I suddenly feel very old

Many mature students are initially startled by the relative youth of other students in the class. Everyone seems so young! If you find yourself as the only mature student in a group of 18-20 year-olds it can be difficult to imagine interacting comfortably with your new classmates at first. It’s quite common to feel awkward, self-conscious and anxious about your ability to fit in either academically or socially.

The good news is that these feelings rarely last, and you will soon make meaningful connections with your youthful peers. Keep an open mind, a sense of humour and a degree of humility. Remember that you’re also in this experience as a learner, and you’ll share many of the same learning goals as the rest of the group.

Be willing to share your insights and experience – you have a lot to offer! But resist the temptation to dismiss other students as ‘kids’ with nothing to contribute. They may just surprise you with a refreshing perspective, thoughtful comment or insightful approach to an issue. You’ll find yourself genuinely enjoying their contribution and their company, with all age-related misgivings forgotten.

Could you repeat that please?

Special learning needs and disability issues should be accommodated through the established policies and procedures of your chosen learning provider. Mature learners sometimes have subtle physical needs that they are reluctant to declare formally, but which nevertheless affect their learning experience.

Perhaps surprisingly, some don’t even realise they have a problem until their first class! After all, if you’ve never had to read from a projected slide before, listen to a lecture from the back of a theatre or sit still for two hours straight, you may not know that these situations present physical challenges for you until you get there.

Of course, if you anticipate issues like these you should inform your tutor about them in advance so that he or she can make appropriate adjustments to the room or equipment. But if you discover a new problem during class, have a quiet word about it with the tutor after the lesson. Teachers are trained to accommodate a range of learning needs, and can refer you to learning support services if necessary. These steps can usually be taken discretely if you feel self-conscious about it.

Sometimes small choices make a big difference. Find a seat that faces the front of the room so you don’t have to twist your neck to see the slides. You may wish to sit near the door if you feel you might need to escape to use the bathroom during class. If the provided seating offers insufficient back support, ask if an alternative chair might be available from a nearby office or computer lab. Two hours of sitting in discomfort can easily cause a week of back or neck pain!

Technophobes welcome

Learning and teaching has changed a lot over the last decade. When I started my undergraduate degree in 1995, the internet was still in its infancy and email had only recently been adopted as a primary form of communication. Mobile phones were rarely owned by students, and crumpled assignments could still be shoved under your professor’s office door on the stroke of midnight before a submission deadline (or so I’ve heard).

Many mature students signing up for classes this year will be significantly older than me, and may feel completely alienated or overwhelmed by the technologies now being used in and out of the classroom.

Today, the use of what we call Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has infiltrated almost every aspect of the learning experience. Technology-enhanced learning or ‘e-learning’ is at the forefront of this development, with entire courses now being administered and delivered via the internet. Even in traditional classroom settings, lectures may be recorded and made available as downloadable files or ‘podcasts,’ students can access their materials online through a virtual learning environment (VLE) and completed assignments can be submitted via the web.

For the mature student all this means that, sooner or later, you’re going to have to do things on a computer. If this prospect fills you with dread, fear not! There should be plenty of help available from your learning institution to get you up to scratch with  the basic tasks you need to perform.

As with many new skills, you can learn the handful of tools and techniques that you’ll use and forget about the rest. But as you become more comfortable doing things online, you’ll probably find yourself exploring more of the incredible opportunities and advantages offered by learning technologies.

You’ll find some useful information about using computers and the internet on the BBC Webwise site.

Also, don’t forget to check out the free introductory short courses on using ICT for learning here at Atikkam Academy. Just register yourself and get stuck in.

For general advice about studying as a mature student, you might find Catherine Dawson’s The Mature Student’s Study Guide invaluable.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that help is available if you ask for it, and nobody expects you to start out as an expert lifelong learner.

As a mature student, you are doing something extraordinary. You have stepped beyond the familiar safety of your well-established comfort zone, defied your personal fears and doubts, and ventured into a new and baffling world. Your uncertainties about returning to learning will fade, but you are already an inspiration to many.