A good colleague in the VET community, Peter Smith from Deakin University, has consistently focused attention on the issue of learners needing to be self-directed if they are to succeed with e-learning. I am currently preparing a research report which reinforces this point.

Proponents of VET online products and services need to target self-directed and verbal learners, not non-verbal learners who prefer instructors and demonstrations. For instance, Smith (2000, 2001) showed that apprentices prefer learning in structured environments that provide opportunity for direct social interaction with their fellow learners and with their instructors. These learners also exhibited a low preference for learning that is presented through verbal means such as reading or listening. Verbal learners are those who prefer learning through the spoken or written word. The strong preference of the apprentices, as non-verbal learners, was for learning through hands-on experience, demonstrations and practice. 

Mitchell, Latchem, Bates and Smith (2001) point out that teachers are normally able to identify those students who are self-directed and those who are not. Self-directed students ask challenging questions, not just about program structure and what is expected of them, but about the content, what it means, and how it can be applied. They tend to go beyond what is delivered in instruction; and show greater willingness to work independently, and to access resources beyond those the instructor provides. Providers need to be able to identify self-directed learners and to market e-learning to them. 

Fortunately self-directed learning can be nurtured. Smith (2001) has suggested a wide range of strategies for the development of self-directedness in VET learners, focusing largely on assisting them to:

• use their experience and prior knowledge to develop new knowledge
• set their own learning goals and monitor achievement
• adopt a problem solving approach to new learning and its applications
• broaden the range of learning resources they make use of
• use other people to assist them where necessary to understand new learning.