Introduction Schools are being asked to address the needs of diverse students (Alton-Lee, 2003), preparing them for further study in a range of topics, and for work. In New Zealand, schools are addressing this in a variety of ways. One of these is involving students in non-classroom, non-traditional forms of learning, such as online and vocational forms, alongside more traditional formats. In addition to accessing the traditional distance option of The Correspondence School of New Zealand, many secondary schools are using videoconferencing and online learning as an alternative means of providing their students with a wider range of subjects than they would otherwise be able to take. What is not known, however, is which students are taking these opportunities and how they choose their courses. This paper is based on a larger research project exploring students' experiences of blended learning, and aims to answer the question which student take online course and why. Previous research has explored factors related to the online course that relate to student success as well as characteristics of students themselves that contribute towards success (e.g., Roblyer, Davis, Mills, Marshall & Pape, 2008; Kapitzke & Pendergast, 2005). Rather than focusing on the characteristics of existing online students and its relationship to their level of success, this paper focuses on determining whether differences exist between those students who have chosen to take online papers and those who have not. In New Zealand, online learning in high schools is seen as addressing issues of equity, with rural students not restricted in their course choice by the limited availability of teachers in their school. If, however, only students with certain kinds of skills are taking these papers, the issue of equity is still at question. This paper aims to contribute towards our understanding of this by asking: what students take into account when they choose a class, and are there differences between students who are taking online learning and students who are do not. Method In this research a random sample of 600 students (response rate 93%; 557 students) from ten rural and provincial schools in one New Zealand province with an approximate population of 1000 students completed questionnaires at the beginning of the 2010 school year. Students completed the Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI) - High School Version (Weinstein & Palmer, 1990) to measure the general learning and study skills of students and a questionnaire developed for this research, directly addressing students' blended learning experiences. Results Around three quarters of the students indicated that they mostly or always took their future career (74%) and enjoyment of a subject (76%) into account when choosing a class. In contrast, fewer than 10% of students mostly or always considered what their friends were doing (7%), or the format of the class (e.g., online, written correspondence or face to face, 10%). Around half the students reported that they considered the ease of the subject (55%) or who was teaching it (50%) at least some of the time. The gender of the student was related to the likelihood that they would consider what their friends were doing, chi2(2, N=491) = 6.6, p<.05, and how easy they believe the subject to be, chi2(2, N=498) = 10.3, p<.01. In both cases, it appeared that male students were more likely to take these into account than were female students. Students were classified as being traditional (only face to face classes), online (taking at least one class incorporating videoconference and internet based learning) or other (taking at least one class of a different format, such as workplace learning). A chi2 analysis showed there were no differences in terms of the gender of each type of students (p>.05). An ANOVA on students' rating of themselves as independent learners on a 1 (dependent) - 5 (independent) scale also showed no difference based on the type of classes they were taking (p>.05). An ANOVA on the ten LASSI subscales showed only one significant difference, on the Study Aids subscale, F(2, 506) = 117.2, p<.05. Post hoc comparisons using the Scheffe test found that the mean Study Aid score for traditional students (M = 22.3, SD = 6.5) was higher than that for other students (M = 20.6, SD = 5.1). Conclusion The results of this research suggest that students are not basing decisions about courses on the format in which they are presented, and that there are few differences between those choosing to take online courses and those choosing not to do so. As such, it appears that teachers' concerns regarding equity are unfounded. Students with a wide variety of skills are taking online courses, and based on previous research on these courses (see Lai & Pratt, 2005; 2009), are succeeding at them. Further research on this issue, and with these students, will explore whether taking online courses affects students' skills, whether their initial skill level affects their level of success, and how different support models impact on this. References Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality teaching for diverse students in schooling: Best evidence synthesis. Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Education. Kapitzke, C., & Pendergast, D. (2005). Virtual schooling service: Productive pedagogies or pedagogical possibilities? Teachers College Record, 107(8), 1626-1651. Lai, K. W. & Pratt, K. (2005). OtagoNet: A videoconferencing network for New Zealand secondary students. In Proceedings of the 8th IFIP World Conference on Computers in Education. Stellenbosch, South Africa. Lai, K.W. & Pratt, K. (2009). Technological constraints and implementation barriers of using videoconferencing for virtual teaching in New Zealand secondary schools. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. 17(4), 505-522. Roblyer, M. D., Davis, L., Mills, S. C., Marshall, J. & Pape, L. (2008). Toward practical procedures for predicting and promoting success in virtual school students. American Journal of Distance Education, 22(2), 90-109 Weinsten, C. E., & Palmer, D. R. (1990). Learning and study strategies inventory - High school version. (Available from H & H Publishing Company, Inc., 1231 Kapp Drive, Clearwater, FL).
