Learning and interaction preferences. In addition to the structural reasons
for choosing online learning, several students cited learning- and interactionoriented
factors. Three students explicitly said that they learned course material
more effectively in the online context. One explained that the online course
materials were “way more valuable than to be sitting in the classroom having
someone lecture to me”; the second said, “I just have trouble sitting, being still and
listening to somebody for like a long period of time, because I’m kind of ADD.
1 I can’t
stay on one track.” This student felt that it was “better for me to do it at home,
because if I get side-tracked, at least I know I’ll come back to it.”