Implications
I see the most important implication of this is to ensure that any online content that is supplied as part of a course, be it web based or otherwise, be made as approachable and relevant to the student as possible. So that they will have a sense of the value of what is being learned. I usually make much of the material I present in class, as well as supplemental topics, available via the course page with the thought that the students will grab the opportunity to read it. However, I frequently have students that are retraining for a new career, that have not accessed any formal training for many years, and my concern is that my approach is not inclusive enough. My assumption was that they would jump at the chance to use the extra material. Perhaps I should be doing more to link the online content to the classroom to encourage them to have better competency in self-study with web based delivery. I think that if this is not done, there is a danger that the perceived value of the physical classroom could diminish.