Changing the Dependency Culture - How Can Technology Help?

SIMPSON, Will, MARSH, Simon, STALEY, Alan & MACKENZIE, Niall

University of Central England, Birmingham, England, will.simpson@uce.ac.uk

Abstract: The paper presented here represents the findings from three new web-based business modules delivered consecutively to a number of first year undergraduates reading BSc. Degrees and HNDs. Following a small pilot web-based module, the authors adopted this approach with around 100 students on two brand new project management modules. We are looking specifically at how the internet can be used with students taking courses in which computer usage features strongly. Significant research efforts have been put into the development of tools and frameworks, but little effort seems to have been put into how to make this technology work. Our aim was to start looking into this aspect and find out how it works with learners. We have not set out to create a distance learning environment, but rather one that encompasses both the use of web-based technology and also personal contact. A part of this rationale was to encourage the students to move from a dependent to an independent learning culture. Here we attempt to discuss our findings and experiences gained while actually trying to teach three modules this way. A problem-based approach was taken, with significant team-working and utilising the internet for some notes, links to relevant websites, discussion groups and task assignments. We attempt to tackle four issues within the framework of the title: student motivation, learning approaches, independent learning and cultures. In the course of this paper we give some theoretical background to learning and independence and then discuss two types of finding: anecdotal evidence gathered from being with the students for over a year and survey evidence from three questionnaires over that period. We attempt to illuminate the major issues that we have come across and relate both positive and negative aspects of this work. Areas for future development are also highlighted.

Keywords: experiential, independence, internet, learning, motivation

1  Introduction

In recent years the growth of the World Wide Web, E-mail, On-line Conferencing, and Computer Assisted Assessment has led to many academic staff experimenting with the use of technology for teaching and learning. At one extreme, on-line resources have merely been provided as a supplement to traditional teaching methods with no discernable change in the course design or delivery methods. At the other extreme there has been the growth of distance learning delivered through technology - 'virtual education'.

This paper focuses upon the use of information technology primarily for the purpose of increasing the students' independent learning and reducing the dependency of students upon academic staff. The intentions of such an approach are easily justified. Employers increasingly seek students that are 'self starters', willing to learn, able to adapt to new situations, and possessing strong communication skills and team playing abilities [HARVEY & GREEN 1994]. Traditional teaching methods that focus upon a model of 'information transfer' from staff to student do little to develop these attributes. Also it is claimed that independent learning is a strategy that fosters a deep approach to learning, with students actively seeking meaning, making connections and reading widely, as opposed to being syllabus bound and learning by rote [BIGGS 1987].

While the intention may be good, many examples of trying to introduce independent learning have met with problems. When considering case studies from the 'Course Design for Resource Based Learning' (RBL) project funded by the four U.K higher education councils, Gibbs, Pollard, and Farrel state [GIBBS, POLLARD & FARREL 1994]:

'Many of these case studies were presented at these conferences by isolated individuals fighting a hostile and obstructive system. It became clear that while small-scale local innovations could be initiated by enthusiasts, if RBL was going to become widespread and soundly integrated then institutional infrastructures need to change. Frameworks have evolved (rather than been designed) over many years in universities and colleges which support conventional course design and delivery based upon classroom teaching and library use. RBL uses teachers, accommodation and learning resources in new ways, and many features of institutional infrastructures block developments in RBL.'

This study considers the attempts of two academic staff to introduce innovative on-line education in a Faculty of Engineering and Computer Technology. The research will focus upon (1) student motivation, (2) how students approach learning, (3) independent learning, and (4) institutional culture.

In the following sections we will give some background from our literature review and some comments on the local cultural environment, followed by a description of our methodology and then our findings, both anecdotal and from several surveys with our students.

2  Background

2.1  Student Motivation

In considering motivation to work [HERTZBERG 1968], two types of factor were identified: those whose presence can be highly motivating (and lead to extreme satisfaction), that Hertzberg called motivator factors, and those whose lack of presence or failing can be de-motivating (and lead to extreme dissatisfaction), that he called hygiene factors. These factors were represented on a one-dimensional scale, with each factor working over half the scale. The important points from this theory were that removal of bad hygiene factors cannot be motivating, and the absence of motivator factors cannot be de-motivating. This has subsequently been challenged, and Nias [NIAS 1981] suggests that some motivator factors work over the whole scale and therefore there needs to be the distinction between hygiene factors that are always negative (dissatisfyers), and the negative motivator factors (negative satisfyers). Cryer [CRYER 1988] has reconceptualised Hertberg's model using two dimensions, one representing intrinsic motivation and the other extrinsic. Cryer also added the outcome or descriptor of each motivational state: high commitment, low commitment, withdrawal, and rebellion. Elton [ELTON 1996] has extended this model to take into account negative intrinsic factors, producing two more descriptors: playing the system, and despair. A reconstruction of Elton's model is shown below.

