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It may not have the nightlife but as a way of accessing a flexible, quality education, I've found the Open University can't be beaten

He was a flying goth with rocker looks. I was a new Open University tutor researching a play. I ventured into the OU room in Second Life, and after a few introductions (He: F04 R08. AL? Me: Yep. A363. R11), we had a long chat about non-Euclidean geometry.

Call me strange, but I found this amazingly thrilling. Living in a rural area, you don't come across many Gauss experts. Vast academic libraries, with international journals on tap, books and courses to get your brain cranking, people who enjoy a good barney about Shakespeare's sonnets: the OU has brought all that to my doorstep, and it's been an absolute joy.

A quick straw poll reveals quite a few of my friends are closet OU students – they just haven't mentioned it. All over the country, distance learning is helping students overcome not just geography, but also disability, culture, financial and family circumstances.

Susanne Lockie, a full-time mother to three children, told me the mental stimulation has made it a lifesaver: "I need to keep my skills ticking over, but I couldn't study to a high level without that flexibility. I've been able to get credit for my previous full-time study in nursing, which was interrupted when I had a family. I've finished my Open degree now, but I need to spend more time with my parents at the moment, so I'm taking a year out before starting on honours."

Employers tend to be supportive of OU study, knowing that OU students are likely to be unusually determined and committed. That's why it's all the more disappointing when you hear lazy "not a real degree, then" comments and ancient stereotypes of tweedy tutors and chalk-and-talk TV. I've found the quality of OU learning materials outstanding. The modular structure means you cover the ground systematically, with a clear understanding of context. Elsewhere (I studied at Oxford), I've found the learning experience equally stimulating, but much more haphazard.

And these days, you often find the OU logo at the end of some the BBC's finest factual programmes, including Springwatch and Coast. Playgroup assistant Heather Marshall uses OU materials at work: "The Early learning (E100) DVDs have interviews with leading policymakers, and show professional practice in different nurseries, with diverse cultural backgrounds and much bigger numbers. My boss trained at a local college, without access to that experience. It really helps to bring the world in and broaden your outlook."

There's a great site full of available tasters on everything from Textiles in Ghana to Analysing skidmarks (disappointingly about mathematical modelling). But isn't the experience all a bit – well, lonely? Isn't university meant to have a social side? Do OU students miss out on the boozing, freshers' week, parties, friendships? Those great late-night conversations about literature, politics, ideas? The best bits, in other words?

Many courses still have face-to-face tutorials, but more and more of the tuition is moving online. Essays are sent and marked mainly via the internet, online tutorial groups are replacing the legendary summer schools. They're simply cheaper. My Shakespeare tutor mourned the old days, but admitted that attendance at face-to-face tutorials seemed to be down. Students didn't have the old appetite for coming out. Intellectual exchange happens online, and tutors have to learn whole new ways to encourage interaction, moderate arguments and keep dialogue flowing, not to mention a whole new language of e-learning.

Education – and the OU – is evolving fast, and not all the changes are ideal. But as a way of accessing a flexible, quality education, it can't be beaten. At a time when university tuition fees are expected to rise, and places and courses are being cut, it offers a real alternative. Sure, it doesn't have the nightlife. But it does offer excellent degrees and courses at a reasonable cost, and a 200,000-strong community of students who are genuinely passionate about learning.

You wonder what Willy Russell's Rita would make of it all. Would she feel cheated by online tutorials? How would Frank cope with marking ETMAs? What would they make of the flying maths goth? I like to think she'd be open to anything. And right now, she'd probably have finished AA316 and A207, and be thinking about A815.

• This article was commissioned via the You tell us page. If you have your own suggestions for subjects you would like to see covered by Cif, please visit the page and tell us

One of the Social Work Taskforce's central preoccupations is how best to stimulate professionalism, confidence and morale among social workers. It's final report is due out this autumn. Now the Social Care Institute for Excellence launched Social Care TV, which it hopes will help tackle these issues, as well as provoke debate.

