When Life Gives You Lemons: Innovation Leads to New Learning Pathways
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a swift, heavy blow to Road Scholar. At the beginning of 2020, demand for our unique brand of educational travel was robust, as older Americans continued to demonstrate a passion for it. But just a few months into the year, virtually the entire planet was on lockdown. People were fearful of going to the grocery store, much less exploring the world.
On March 13, 2020, Road Scholar suspended all travel operations.
How to Travel When You Can’t
The travel part of educational travel had disappeared, but why did the educational part have to disappear with it? Road Scholar program developers and creative teams brainstormed with subject-matter experts throughout the world and quickly coalesced around the idea of virtual experiences. If we couldn’t bring our participants to the world, we’d bring the world to them. Road Scholar At Home was born.
Remarkably, just two or three weeks after the shutdown began, the first Road Scholar At Home online lecture debuted, on the subject of the early Viking presence in France.
More programs soon followed, on subjects ranging from a history of Native American cuisine (complete with a cooking demonstration by an Indigenous chef), to a program on butterflies in Costa Rica.
Putting Participants First
These first programs were initially free to all, as a gesture of goodwill and support for those whose hopes for educational travel had been dashed. It is also important to note that while Road Scholar was not charging tuition, the program experts contributed their talents to our fledgling online programs on a pro bono basis. Alison Evans, senior director of program resources for Road Scholar, explains their motivation this way: “It’s a mutual admiration kind of thing. Our participants love our instructors and our instructors love our participants. They love teaching to them because the audience is engaged. Our participants want to learn, and that’s the foundation of a special relationship. That has been the story since the beginning of Elderhostel.”
The goodwill on both sides helped overcome early challenges, primarily on the technology side, as Road Scholar worked to refine their platform and teaching approach, and participants — the vast majority of whom had never even heard of Zoom — introduced themselves to the world of videoconferencing. Hard work, trial and error and patience soon resulted in a new, winning format for lifelong learning.
Online Programs Expand and Evolve
It would not be until June of 2021 that on-site programs would resume. In the 15 months prior, Road Scholar online offerings grew from those few initial, basic presentations into a robust slate of programs — including live, multi-day, multi-media “deep dives” into destinations all over the world (the first focusing on Paris). These larger programs, dubbed Adventures Online, and a group of one-hour online lectures were offered at modest cost and brought in much-needed revenue for Road Scholar.
But the programs did something even more important than keep Road Scholar afloat. They kept people connected and engaged at a time when many despaired of ever returning to “normal” life. Participants could log in to Zoom programs and interact with other lifelong learners and our expert presenters, providing welcome intellectual relief from the pandemic-induced isolation and “cabin fever” that was beginning to afflict so many. Moving testimonials came in from grateful participants explaining how important the programs were in their lives.
On-site Programs Return, Online Programs Stay
When in-person travel resumed, our online programs didn’t disappear. While the initial intent had been to provide an alternative for people who would otherwise travel with us in person, other audiences began to emerge, much to the delight of everyone at Road Scholar.
One of those audiences was composed of people who, due to physical limitations, were not candidates for in-person travel regardless of pandemic conditions. For these folks, high-quality online learning experiences presented a joyous opportunity to engage with the world and broaden their horizons.
In 2023, the BBC did a documentary short film series, “Technology’s Golden Age,” on how technology can help people live healthier, happier lives as they age. One film featured Kathy, a participant from Stevens Point, Wis., who had been traveling with Road Scholar since 2007. When the pandemic and her husband’s health problems made travel impossible, she turned to Road Scholar’s online programs. At the time of the interview, Kathy had taken part in more than 80 online programs. She said: “It was a lifeline for me. It saved my life, I think. I just felt a great sense of relief.”
For others, Road Scholar At Home programs were a way to “test drive” destinations for which they might have an interest. A four-day immersion into the culture of a foreign country, or even a one-hour exploration of, say, a regional cuisine, could give them the confidence to enroll in an in-person trip to that place, knowing it would be rewarding.
Still others were finding At Home programs a way to revisit favorite destinations from past travels and learn even more about them. For instance, someone who had loved their trip to Paris but wanted to delve deeper into its art history could now do so.
Being able to serve these new audiences was an accident — but a happy one. It was an expansion of Road Scholar’s ability to carry out our mission of promoting lifelong learning.
Online Today
Today, Road Scholar offers more than two dozen multi-day Adventures Online, with several others currently in development. Those are complemented by roughly 30 online lectures, and another handful that are offered free of charge.
We’ve also been able to bring experts into our online programs who typically wouldn’t be available for on-site lectures. One we’re particularly excited about is noted biographer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. As part of Road Scholar’s 50th anniversary programming, Dr. Goodwin will keynote a lecture on leadership in turbulent times, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on April 3, 2025. There is no charge to attend this online event.
For Road Scholar, online learning is no longer a “Plan B,” but a meaningful and rewarding option for thousands of participants every year. Handed lemons, we were able to make lemonade.
Online learning is hardly the only innovation at Road Scholar. They happen here constantly, even in (perhaps especially in) the best of times. For example, on-site programs exclusively for women were introduced not long ago and now number more than two dozen. Our rapidly expanding intergenerational programs offer participants the chance to travel and learn with grandchildren and other family members. A broader range of programs for people who favor a slower pace and greater accessibility are complemented by others that emphasize energetic activities. New programs for solo travelers are added every season. Immersive, weeks-long programs akin to study abroad are helping people live like locals and truly experience culture in Europe and elsewhere. And epic, multi-month World Academy programs and globe-hopping President’s Journeys offer the ultimate experiences in discovery and learning.
With the same intrepid spirit that our program participants demonstrate, Road Scholar continues to envision and bring to life new opportunities to explore our world together. We can’t wait to see what’s next!