Figure 1. The effect of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on levels of student commitment

2.2  Students Approaches to Learning

There have been two major developments in understanding how students approach learning - the Approaches to Studying Inventory [ENTWISTLE & RAMSDEN 1983] which has been very widely used in Higher Education in England, and the Study Process Questionnaire [BIGGS 1987] in Australia. The subscales found in the original approaches to studying inventory are summarised in the following table:

Figure 2. Approaches to Studying Inventory [Entwistle & Ramsden, 1983]

The study process questionnaire [Biggs 1987] resulted in three approaches to study and a corresponding strategy for each. These are summarised in the following table:

Figure 3. Approaches to study from Kember and Gow [Kember & Gow 1991] (Adapted from [Biggs 1987], p11)

It is clear that the learning environment will have a very large influence on students' approaches to study, and therefore from an educational management perspective these studies are very important, as the environment could be manipulated to encourage a particular approach. The influence of the learning environment is commented upon by Newble and Hejka [NEWBLE & HEJKA 1993]:

'It is clearly desirable that university educated medical students should be using the deep approach to learning. Unfortunately, the evidence we have suggests that the educational environment provided by the traditional medical school may encourage less desirable approaches. Many factors which seem to predispose to this are the content overload of the curriculum and the format of the assessment procedures. The former forces many students to adopt short-term learning strategies which focus on rote learning of materials required to pass the next examination. These strategies are often reinforced by the use of assessment techniques which require little more than the reproduction of factual material, rather than requiring the student to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the subject material.' pp341

Gender differences have also been noted concerning the Study Process Questionnaire and the Approaches to Study Inventory. Richardson and King [RICHARDSON & KING 1991] for example state that there are consistent trends for males to score higher on the surface approach, and females higher on the deep and strategic approaches when using the Study Process Questionnaire. However, authors also state that such gender differences are only very slight, and not too much credence should be placed in this research because of methodological inadequacies.

2.3  Independent Learning

Allen et al [ALLEN, COOK & LEWIS 1996] after conducting research into three main areas of motivation, management of the learning process and reflection, define the independent learner as:

• someone who accepts responsibility for their own learning and has the confidence to ask for help when needed;

• someone who manages their own learning by setting objectives, using appropriate methods and resources, managing time and stress and being able to change and adapt;

• someone who is capable of critical thought, reflecting upon their effectiveness and having a questioning attitude.

To them, the issue of independence depends upon:

• Organisational culture and motivations - structures must be based upon learning, not teaching

• The environment is critical

• Progressive change to independence requires guidance.

Small scale studies undertaken by them indicate that independence increases with age and females are more independent than males.

2.4  Institutional Culture

In order to put much of this study in context, it is necessary to consider the various cultural expectations operating not only within Higher Education but also at the macro level within UCE and possibly at micro level within specific course or module groups.

Within the secondary education system of the UK emphasis has increasingly been placed on league tables and relative performance between schools. Teachers are measured on their ability to get students through exams and pressure to 'tell' the students what they should know to get the required results. Consequently, what is beginning to appear in the higher education system are young adults who are increasingly dependent on 'spoon fed' education.

The University of Central England in Birmingham is one of the largest universities in the UK with over twenty thousand students on a wide variety of courses. It enjoys an enviable reputation as a provider of vocational courses supporting the diverse industrial base of the West Midlands. The culture is teaching-oriented, with wide access primarily for local people.

Within the university, the Faculty of Engineering & Computer Technology is largely autonomous with broad coverage of engineering disciplines good links with local industry, significant numbers of part-time students and diverse student cultures and backgounds. The faculty is split into three schools with two covering mechanical and electrical engineering and the third covering the 'soft' areas of IT systems and multimedia, management and logistics. This area is involved in significant applied research activities and is driving change in the faculty.

