Difficult economic times have meant that students have had to make increasingly difficult decisions
on choosing courses and providers, paying for university fees, moving or commuting to study for
courses, and gaining the skills that improve their employability prospects. With almost ubiquitous
access to the internet, easily accessible educational resources, and unprecedented levels of flexibility
offered by impressive computational ability in mobile devices, students have access to a wider
variety of educational sources and providers than ever before, will increasingly be expected to take
ownership of their own learning. Students may also be driven towards informal learning via third
party providers to gain the skills demanded by employers, putting a greater strain on universities
already suffering from financial restraints in the post-recession funding environment. Therefore,
there has never been a more important time for universities to evaluate the services and
technologies they can provide to students.