov et al., 2003). Today, when so many programs are leaning heavily on remote options, a more effective approach would be to ask whether your programming offers the 'right fit' to meet the needs of the learners who show up.

Nonetheless, if you are offering distance and digital education options, it is prudent to locate students whose needs you are confident you can meet. Outreach, marketing, and communications are all components of publicizing and promoting opportunities outside of your organization. Effective recruitment communication reaches people at the right time and place. Setting a strategy before you begin is essential. The first step is to consider your goals and target audiences—who do you want to reach? What groups of learners are in your community, but are not yet well-served by your organization? Make decisions about what to communicate and to whom by answering these questions:

• Who needs to know about the learning opportunity?
• What do they need to know?
• When do they need to know?
• What actions do we want them to take?
• What are the best ways to reach them?

Think about what you are offering. Are you adding distance education or another form of digital education like hybrid, HyFlex, or blended learning to existing educational programming? If so, you need to consider how these will best support learners. For example, will new distance and digital education options offer new areas of instruction, or teach content parallel to classroom-based programs, but by being online offer more flexibility? Will they be aimed at learners already being served by the organization, or will the organization attempt to reach new audiences? These decisions should be made in the context of the organization’s goals and missions, based on perceived needs of the organization’s clientele, and on early thinking documented in the previous chapter. This planning for recruitment is a starting point and may evolve as you move through the next stages of planning.

What Skills Do Students Need to Be Successful? What Supports Will Help Them?

You can most efficiently use your organization’s resources if you target the learner audience you know you can help succeed. That is, you need to understand the technology and academic content demands of the learning resources and activities you plan to offer balanced against the support you know you can provide. Keeping this tension in mind as you craft your recruitment message will help you decide whom to focus on for recruitment and how.

For example, an English language learner still working on literacy development would likely not succeed using learning resources developed for learners reading at an Adult Secondary Education level. If you know you will be relying on curated resources or a licensed curriculum that best serves that level, your distance and digital education recruitment messaging should make that clear. What about a learner who has limited prior experience using a computer? They might struggle with online resources, so, if you recruit them for distance and digital education options, you need to make sure you have processes and resources in place to support them, even if you are working completely remotely. If support and those resources are scarce, you may need to consider recruitment strategies that are likely to attract more tech-savvy learners. Being thoughtful about recruitment is important because learners learning at a distance can receive less direct social or academic support than their classroom-based counterparts.

What Characteristics Improve an Individual’s Chances of Success at a Distance?

Whether you are teaching in a blended, hybrid, HyFlex, or other distance format, successful learners are likely to be self-motivated, able to work independently, and possess strong study and organizational skills. Some programs have suggested that the skills needed to succeed vary depending on the model of distance education used. Learners with higher academic skills, such as those studying for a high school equivalency test (e.g., GED®, HiSET), may be able to read more independently. However, reading skills do not equate to digital literacy skills. Learners with emerging academic skills, those who need more support, or those who are English language learners may fare better in a blended program that combines some independent online learning with ample in person interaction; however, anyone can learn online if there is balance among the learner’s skills, the technology demands, and the support available (Silver-Pacuilla & Reder, 2008). That is, when the demands are high, either there is more support, or the learner has the skills and proficiencies to meet the challenge.

One of the major differences between traditional classroom instruction and distance education is the amount of in-person contact learners have with their teacher and other learners. Seminal educational research showed that learning is a social process (Bandura, 1986), and the support of teachers and classmates can be an important element of the learning that occurs. Most teachers working in distance education (rather than blended learning models) may meet with their learners only once or twice over an entire course, with the remainder of the communication occurring by telephone, by email, or through online learning communities.

Additionally, distance learners may have little or no face-to-face contact with other learners taking the same course. This means distance learners need to possess the characteristics (e.g., independence, self-motivation, and organization and study skills) that enable them to succeed without the extra support a classroom environment typically provides (Wang et al., 2008; Wright, 2015). Ways to determine whether or not learners have these persistence characteristics will be discussed in Chapter 3, but your recruitment strategies can be set to target learners who potentially possess them.

Using Journey Mapping for Improving or Expanding Your Recruitment Efforts

One way to examine your current recruitment efforts and plan additional efforts is through mapping your potential learners’ engagement from the first touchpoint with your program and throughout their time with you. The National Reporting System for Adult Education (2022) developed a learner recruitment training and resource to support adult education programs’ closer examination of their recruitment and intake processes. Mapping the touch points learners experience in your recruitment and intake process allows programs to more closely examine opportunities for effectively engaging with learners and identifying pain points as a way to strengthen recruitment efforts.

What Recruitment Strategies Are Most Likely to Reach the Target Audience?

Recruiting Known Learners

For hybrid, HyFlex, and blended learning, it is often best to start recruiting with your current learners. Because they are known, teachers will have more information about whether they possess the characteristics described above. Some teachers figure out ways to involve their entire classroom, so recruitment is not necessary. However, these digital education options for current learners need not be offered to all learners in a classroom. They offer a means to personalize learning (Murphy et al., 2017), and can support differentiated learning activities as a feature of your instruction. Teachers can also offer distance options to learners in their class who want to increase their pace of learning and are willing to work toward completion of online activities independently.