The move to adopt a student-centred learning focus through the use of information technology is one such initiative. However, the work is being carried out within an environment where

progression rates are important and doing something different is perceived as being risky. Students and staff who adopt surface learning approaches can achieve the grades and avoid the challenge; adopting deeper learning approaches risks failure. The institution must therefore back such initiatives wholeheartedly, or they will not succeed.

The increasing adoption of technology to student-centred learning is being seen as an opportunity to reduce costs and to put increasing emphasis onto students to take responsibility for their own learning and consequently free up time for academics to do other things.

This may well be the case in the future, but at present developing this approach demands more resources, and will do so until a new independent learning culture is established and the IT and learning infrastructures are in place. We believe that eventually it will fulfil the much more important aim of creating a higher education system based around students' ability to learn rather than institutions' ability and willingness to teach.

It is onto this scenario that the Business for Media theme was launched in October 1998, designed to be delivered using web-based technology to put students at the centre of the learning experience and to challenge their dependency culture. The culture that we sought to engender was one of individual responsibility, experiential teaching allowing students to undertake project management tasks which were as realistic as possible. Formal lectures were replaced with Internet-based tasks and information, workshops, electronic communication systems combined with staff contact. A rigid resistance to printing information that was contained within the web-site was maintained throughout. Students have been encouraged to adopt their own standards of work and to develop meaningful and successful teams. The culture of independent learning was further supported by widespread sharing of information and assessments designed to develop skills (especially in personal presentation) as well to develop knowledge and process.

3  Methodology

For the past year we have attempted to use an internet-based learning approach on three thirteen-week business modules, with groups of first year undergraduates studying computer-oriented degrees and HNDs. We started with a pilot study of eight Multimedia degree students, where we converted extensive notes and exercises from paper to HTML (using Hotmetal Pro) and added a communications infrastructure for feedback and email. Our second trial was with 100+ students and a new module where we used the internet for purely communications purposes, setting problem-solving tasks and developing solutions through discussion groups, which were set up using Microsoft Frontpage. Our third trial (just coming to an end) with the same group of 100+ students has combined both notes and communication tools within a WebCT framework.

We have attempted to develop a hybrid model that uses aspects of a distance learning approach together with traditional face-to-face contact. The students have the ability to work independently at a distance if they wish, but we also have class sessions in computer labs and some in classrooms, where we continue face-to-face contact while they use our website for the bulk of their learning. The rationale for this approach was based upon an attempt to increase motivation by using IT with students who were having difficulty finding relevance of the subject matter to their course.

The approach we have taken is heavily student-centred, with learning being more important than teaching and a culture of independence, rather than dependence, being the goal. The last two trials have been problem-based, with active learning the key element. Reflective practice has been an important element along with an attempt to get students to 'engage' with the system by putting their work into the website. A prototyping development style has been adopted, where feedback has led to developments as we have gone along.

Feedback from students has been a vital part of our trials and has taken the form of regular monitoring and open discussions between students and staff within a policy of continuous improvement. Where anything needed changing and it was both possible and sensible, changes were made. Four formalised feedback sessions have been organised so far, to give us data for analysis and enable developments in our methodology. These have been both paper and web-based questionnaires.

4  Results

This section is split into two parts: what we observed during the year and results of three surveys.

4.1  Anecdotal findings from running the web-based modules

The following discourse illuminates some of our observations whilst supporting the students learning on our web-based modules. This is included to 'paint a picture' of our findings and the issues raised here will be researched further in future developments.

4.1.1  Issues of motivation

Where possible the comments made here are related to Elton's model (figure 1).

• We perceive a general lack of intrinsic motivation due to a lack of interest in the subject. Generally business-related issues lie outside the students expected domain, so they see little relevance in it. In some areas however we see evidence of some students gaining a sense of achievement with using the website when they see what they can 'do' and 'learn'. Elton's model may describe this as 'low commitment' .

• When pushed about the mode of delivery, the students (as a group) show significant interest in using the web for their learning, primarily as they see the skills associated with learning using the web important for the world of work. In Elton's model, this could perhaps be construed as 'playing the system' as extrinsic motivation is favourable (they like it), but intrinsic motivation seems negative regarding the subject. Students also seemed to like putting their own work into the system (WebCT has a presentation area) and some have displayed a 'high commitment' to it by their interest in the use of web technology.