While teachers have had their own TV channel for some while, this is the first time that social care has its own TV service. Available from SCIE's website, the programmes are aimed at social care staff, managers, commissioners and trainers.

The real life stories and films are 'on demand' so they can be watched in the workplace, the training room or at home. 25 videos are already on the site: topics include dementia, safeguarding vulnerable adults and children, nutritional standards for older people, and the how to lessen the impact on children when parents become prisoners.

The programmes are highly interactive - films can be watched online - in full or in segments - downloaded into presentations for training, and emailed to colleagues. Each web page also contains guidance and advice, multimedia, and e-learning resources.

Minister of state for care services Phil Hope MP said: "It's really good to see the arrival of Social Care TV. Almost three million people in Britain use social care and support services, and they want independence, dignity and well-being. Social Care TV highlights the work of staff who are providing care and support. For the very first time, you can have a TV window into the world of social care practice material."

"The launch of Social Care TV is welcomed. Workers in the care sector should really benefit from it. There are many examples of how good practice can bring about positive results in both domiciliary and residential settings. What is particularly encouraging is that the films and resources highlight the challenges that staff face and how they can be addressed. The films also show how passionate people are about their work. It's like a moving advert for a social care career." Des Kelly, Executive Director, National Care Forum and Chair, Care Provider Alliance

Julie Jones, chief executive, SCIE said: "The films bring to life what we do every day in our work. The social care workforce is in for a treat. Along with the accompanying care and support information on the web pages, the films are thought-provoking, interesting and full of strong messages about delivering good quality, personalised social care."

www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv

Dan Lea is no geek, yet he manages to get his class recording and blogging – and he makes it look easy

They've only known him a few weeks, but as far as six-year-olds Sapphire Roll and Naila Haque are concerned, their teacher, Dan Lea, is the business. "Mr Lea is the best teacher in the world," they tell me. "And he is funny!"

As Naila and Sapphire discuss just why he is so funny (it's the dancing and singing, apparently) their thoughts are recorded on a video camera by two classmates. In the corner, four children are playing the Elf Tales maths computer game. And at the front of the room, Lea is working with group of seven children to record a song they learned the week before.

There's a lot of technology involved in the recording: one child uses a laptop to operate the audio programme Audacity, as another holds the microphone and a third examines the patterns the sounds make on an interactive whiteboard. Later, the children will teach each other to use the different bits of equipment. Yet the focus of the classroom discussion is rhythm and music. Apart from a brief chat about whether you press the red or the yellow button to record, the high-tech stuff hardly gets a mention.

He makes it look easy, of course, but Lea, winner of the Becta award for next generation learning, says he really isn't a geek. "I'm really not that technically minded," he says. "The learning always comes first. But if there's something that can give the children a greater sense of success, and just make the whole learning experience vibrant and rich, then I'll definitely bring it in."

A visit to the school's Eden blog (edenblogspot.com), which won the Observer's 2008 Ethical Kids Award, demonstrates the point. Started last year by Munnaan Mohammed, who was then in year 2, the blog charts Munnaan's progress as he, and the school's Eco Team, build a mini-Eden in the school grounds.

Initially, the blog was intended as a way of linking home and school more effectively, but when, at the end of last year, Munnaan moved to another school, Lea says the project "took on a life of its own".

"The early posts show Munnaan's research, his designs for the dome and photographs of his progress," Lea explains. "But when Munnaan's family moved, things continued to happen: the vegetables he had planted grew, and later, the dome got destroyed in the snow, and then attacked by foxes. Each time, we've put up videos or pictures of the site, and he has replied with suggestions for what we need to do next."

In the summer term, Lea's class worked in groups to design a new dome structure that can withstand snow and foxes. They videoed their formal presentations and uploaded them on to the blog. "At the moment Munnaan is watching them, and then he's going to pick the winning design," he says.

