Are the concepts "onsite study" and "distance study" outdated?

Abstract

Today’s students demand another approach to learning than the approach taken for students entering the school system 20 to 30 years ago. Modern students’ expectations and demands with regard to how and when they want to study are not the same as they used to be. Students now want more independence in how they plan their study, including having the ability to take distance courses, receive material and information posted online and take advantage of the potential of today’s technology. A growing interest in distance learning is one part of this development. Concepts like “onsite” and “distance” study and students have been used, but with a large – and growing – part of the course material being available online for both onsite and distance students, the barriers between these two groups have been minimized. The question is: are these concepts outdated, and is it necessary to make a distinction between onsite and distance study and students? Research was done within the course Spoken and written language at the University of Iceland in the year 2012 to discover whether it is possible to combine onsite and distance courses into one, throw away the old concepts and use only “study” and “students”.