I think learners and students are similar. People of all ages and occupations can be learners whether for a few minutes like learning a part of a process/technique/theory on the job or for a longer duration when enrolled at an institute. A student on the other hand is normally attributed to somebody studying a particular subject. it is open for discussion as there is no distinct difference, however, institutes have started using 'learner' for the students who enrol, these students may be high schoolers or executives enrolled on a short course of 90 minutes or 90 days or more. One can be a student at a university and be a learner at an academy to learn something quickly to acquire or hone a skill. We often use the term self-learned or self-taught but hardly have come across as self-studied (though 'self-study' is used often for a short study period done by individual students). So I guess different terms are used based upon the kind of learners and also the situation and setup.
All students are learners (hopefully), but not all learners are students. "Students" indicate some formal learning context, often a connection to an educational institution, while "learners" are more inclusive and encompass anyone engaged in acquiring knowledge or skills.
So, in relation to a course, you can use both. Using "Students" will highlight the relation to the specific education and learning context, while using "learners" could frame it more in regard to "life-long learning".
It might also be relevant to think about who is the target audience for the course syllabus. Talking about "students" and even "learners" is perhaps more suitable when talking about them, for example, when you need the course approved. However, if the target audience is the "students", using the third person might be less engaging than writing in the second person.
Thank you Jacob. I am intrigued though by the narrative peddled in the literature that seems to suggest some level of superiority of "learner" over "student". That a learner is free to learn what they want to learn, how to learn it, and why learn it. Whereas a student is depicted as one who must conform to set standards to attain predetermined goals from a structured and inflexible curricullum provided by an institution. This view seems to suggest that a "learner" has autonomy while a "student" doesn't. The question is, can't a student under enabling circumstances achieve the same? Or is the academic level that provides the difference?
David Keagakwa, I see what you are coming at; developing an educational setup where the students have autonomy. This might be challenging regarding the requirement of specific learning outcomes.
I am just speculating here, but one way to achieve it might be to focus on more generic learning objectives, introducing more freedom to choose how to achieve them, for example, including the students in selecting the specific papers they need to read or the topic of their projects. It might also be possible to accommodate different learning styles by developing a whole library of relevant course material and exercises the students can pick from. The challenge with this strategy is that it would likely require a lot of resources and a high level of teacher involvement, meaning it will not scale well.
Generally, it might be impractical to make individual courses customizable to a level where students feel the autonomy of a learner within an educational setting. However, if we consider a whole education, this level of autonomy might be achieved by a high degree of elective courses, allowing them to, in essence, build individual educations (within some limits).
It is an interesting challenge...
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