10. Ideas for Future Research

Until now, I have mainly studied the teachers’ roles and need for support in collaborative learning via forum systems. It would also be interesting to complement this with the students’ perspective on the learning process, still considering the behaviour of the teachers and the properties and functions of the system.
   The course I studied in Study A was given for the first (and only) time. In Study B, the object of study was both a course and a system with specific support functions for flexible learning. The course had been given several times before, but the system was used for the first time in a course. Knowing that the use and perception of a system changes over time (e.g., Sproull & Kiesler, 1991; Porras & Robertson, 1994), it would be interesting to study courses given by experienced teachers and that have been offered many times in about the same format and environment. Both Porras and Robertson and Sproull and Kielser talk about ”the second-order effects”, implying the effects that are paradigmatic, or do not show until after a long time’s use and that are not really planned for or imagined in beforehand (ibid.).
  1. How do students perceive their identity as distance students? Do they feel any cohesion with peer students ?
  2. Do students get enough contact with their teachers and do they appreciate the freedom they are given concerning time, place, and method for their studies? Which factors influence these experiences?
  3. How to choose assessment methods suitable for flexible learning that do not conflict with a sociohistoric perspective?
  4. Do people’s learning behaviour change when flexible learning becomes common?
  5. Are there any differences between how women and men perceive this situation and how they behave? Which are these differences and what are the consequences?