• Referring to Elton's model, some students have been found to be in a 'rebellion' state, blaming us for not providing them with the correct tools for them to learn effectively. One particular student is generally highly motivated, performing well in all areas and quick to learn new skills and techniques. When discussing particular problems in understanding course-related issues, he quickly became angry, his mood spiralling downwards as his frustration showed. For him, we failed to provide an environment that capitalised upon his high intrinsic motivation.

• Sarah Brocksom, a tutor for one of the groups recognised that a pattern of behaviour seems to have emerged amongst students who placed a high value on their degree, and subsequently their grades. Initially they engaged fully with the approach, exploring the web site and undertaking skills based tasks. Once assignment activities began they displayed signs of anxiety. These intensified as they realised that they were being asked to undertake responsibility for their own learning. Things got much worse when they recognised that they were not only going to be largely independent of the lecturing staff but also reliant on their peers. Each session saw a building frustration, clearly signalled by the 'folding of arms'. If left unchecked the agitation intensified, shown in behaviour and speech and accompanied by 'red faces'. This frustration was challenged by the tutor, during the individual 'update session' held each week. Student feedback revolved around the belief that the approach would lower their grades as they could not understand what was expected of them. 'Just tell us what to do' was the 'song' sung out at the beginning of every session, despite an outline of all requirements being available on the web-site. These students also felt that they were losing their competitive advantage over their colleagues. They perceived that it was unfair to give support to peers who were struggling to keep up with the module requirements. The module had been structured so that each student had the opportunity to use the lecturing staff as consultants, giving advice on specific questions raised. As a result, in some cases, students who could be described as 'playing the system' asked specific questions about the best approaches to achieving the module outcomes. Through this process a few students became more engaged, to the point where they could be characterised as 'gaining a sense of achievement '. The rebellious students saw this as 'cheating' - not real world problem solving. This was exacerbated in the final sessions when the 'sense of achievement' students proudly checked off all their completed tasks. The 'negative students' were, in the main astonished by this transition.

• In common with the traditional method of teaching (lecture and tutorial), we found attendance at lab and classroom sessions generally to be erratic, indicating a lack of motivation, particularly in some students who are between 'playing the system' and in 'despair'. This was also found in statistics taken from our WebCT system, which indicated that a number of students had not 'bought' into the system and approach. It has become apparent that this type of student will readily blame 'the web system' and technical issues surrounding its use for their failing to do things, such as meeting assessment deadlines. We are not aware of any students that are in the 'withdrawal' category due explicitly to the use of web technology, but this is possible.

4.1.2  Issues of approach

Here, we look at both the students' approach to their learning on the web-based modules combined with our approach to the delivery of these modules.

• A large number of students showed a lack of commitment to the modules, putting very little effort into their work between weekly sessions. This is probably also true of their learning approaches using traditional methods, though firm evidence is lacking.

• The students appear to like to watch rather than do. Given the opportunity they will huddle around one person on the system and watch them interact with it. They may well be participating in a group activity, but will often just watch, believing that they are learning while doing so.

• It appears after discussions with numbers of students about issues raised and information held within the website, that they are not very good at reading information presented via the screen. Both understanding and recall of information seems to be lacking. However, in survey 3, reading from screens was not raised as a problem. The module design may be at fault here.

4.1.3  Issues of independence

• Students appear to have significant difficulties being 'left to learn' using the web-based systems and regularly comment upon this aspect. This is perhaps understandable due to the nature of the change to an independent learning approach and the fact that all other modules are carried out in the traditional way, so our modules stand out significantly.

• A number of the students want 'hand-holding' and want to be told what they should do. They say that they require direction, whereas we (through this web-based) approach provide a framework and expect the student to direct themselves.

• One group of students felt so strongly about being 'left to get on with their learning' that they sent a delegation to request a weekly lecture as well as the lab session, so that they could be told what they were meant to know. This was accommodated, but attendance at these extra 'lecture' sessions averaged only 20 - 30%, indicating that what they perhaps really needed was just the 'comfort' of the traditional environment.

4.1.4  Issues of culture

• The culture that seems to be developing within the group appears to value communication (both with peers and staff) and research over more passive activities.

• A significant finding has been the adoption of labour division across certain teaching groups. Here the teamwork element has become reinforced to such a degree that some students have effectively taken on specialised roles within and across groups based on their skills and capability.

• The culture that has grown around the web-based modules appears to support the original premise of greater independence as problems are viewed, not as opportunities to avoid work and blame someone else, but as a challenge to 'sort it out' or to work through the problem.

