Introduction

Fashions come and go in all branches of human endeavour. The activities formerly known as ‘teaching’ and ‘training’ are now commonly referred to both individually and collectively as ‘learning’ and ‘development’, reflecting a change in philosophy from teacher-centred to student-centred processes. Along with this change there has been a growing emphasis on the design of more ‘open’ or ‘flexible’ learning experiences, which allow learners to work at times and in ways that better suit their individual needs and situations. New technologies have often been the drivers, or at least the enablers, for new learning strategies whereby learners and teachers are not necessarily all in the same place at the same time, ie open/distance/flexible learning.