If people were employed, they were more likely to be satisfied with technology-based courses, even if the design was poor. Learners who needed flexibility seem to be more willing to tolerate courses with less satisfactory course designs. Learners in courses with new technologies were motivated by the fact that the course was relevant to the work they did, by their interest in the course, by the desire to obtain qualifications or credit, and by a desire for personal growth. In all of the cases studied, socializing with others was not a motivation for taking a course. Similarly, in all but two cases, learners were neutral about the desire to have contact with a distinguished instructor.
Access is an especially important issue to learners.
Access to convenient technology at home was unevenly distributed across cases. Surprisingly, many learners across cases were driving to campus to access technology-based distributed courses. There were many reasons for this, including lack of server time provided by the institution, copyright or proprietary reasons, requirement to use mixed media materials located in the institutions libraries and simply not being given the materials to take home. Driving to campus to access innovative courses did not work well and may even constitute a barrier to successful completion. Print distance delivery continues to be important for learners who live in remote areas, do not wish to commute in urban centres, cannot afford computer technology or simply prefer this approach to learning.