The difficulty is achieving a level of choice that balances the student's personal and local needs and interests, with the instructor's knowledge of the subject area and expertise in defining core knowledges. Independent learning offers certain economies of scale. Once the course material has been developed, enrolling more students will not add significantly to the cost of the course. The costs of interactive activities tend to increase in direct proportion to the number of students. Independent learning allows students to maximise the individual scheduling of study time which flexible learning enables, and which is the reason many students have for choosing flexibly delivered courses.
Interaction can provide a pacing mechanism.
Courses where students set their own pace usually have very high drop-out rates, even where there are financial incentives for the student to complete the course. The usual way to provide pacing is through a series of events taking place at fixed times that lead the students through the course in stages. Assignments or assessible work with deadines is one mechanism, another is scheduled interaction. This can take the form of 'meetings' with the instructor, or peer group interactions that are based on bringing together students who are at the same point in their coursework. Flexible learning recognises that the adult student is busy and pragmatic.