The University of Phoenix, set up in 1989 to teach adults through a combination of old-fashioned distance learning and evening classes, is incorporating more and more e-learning into its courses, which are mostly taken by people with full-time jobs.
The e-learning programme is founded on the basic and practical principle that the use of the internet as a learning tool not only creates anonymity and thus dismantles the psychological barriers that prevent illiterate adults from resuming their studies but also enables them to balance their work, family and learning commitments by learning at home at whatever time is suitable to them.