Another approach is to recruit currently enrolled learners to participate in distance education that is not directly linked to classroom instruction. According to the Murphy et al. (2017) study, this would be a supplemental model of use for an online curriculum. In Minnesota, these learners are called “dual enrolled” because the work done online intensifies learning and accelerates learner progress but is led by a designated distance education teacher, not by the classroom teacher.

There are many creative ways to recruit current learners to supplemental distance education. Classroom demonstrations work well for showing learners exactly what distance education resources or curricula look like. Announcements on electronic bulletin boards or posters can serve as a constant reminder that there are ways to intensify learning. Additionally, an organization’s websites or social media accounts can be used to communicate with existing learners. No matter the method, it may be useful to build in a step requiring the learner to be proactive about entering distance education. Completing an online form, sending an email to request information, meeting with a distance education teacher—these steps are all initial clues that a learner is self-motivated and engaged.

Recruiting in the Community

In the early days of adult education distance programming, organizations conducted recruitment in the broader community using low-tech approaches—flyers posted in libraries, community education centers, and restaurants frequented by English language learners. For example, a program administrator in northwest Michigan convinced local fast food restaurants to use tray liners featuring information about her program. These methods are still useful, as are public service announcements or advertisements in local newspapers, on public radio stations, and on local cable channels, or a scrolling digital message at the Department of Motor Vehicles or other public facilities where people need to wait. Programs may want to consider making these materials in multiple languages. All of these efforts, when consistently sustained, can create name recognition of your organization in the broader community that may lead to personal referrals over time.

Be sure to use clear language in recruitment communications so that your audience will understand your messages and experience fewer barriers to accessing your program. “A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended readers can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information” (International Plain Language Federation, 2019). This plain language guide was developed to support adult serving organizations in communicating clearly with participants.

Tools like Hemingway Editor give helpful feedback on the readability of your writing, letting you know what grade level your draft is written at and highlighting sentences where you can make suggestions. Hemingway’s “Rewrite” feature and similar applications like ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot use GenAI to support a range of language-related tasks including brainstorming, editing, translating, and even making suggestions to optimize your writing for social media posts. You might find these tools helpful in developing recruitment content.

Many of the same electronic strategies you use to connect with current learners can also be used to reach out to the larger community. Because they will naturally reach adults who are already online, you are more likely to reach potential learners with some digital literacy skills. Consider posting information about distance education on your organization’s website. Make sure your website is attractive, easy to navigate, and frequently updated with essential information, such as how to enroll or get support. Make sure it has these characteristics (MissionBox staff, 2020):

• Has a clear and obvious purpose
• Covers key logistics
• Makes taking action easy
• Provides links to social media
• Is mobile friendly
• Lists up-to-date content and processes
• Is clearly laid out and easy to navigate
• Appeals to human emotion
• Allows for analytics for ongoing improvement

Also, consider partnerships with other institutions offering services to potential learners, such as libraries, employers, social service agencies that do not offer educational programming, or community-based organizations that want to provide educational services but do not have the resources or expertise. Ask them if they will link to your program from their websites. This type of organizational partnership supports a digital ecosystem, which can open doors to further collaboration that benefits your learners and program.

Learners who find you through these websites are clearly interested and have at least sufficient mastery of the technology to find your program. Adding online engagement tasks to your website allows learners to signal their interest in learning more (e.g., using scheduling tools such as Calendly) or to start a registration process (e.g., using tools such as Google Forms) while also demonstrating digital skills needed for online learning. Once the learner has contacted the organization, an in-person meeting can be arranged, at which time the learner can be pre-tested (according to National Reporting System guidelines), talk about goals, and determine whether distance education is an appropriate match for the learner’s educational goals and abilities.

Recruiting within Workforce Development Agencies and Partner Organizations

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (2014) defines allowable or required activities for federally funded adult education programs and sets forth funding for workforce development agencies and adult education programs. When it was authored it reflected a critical shift from previous federal legislation in the requirement for unified state, local, and regional plans to articulate how they will collaborate in several key aspects. The first iterations of unified plans defining coordination of adult education and workforce development agencies went into effect on July 1, 2015. These plans are required to demonstrate collaboration that could impact the way agencies view distance education programming, particularly regarding reaching potential learners in the workforce development system.

The relevance of distance education programming for workforce development agencies can be found in the act itself. The skills required to work independently online are included in the prioritized list of Workforce Preparation Activities, defined in WIOA, Title II, as:

activities, programs, or services designed to help an individual acquire a combination of basic academic skills, critical thinking skills, digital literacy skills, and self-management skills, including competencies in utilizing resources, using information, working with others, understanding systems, and obtaining skills necessary for successful transition into and completion of postsecondary education or training, or employment.

Additionally, WIOA requires opportunities for integrated education and training programs, defining such programming as:

a service approach that provides adult education and literacy activities concurrently and contextually with workforce preparation activities and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster for the purpose of educational and career advancement.