• We believe that a culture of learning, self-learning, group interdependence and individual independence is slowly developing. Naturally this is not happening in isolation, indeed it is the source of some consternation that the six tutor groups within the cohort can behave so differently, but early results would suggest despite the 'breaking away' pain there has also been some gain.

• We have attempted to find out about the students' learning cultures. Whilst finding it difficult to gather evidence to support our arguments, we feel that, as a generalisation, they don't like to buy books, don't read around the subject to any great degree and attempt to get away with as little work as possible. During the course of these web-based modules however, we also believe that a similar thing may be happening with screen-based information. In this case however, the information is provided, but needs to be located and then studied. Weaknesses in understanding and knowledge lead us to believe that although it is there, the students are not getting at it, or not reading it, or not understanding it. We will develop our research in this area.

4.2  Results of surveys

The findings shown here reflect the formal feedback students have given us over the past year. The analysis, using Pinpoint software, is taken from three questionnaires (identified as S1 (web-based), S2 and S3) that we have used to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of our new approach. S1 had 60 respondents, S2 had 41 and S3 had 51 out of the approximately 100 students taking the modules. These surveys were taken during computer laboratory sessions, so while indicating the levels of attendance, in terms of validity, may exclude a part of the population whose feedback is significant. We are aware of this fact and present our findings within this context. In our surveys we have attempted to look at motivational issues, both intrinsic and extrinsic, some aspects of the students' learning approach and the attempt to change the culture from a dependent to an independent one.

In the discussion that follows and in the interests of brevity only some of the graphical results are included to illustrate particular points.

4.2.1  Motivation

• Over the course of the year the feedback has indicated that the students like using the web (S1 90%, S3 75%) and 60% (S1) found it motivating.

• When asked what motivates them to learn generally (S3), wanting to do well, subject interest and the qualification all scored above 60%, indicating high positive intrinsic motivation factors.

Figure 4. Survey 3 results on student motivation to learn

• When asked a related question about motivation specifically related to using the web on the module (S3), the main positive responses were again from subject interest (68%) and enhancing skills (for work?) (58%), reflecting high intrinsic motivation, and enjoyment (50%) and using web technology (46%), indicating favourable extrinsic motivation.

Figure 5. Survey 3 results on student motivation to learn due to use of the web

• We also attempted to identify some of the factors that Hertzberg might call 'hygiene factors', but specifically relating to issues around using the internet-based module. The major issues from S3 related to the IT provision, where 50 to 70% stated that access to computers, lack of printing facilities and problems with PCs put them off using the internet for the module.

Figure 6. Survey 3 results on 'hygiene' factors of student motivation to learn using the web

• In this same S3 question however, very low 'put me off' responses (< 15%) were obtained in areas such as being isolated, reading from the screen, independent learning and low levels of guidance. These indicate that these issues do not cause students too much trouble. 20 - 35% did however feel that staff and technical support was lacking.

4.2.2  Approach

Discussion here about the web-based approach we have taken will also relate to issues of motivation, so this should be borne in mind while reading this section.

• When asked about how well the students handled the learning process using a web-based approach, the responses were generally favourable: in S1, 85% said that they managed to cope with it; in S2 35% were Ok and 53% thought that they were good at it; in S3 65% said that it helped their learning, with 20% enthusiastic about it.

• However, in S2, 20 - 30% said that they needed help with understanding the web-based task-centred approach we had taken and 25 - 30% said that they needed help with the subject content. For these students, either their approach is failing, or ours is.

• Access statistics from WebCT indicate that a significant number of students have not used the system much. Only 73 students have accessed the system more than 50 times and only 51 more than 100 times. At least 15 students have never logged on to the system. They may of course have watched over someone else's shoulder.

• The problem-solving approach that we have adopted does seem to be accepted, with 75% of students saying that they work hard to solve problems (S3) and 70% discuss these with others.

• When asked whether the students wanted us to go back to using the traditional lecture/tutorial for these modules, 80% (S1) said that they didn't. This level of response reinforces the anecdotal evidence we have on students' views about the web-based approach.

• Coupled with this were three related questions (on S3), all of which generated highly positive responses: 75% like using a web-based module; 95% like using IT and 90% are confident using IT.

• When testing for learning approaches, a significant number of students did not complete all the paired questions properly, so findings here are incomplete and are shown to give a flavour of the students' perceptions of their learning approaches. There may be an element of 'what the tutor wants to know' here, or if the results are honest then a good number of the students have learning approaches that we believe fit well with web-based learning. We will be exploring these areas in our future developments.

