Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

Using study forums 91 
only a short walk from their accommodation and could go home. 
Instead, they like to sit and chat. 
Students who study at a distance do not have the opportunity 
to wander around campus and chat with other students. I have 
been an associate lecturer at the Open University in the UK since 
1999. In the past, when I got a new group of students at the start 
of the academic year, one of my important tasks was to help with 
the formation of “study buddy groups”. Open University students 
study at home, alone. Tey used to have lectures sent to them on 
video and on audiotapes. Tey were sent a series of textbooks in 
the post as well as several other documents. Tey had plenty to 
read, watch, and listen to. But they had no other students to talk 
with. Hence, my task was to help students fnd others who were 
doing the same course and who lived relatively local to them. 
Ten I encouraged them to get together every week or two, sug-
gesting they could meet over cofee or an evening drink. It was 
the Open University’s way of helping distance learning students 
get a similar experience to campus-based students. Even though 
the Open University students could not informally bump into 
each other on campus, they could at least meet up and chat about 
their studies. Indeed, when I ran face-to-face tutorials with Open 
University students, I encouraged them to meet up after the lec-
ture, perhaps going to a nearby pub. Or I said it might be an idea 
to arrive an hour before the timetabled time and grab a cofee 
together. It was my way of helping Open University students get 
as much interaction with other students as possible. 
On campus, that interaction is always present. It helps students 
with their studies. Often it helps them confrm they understand 
the materials they are studying. Or it helps them clarify their 
thinking. Discussing your studies with other students can be a 
critical component of getting a degree. Indeed, research from 
the University of Natal in South Africa showed that informal 
groups of students discussing their studies can have positive 
impacts (Bertram, 2004). Te research found that discussing 
studies with other students provided moral support as well as 

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