In online university environments, learning ceases to be merely the accumulation of content and becomes an exercise in self-management and critical reading of one’s own life trajectory. The study by Sánchez-Doménech and Cabeza-Rodríguez (2024) focuses on two cardinal principles of Knowles’ andragogy, the need to know and the role of experience, exploring how they interact with the heterogeneous profiles of students enrolled in an online master’s program in secondary education.
The digital classroom, in this sense, functions as a laboratory of tensions: between what is prescribed by academic structure and what each student recognizes as meaningful and applicable to their immediate professional life.
The study’s most striking finding is that experience does not operate linearly: far from always being an advantage, it can become a filter that shapes how learning activities are perceived.
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Those with prior experience in education interpret tasks through established frameworks, while students without professional backgrounds explicitly demand activities that connect theory and practice, as if the absence itself became a driver of learning. At the same time, the need to know emerges as a transversal factor across ages, genders, and employment situations, confirming that adult learners do not tolerate gray areas: they demand clarity in objectives, expectations, and professional relevance from the very outset.
This scenario calls for rethinking so-called “digital andragogy” not as a mere transfer of old principles to new platforms, but as a reinterpretation situated within a culture of hyperconnection and multitasking. Online teaching, when built on recognition of students’ personal and professional backgrounds, not only reduces the risk of dropout but also transforms the educational experience into a space of validation and projection.
Thus, the enduring value of Knowles’ principles lies not in their abstract universality, but in their capacity to adapt to an ecosystem where the need to know and experience are interwoven with the flexible rhythms, professional demands, and diverse trajectories that define 21st-century learners.
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How to Cite: Sánchez-Domenech, I., & Cabeza-Rodríguez, M.- Ángel. (2024). Digital andragogy: the need to know and the role of experience in an online Master’s degree. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 27(2), 357–382. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.27.2.38799