Figure 7. Survey 3 results on type of learner

4.2.3  Independence

• S1 indicated a strong desire for lectures in conjunction with the web-based approach in 40% of the respondents.

• S2 indicated that 30% needed help with the task-centred approach, subject content and managing their time and effort, indicating that they were having difficulty with the concept of 'do it alone', even though 97% said that they were ok with the independent learning concept.

Figure 8. Survey 3 results on students' personality traits

• We tested some personality traits, considering a number of these to be important in learning with web-based modules. Confidence in one's own ability was over 40% and none felt that they give up easily. Over 50% (S3) consider themselves to be team players. These figures, although positive, also mean that there are a significant number who are not confident and don't work together.

• Another question in S3 indicated that 60% of the students work best on their own, which could indicate that for this number, learning individually with a computer should not pose too much of a problem.

4.2.4  Culture

• We attempted to assess cultural influences on learning by testing students' perceptions on their reading ability and also electronic influences - phone and TV on scales from 0 (low) to 5 (high). Amount read and finding required information produced normal distributions (which conflicted with our impressions); ability reading academic materials produced a flat distribution; communicating by phone about studies was skewed left (they prefer communications face to face) and amount of TV watched was skewed right (where there is learning, it is passive).

• Towards the later stages of the course, when faced with things going wrong, students generally adopted positive behaviours that were heavily based around solving problems either together or individually rather than the 'blame' or 'frustration' seen early on. In short, attempting to solve the problem (64%), asking for help (58%) and sorting out the problem (40%) all scored highly. Naturally, frustration (48%) still figures but what we may be seeing here is students prepared to fall back on their own resources rather than rely on an overly didactic approach.

Figure 9. Survey 3 results on students' reactions to things going wrong

5  Discussion and Conclusions

5.1 Positive results

• Generally the student's reaction to our use of web-based modules has been very positive, despite problems with IT systems and undoubted weaknesses in the execution of our new ideas.

• Collaborative working, linked with independent learning, may well be an employable strategy.

• The acceptance of web-based teaching is very high yet 'rebellion' is manifest in some groups. The practice of linking experiential learning and IT facilities shows promise.

• Motivation levels are much higher than we expected and we believe that this is due in part to the web-based approach.

5.2  Concerns and weaknesses

• The students who don't like using the web-based modules and don't find it motivating are of significant interest to us and this will be followed up in further developments.

• Half the group did not answer the questionnaires. These are in the main the low attenders, and it is likely that in motivation and approach, they would score more negatively and may change our view of the results. They may of course be displaying independence, a characteristic that we are trying to encourage! However, this obviously raises concern here and we have a lot of work to do to both develop and test out this approach with our students.

• Overlying the practical aspects of this research is Elton's model and Hertzberg's theories as they relate to motivation and hygiene. With those students who have worked with technology comes a new level of aspiration beyond the simple passive acceptance of an education more akin to a continuing quest for more stimulation and cast-iron reliability from the technology. Experience shows that the technology is, at present, unable to sustain this level of reliability and so runs the risk of alienating the very students who have invested most in the approach. IT related issues formed the top three de-motivating factors and practices have been adopted to lessen this impact but which threaten the very flexibility that the technology promises to deliver.

• We do recognise that there are weaknesses in our approach and methodology and these will be addressed in future iterations.

5.3  Future developments and research

• There are significant numbers who are telling us that they do not cope well with this web-based approach, so we will need to address this in future developments.
• Some mixed results on independence from the three surveys indicate the need for further research and supportive strategies
• Where our experiences and surveys have indicated weaknesses in our approach, for example tightening loose criteria, we will redesign our modules before the next time we run them
• What is on offer here is the means to focus learning on students, to develop new profiling of students based on how they learn, not how we teach and a flexibility of delivery that no longer ties students to set times, set recruitment and set institutions.
• We do, however, feel that we need to do more to bridge the gap that exists between students' skills in IT and learning and the baseline levels that we believe are required for effective learning. Further developments will address this issue.
• This research is still in its infancy and will improve rapidly with time as we develop and expand our knowledge and understanding of how students can learn using this technology.

We set out to address the question: Changing the dependency culture - how can technology help? Although we have not found definitive answers, our understanding of the issues is much clearer and we have had enough positive feedback to encourage us to continue our exploration.

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