· They are more likely to have job and/or childcare responsibilities and longer average commutes to campus.
· They are more experienced with computers.
· Online students rate class conflict with work, reducing commuting time, and flexibility in studying as being more important to them in their choice of course format than do lecture students.
· Lecture students, on the other hand, rate contact with instructors and fellow students, motivation from class meetings, and need to hear a lecture as more important to them.
· Lecture students also more frequently report advice from university advisors as being important in their choice of format (2002).
The USA Study Guide entices potential OS by appealing to various motivations. These include; the amount of time it takes to get a degree, the issue of commuting as opposed to schooling from home, flexibility of class times or asynchronous learning, diversity or attending class with people from across the globe, ease of staying committed since the courses are interactive and entertaining, great faculty without needing to travel to a specific school location to interact with them and the appeal of an online degree to certain employers because of the skill and determination demonstrated by completing a course on the computer (Online, n.d.).
Carmen Gonzales shares the idea that lifelong learners want convenience and flexibility in courses while completing their degrees. Traditionally this involves going to school while juggling the schedules of their job and their family. This becomes even more of an issue when there is distance factored into the mix. An avoided commute of an average of 10 miles seems to be sufficient to persuade most to become OS (2005).