In this article, we aim to provide a developmental approach to understanding adult students' learning experiences of undertaking university-level study to completion at an open university, by employing a notion of “becoming”. With the rapid growth of a number of online course offerings, there are an increasing number of adult learners entering or returning to universities. Despite the growing number of non-traditional adult students in online higher education, little is known about the dynamic processes of adult distance learning, through which adult students struggle to develop their learning ability, to balance their life and study, and to become self-regulated learners – ultimately competent selves and lifelong learners. Therefore, this article describes ten adult students' learning experiences from their enrolment in a distance programme to their completion of the programme many years later and deconstructs common assumptions of adult distance learners: namely, that they are a homogenous group with intrinsic and static characteristics that spring from their adultness or matureness.

在本文中，我们旨在通过采用“成为”的概念，为理解成年学生在开放大学完成大学水平学习的学习经验提供一种发展的方法。随着许多在线课程产品的迅速增长，越来越多的成年学习者进入或返回大学。尽管在线高等教育中非传统成人学生的数量不断增加，但对于成人远程学习的动态过程知之甚少，通过这种过程，成人学生努力发展自己的学习能力，平衡生活和学习并变得自我受监管的学习者–最终胜任的自我和终身学习者。因此，本文介绍了十个成年学生