Lea didn't intend to spend his days surrounded by six-year-olds. But a summer job on a play scheme convinced him that he might be good at teaching: a couple of work experience placements later, and he was hooked. Nevertheless, Lea is that unusual thing: not just a male primary school teacher, but one who has taught nursery and reception. What is it about the under-sevens that he finds so compelling?

"I just love their unique view on life. I love coming into work in the morning knowing every day is different," he says.

Perhaps there's also a part of Lea's own childhood in his determination that school should be as exciting as he can make it.

"We had lots of spelling tests and rote learning, and I had that experience of failure," he says. "But here the emphasis is on success. And that's where technology can play a huge role. When the children hear their voices recorded, or see images of themselves in movies, or can publish their research on a blog and people comment on it, it has a 'wow' factor you don't get anywhere else."

"Dan's always the one who takes ideas forward, pilots them and sees what works –and he's got so many good ideas," says Xanthe Moon, year 2 co-ordinator and class teacher. "At the same time, he leads us in quite a subtle way: he's not directive, and he always says it's a team effort. He really gets that balance right."

Back in the classroom, the music group have recorded three clapping rhythms and are beginning to record instruments. This is not a quiet class by any means, but as Lea moves around the room, the children work together, without the intervention of an adult, for almost 20 minutes. But with so many different bits of technology, and five different activities, how does Lea manage?

"I have a keen interest in the children understanding what learning is for themselves, and seeing themselves as learners," he says. "I'll use clips from the video created by the children who are filming the class to discuss and analyse what learning looks like. So this morning, we looked at one where they could say 'we were really focusing nicely'. They can see it's not about being quiet, but about being engaged. And they know what that means because they recorded it themselves."

But what if it goes wrong? What if the recording doesn't work or the video clips are unusable? It seems I have missed the point: digital means risk-free. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter: if the 10 clips are rubbish, you wipe them and you go again," Lea says, grinning. "It gives the children the freedom to plunge in and just have a go."

Becta award for next generation learning

Regional winners

Suzanne Patt, Wrotham school, South-east; Peter Harris, Farsley Farfield primary, North; Sandra Taylor, Ashton under Lyne sixth-form college, North-west; Chris Baker, John Cabot academy, West; Philip Griffin, Radstock primary, South; Gavin Byford, Tendring technology college, East; Joanne Murray, Cookstown primary, Northern Ireland; Ceridwen Roberts-Thomas, Yoxall St Peter's CE primary, West Midlands; Neil Oldbury, The Elizabethan high, East Midlands; Daniel Roberts, Saltash.net community school, South-west

Welsh assembly award

Bethan Guilfoyle, Treorchy comprehensive, Rhondda, Cynon, Taff

• Exam board denies system will be extended to GCSEs
• Union fears 'a disaster waiting to happen'

The owner of one of England's three major exam boards is to introduce artificial intelligence-based automated marking of English exam essays in the UK from next month.

Pearson, the American-based parent company of Edexcel, is to use computers to "read" and assess essays for international English tests in a move that has fuelled speculation that GCSEs and A-levels will be next.

All three exam boards are now investing heavily in e-assessment but none has yet perfected a form of marking essays using computers – or "robots" – that it is willing to use in mainstream exams. Academics and leaders in the teaching profession said that using machines to mark papers would create a "disaster waiting to happen".

The Times Educational Supplement (TES) reports today that the Pearson Test of English Academic, an English-­language exam, will launch on 26 October. It includes essay questions and will be used in 20 countries, including the UK, to rate applicants' English skills before they are admitted to university.

Computers have been programmed to scan the papers, recognise the possible right responses and tot up the marks. Pearson claims this will be more accurate than human marking.

John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said that computers could be useful in many areas of assessment but cautioned against their use in English exams: "I'm very concerned that it would constrain the nature of the questions being asked. You won't pick up nuances by machine and it will trigger a trend to answering narrower questions. It could be a disaster waiting to happen."

