Durch Online-Veranstaltungen neue Zielgruppen erschließen? Befunde zur Angebotswahl erwachsener Lerner

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a marked increase in the number of online courses in adult education. The barriers to participation and limitations of online learning are discussed along with such advantages as flexibility in terms of location. This raises the question whether adult education providers can attract new participants with online courses—and whether people who have already been reached through on-site courses also take part online. The article then goes on to present a study in which participants in online courses (N = 1907) were surveyed about their choice of course. The focus was on public adult education centres (Volkshochschule, VHS), the largest adult education provider in Germany. Results showed, that almost half of the online participants could not be classified as belonging to the regular clientele of VHS. Regarding the decision to participate, the survey also showed that even regular VHS participants sometimes preferred an online course instead of a face-to-face course with the same content.