This definition of services creates an opportunity for online basic skills development coordinated with occupational training. Consequently, distance education could be a valuable way to enact inter-organizational collaboration.

Additionally, the language of Title II (the component of WIOA that defines adult education) Sec. 223 calls for state leadership activities to support “alignment” activities, naming one-stop partners (federally funded organizations that help adults find employment). Specifically, the act calls for provision of career pathways programming and is explicit about the need for collaboration across organizations.

Collaboration between an adult education provider and American Job Centers in Northwest Michigan has grown beyond recruitment to an on-site blended learning program supported by braided funding. An ABE teacher works regularly at the American Job Center and, because job counselors there know the teacher is onsite, there is a steady stream of new ABE participants.

Because these agencies are now required to provide educational services to low-literacy adults (Bird et al., 2014) they may not have the expertise to do so; they will perhaps be open to participating in recruitment of distance learners within their client (also called 'customer') lists. These workforce development agencies may be looking for the expertise of adult education practitioners, and the customers they serve might welcome information about ways to build skills and knowledge while they are also seeking employment.

Finally, understanding the categorization of allowable activities and what is funded in the different sections of WIOA could help adult education programs collaborate with organizations funded under the other Titles of the act. For example, Title IV, which deals with Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS), is a well-funded corner of the workforce development system. VRS offers job training and employment placement services to individuals with disabilities. It serves a large pool of job seekers who may not have previously been served by Title II programs but who have basic skill needs. Requirements in WIOA Title IV include “provision of services to students and youth with disabilities to ensure that they have meaningful opportunities to receive the training and other services they need to achieve employment outcomes” (LEAD Center, 2015). Adult education could potentially partner to provide that training. For example, the limited time a learner is available to be somewhere in person could be focused on the technical skills part of a job training program, whereas the academic supports needed for things such as high school equivalency completion could be managed and delivered by adult education via distance education. Since there is no specific dedicated funding for special needs in Title II (the part of WIOA that addresses adult education), partnerships with Title IV funded programs could be fruitful for all involved.

This has worked well in northwest Michigan. The WIOA Title II adult education provider is housed inside an American Job Center, alongside all other titled funding sources. Sharing a location together has supported much collaboration. For example, to support a learner having difficulty passing a GED® test without accommodations, the education provider partners with the Title IV provider who pays for the costly identification screening. In another example, a high school graduate who has basic skills needs participates with the support of both Title II and IV programs to build skills education and get job counseling and training needed to obtain employment. In this case, Michigan Rehabilitation Services conducts on-the-job training, while the adult education provider concurrently provides the basic skills training specifically targeting skills needed in the chosen job.

Planning for Learner Recruitment

References

Askov, E., Johnston, J., Petty, L., & Young, S. (2003). Expanding access to adult literacy with online distance education. National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. https://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/op_askov.pdf

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.

Bird, K., Foster, M., & Ganzglass, E. (2014). New opportunities to improve economic and career success for low-income youth and adults: Key provisions of the workforce innovation and opportunity act (WIOA). The Center for Law and Social Policy. https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/KeyProvisionsofWIOA-Final.pdf

International Plain Language Federation. (2019, June 28). Plain language. https://www.iplfederation.org/plain-language/

LEAD Center. (2015). Summary description of title IV of the workforce innovation and opportunity act (state vocational rehabilitation program) notice of proposed rulemaking. https://leadcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/wioa_title_IV_summary_0.pdf

MissionBox staff. (2020, September 28). Making the most of your nonprofit’s website. MissionBox Global Network; MissionBox. https://www.missionbox.com/article/128/making-the-most-of-your-nonprofits-website. The website is defunct. Archived page can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20220525163127/https://www.missionbox.com/article/128/making-the-most-of-your-nonprofits-website. 

Murphy, R., Bienkowski, M., Bhanot, R., Wang, S., Wetzel, T., House, A., Leones, T., & Van Brunt, J. (2017). Evaluating digital learning for adult basic literacy and numeracy. SRI International. https://www.sri.com/publication/evaluating-digital-learning-for-adult-basic-literacy-and-numeracy/

National Reporting System for Adult Education. (2022). The journey to enrollment: Recruitment and service strategies for adult education. https://nrsweb.org/sites/default/files/NRS-JrnyWorkbook-508.pdf

Silver-Pacuilla, H., & Reder, S. (2008). Investigating the language and literacy skills required for independent online learning. National Institute for Literacy. https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/NIFLOnlineLearningReport.pdf

Wang, Y., Peng, H., Huang, R., Hou, Y., & Wang, J. (2008). Characteristics of distance learners: Research on relationships of learning motivation, learning strategy, self‐efficacy, attribution and learning results. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 23(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680510701815277

Workforce innovation and opportunity act, Pub. L. No. H.R. 803 (2014). https://www.congress.gov/113/bills/hr803/BILLS-113hr803enr.pdf

Wright, L. (2015). Identifying successful online adult learners [Doctoral Dissertation]. https://www.proquest.com/openview/1948ee6bdbc7ec194471ef4ffad90a9f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750