The object of this study was to examine the student teachers’ reactions to the new learning environment and their ability to make use of the discussion forum allocated to them for the duration of the course. Among many diverse findings, the student interviews revealed a significant number who appeared to be strategic in their approach to learning. The term strategic, in this paper, is similar to the term used by Marton and Säljö (1976), Entwhistle (1981), and Biggs (1993), for whom a strategic learner is seen as impersonal and working at a surface level. In this paper strategic learners are also characterised as looking for the most expedient way to complete coursework and showing deference to what was said or written by the college tutor and accepting whatever advice was said or written by the tutor; whereas learning that implies sharing, not being recognised as merely “getting the job done,” is regarded in this paper as the most important aspect of studying.