Although distance learning has many advantages in providing executives with up-to-date information, statistics indicate that its benefits are frequently undermined by the poor quality of the e-learning experience, with corresponding student dropouts.

The Research Institute of the University of Sheffield addresses the obstacles its students have noted, those of time and money, with regard to e-learning. Its students are European executives who wish to update their knowledge without taking time off from work. In response to the needs of these students, the university has developed an innovative e-learning service, ambient learning, demonstrated in its Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Science (MSc) information systems course.

Originally, and unsuccessfully, the university offered what it thought was a well-thought-out intranet presentation, in which each module was delivered over a long weekend. One module was delivered each month. Based on the input from the student executives, the university found that, under this system, learners had to seek desired information actively, on their own. Also, the information was not personalized to individual student needs, and the intranet delivery system used did not allow for easy communication.

To overcome the problem, the university introduced ambient learning. Its goals were designed to assist the busy executive’s schedule through training delivered in response to the individual’s schedule, assisting the learner using innovative systems as part of the e-learning service, and training based on the individual’s preference and context.

All learners created individual profiles in which they specified their preferred hours of study and their choice of course documents to be delivered, listed by their importance and interest. Additional documents requested by an individual student could be uploaded, from either the university database, or from those held by fellow students. In addition, the contents of a document could be heard while traveling, through a built-in text-to-speech facility. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smart phones allowed learners to access the university, as well as fellow learners in their class. These new features not only stimulated further discussion, but also led to a desire to create communities based on specialized interests.

Results showed that, of the 30 student participants, 25 responded favorably to the ambient learning format and its potential. They also indicated that further research is needed to determine how student-requested information should be categorized and uploaded, based on this preliminary study.