Online learning on location: perspectives from regional Australia
by Chris Horton and Katie Scholten

Download PDF document

Chris Horton and Katie Scholten are both based at Wodonga TAFE as Manager, Planning & Educational Services and Research Officer.

Chris was a Flexible Learning Fellow in 1998 and researched and published Prepared to be Flexible, which examines flexible service models of vocational education in 1999. He has continued to participate in state and national projects focussing on implementation issues for online learning, and the impact of national vocational education and training strategies on regional and remote areas of Australia.

Katie's experience in quantitative and qualitative social, educational, marketing and environmental research allowed her to conduct much of the field research and data analysis for this twelve-month national research project regarding the regional uptake of online learning. The full research paper is available from http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/nr1F04.pdf

What factors influence the uptake and effectiveness of online learning in regional Australia? This well written article examines that question. The planning, delivery and experience of online learning is examined from the perspective of managers, teachers and students. The benefits and barriers that online learning brings are examined from the perspective of each of these groups. Whether you are interested in this issue from a student, teacher or management perspective, the findings of this research will be helpful to you.

Introduced by Shayne Baker and Margaret Barron