" I'm a different person now " : Online learning as a de-facto higher education equity pathway to transforming lives- conference paper (original) (raw)

In line with global trends in higher education, many Australian universities are energetically embracing the concept of flexible online learning, which has significantly increased the number of students studying university courses through online and/or open-access delivery. This mode is highly utilised by non-traditional students, and is therefore an important avenue to fulfil Australian government policies aimed at equity of access. Without online access, many successful students would remain excluded from university study. Within a Qualitative/Interpretivist approach, my research utilises in-depth interviews and an analysis of students' reflective work to develop a complex and nuanced picture of their experience with online study. The focus is on a core, first-year unit, designed to facilitate the successful transition of new-to-university students into academic life in an online environment. This acts as an instrumental case study (Stake, 2008) for examining the experience of online, non-traditional students within the learning environment formed by these broader policy-related trends in higher education. Findings point to the transformative power of participation in university level study for successful online students.

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