Distance and Digital Education Definitions and Reporting Practices: What We Have and What We Need

This report describes findings from a survey of adult education directors of U.S. states and territories examining how they define the different technology-enriched instructional modalities available to learners in their state. The modalities covered in the survey include: distance, blended, hybrid, and HyFlex instruction; and remote live instruction. Furthermore, the survey gathered responses on how programs report learner participation in theses various modalities to the state and how the state reports them to the national database (the NRS). Examining the variation among states is the first step in developing a shared set of definitions and reporting practices that will provide a clearer picture of how many adults participate in different modalities, and how their learning and outcomes differ—or not —across those modalities.