This paper arose from a two-year longitudinal study of staff and students as they changed from a correspondence, paper-based course to an online provision. Prior to full implementation, two pilot studies were undertaken with sample groups of students who volunteered to complete their programme in the online environment. This paper reports on the second of the two studies undertaken in 2008-2009. The students were based in New Zealand and were all early childhood student teachers taking a six-month degree upgrade.