As the American Association for Higher Education notes in its Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education , the learning process involves collaboration and a social context, where working together helps each student. Given the nature of the technology used, special attention must be paid to this issue, which can be difficult to achieve in distance learning. Sharing ideas in a group setting improves thinking and deepens understanding. Study groups, collaborative learning, group problem solving, and discussion of assignments can be dramatically strengthened through technology mediated learning. Students learn in many different ways and bring varied talents and experiences to the learning activity.
Technology has the enormous potential to enable students to learn in a variety of ways.
Support for the Student Learning Resources. Libraries and learning resources are being transformed by technology. The rapid pace of replacing traditional libraries and resource centers with computer networks and online retrieval systems requires that students and faculty, staff, and administrators be provided with ongoing orientation and training sessions for accessing information. There is a growing movement for colleges and universities to contract for student services, including registration, business office, financial aid, and bookstore functions. Institutions who use outside sources must be diligent in ensuring that students receive clear, complete, and timely information regarding institutional requirements, assumptions about technological competence and skills, technical equipment requirements and availability of support services and that students have easy access to services.