“Although not a panacea, advanced learning technologies have shown enormous potential in K-12 and university settings, and arguably offer even greater value for busy adults trying to build essential skills to improve their lives,” said Matt Muench, program officer at the Joyce Foundation.
“If there is any area of the education market that would seem most to cry out for new thinking and new tools, it would be this enormous slice of American learners. Yet few entrepreneurs are engaged with the challenges, venture capital dollars ignore the problem and when we go to the education innovation events around the country, there is almost no discussion about this problem and how technology and new thinking might solve it,” continued Muench.
The intelligent use of new learning tools, from freely available content to the latest generation of adaptive learning software that can provide personalized learning experiences to each learner, has great potential to improve learning gains for students, yet is too rare in the classrooms where adults go to build their basic skills.
Moreover, an upward trend in smartphone ownership across demographics and age groups suggests a growing opportunity for mobile solutions and applications to benefit student engagement, classroom instruction and learning outside of the classroom. Given the perceived lack of students’ computer access outside the classroom, smartphones represent a practical – and achievable – solution for capitalizing on this opportunity, and point to an initial pathway for addressing the technology access challenge more broadly, says the report.
In addition to the receptivity of adult education professionals to instructional technology opportunities, there are several other key findings emerged among those surveyed:
• Most adult education program instructors report they are comfortable using technology in their work; fewer than one in five adult ed professionals believe technology is challenging or difficult.
• Technology infrastructure is strong across the adult education system; more than 80 percent of respondents reported consistent access to the internet and on-site computers.
• Investing in technology is a budget priority for most program administrators, even as funding constraints limit their ability to pursue more robust technology investments.
• Almost 90 percent of adult education programs take advantage of the free, open educational resources that currently are available to support instruction; these technology solutions are valued because of their availability even if they aren’t necessarily a great fit for the educational use case.
• More than 50 percent of respondents believe smartphones can benefit student engagement, classroom instruction, or learning opportunities outside the classroom. But, only 27 percent of survey respondents say they use mobile apps and games to support adult education instruction.
“The resourcefulness exhibited by adult education professionals seeking to introduce more innovative technology-based instructional resources and strategies is exciting,” said Newman. “In addition to more creativity from technology innovators and entrepreneurs, the hope is that policymakers respond with even the modest steps that could augment programs’ resources and infrastructure and support efforts to bring advanced technologies to struggling adult learners.”
(Next page: Where to go from here)
- Weak tech could push students, faculty to other institutions - April 13, 2026
- 13 predictions about edtech, innovation, and–yes–AI in 2026 - January 1, 2026
- 5 essential dimensions of AI literacy - December 12, 2025