ABSTRACT
The Study configuration differs from most configurations in that it focuses on the solitary learner, who exercises control of the time, place, and sequence of the activity. Formats for Study include such activities such as reading textbooks, listening to podcasts, and viewing narrated slide shows and videos. In addition to using instructional resources during Study, learners may also interact with a variety of real-world resources—things that are not created to be instructional but can be enlisted in the cause of education with some effort. The very earliest versions of correspondence study were firmly based on the use of the Study configuration. Students were sent printed lessons via postal mail that required careful reading of the material and possibly a search for other sources in a library. Besides being central to nonformal self-education, Study is also a backbone of formal education. Textbooks have long been and still are among the most ubiquitous of all pedagogical tools.