A Pearson spokesman told the TES that its system produced the accuracy of human markers while eliminating human elements such as tiredness and subjectivity.

Other exam boards said the adoption of computers to mark beyond their current use in multiple choice tests was inevitable. Tim Oates, director of research for Cambridge Assessment, which owns the exam board OCR, said: "It's extremely unlikely that automated systems will not be deployed extensively in educational assessment. The uncertainty is 'when' not 'if'. But all systems need to meet exacting quality criteria and should definitely not be adopted just to make life easier for testing organisations.

"Some approaches look like technology in search of a test, rather than assessment designed to accurately report attainment."

An Edexcel spokesperson said that the board was not planning to use automated marking in mainstream exams such as A-levels and GCSEs. She said that previous trials of the technology in GCSE essay questions had not been expanded.

An expert says on-screen exams will soon be the norm. Don't hold your breath, says Warwick Mansell

Ken Boston was bullish about the power of technology to transform the educational experience of millions of pupils. "On-screen assessment will shortly touch the life of every learner in this country," predicted Boston, at the time chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, in a speech at London's Royal Festival Hall, setting out his organisation's "blueprint" for the use of technology in exams.

But that was back in 2004, and few experts would say that he has been proved right. In fact, five years on, none of the predictions Boston made on that day has turned out to be correct.

Sceptics, then, might have let out a weary sigh at the Guardian's revelation last week that Simon Lebus, chief executive of Cambridge Assessment, a department of Cambridge University and the umbrella organisation for exam boards including OCR, was offering a similar promise: that traditional pen-and-paper exams could be obsolete in the next 10 to 15 years, to be replaced by computerised testing. For many in this field, the big question has been why, given that technological change has happened quickly in so many other areas of life, the pace of reform in this area means that, for most pupils, taking exams still means scribbling on paper.

Objectives unmet

As Andrew Boyle, an expert from the regulator Ofqual in the field of on-screen examining, also known as e-assessment, put it at a conference in May: "Commentators have been predicting e-assessment's imminent ubiquity for over 10 years." It has yet to happen.

In his April 2004 speech, Boston set out a series of objectives, to be aimed for within five years:

• All new qualifications would include an option for on-screen assessment.

• All exam boards would allow students to submit coursework assignments electronically.

• Most GCSE and A-level exams would be available on screen.

• Sats tests should be available on screen to schools that wanted them.

• GCSEs should begin to be offered on an "on-demand" basis – taken at a computer screen whenever the pupil felt ready to do so.

• Ten new exams, specifically designed to be taken at the computer screen rather than simply converted from a paper-and-pen format, should be available.

From the vantage point of 2009, it is clear that none of these goals has been achieved. Although on-screen tests are available in some major subjects, including science GCSE, few exams feature a computerised element. In his speech, Boyle said that, as of last summer, only 421 – or fewer than one in 10 – schools and colleges in England, Wales or Northern Ireland used e-assessment in any of their students' GCSEs or A-levels.

There are now several points during the year at which a child can take a GCSE or A-level, but none is available "on demand". There have been very few cases in which the power of technology has been harnessed to offer a truly innovative exams experience, such as incorporating video and sound clips. And no Sats test is offered on screen.

This represents a major setback for the government, which was envisaging that at least one national test would be on-screen by now. In 2007, it pulled the plug on a compulsory ICT exam for 14-year-olds, developed over five years at the cost of £26m, after it was found to produce results for pupils that were dramatically different from teachers' own assessments of their charges' work. It was due to become statutory last year, but, in the end, was offered only voluntarily to schools.

The ICT test reversal is seen by some as having wider repercussions. Andrew Harland, chief executive of the Examination Officers' Association, whose members have to deal with changes in assessment mechanisms, says: "It did highlight some potentially big risks and problems with e-assessment. The test involved taking many computers in a school out of operation at the same time, and it just did not prove deliverable in the end."

Even a move to allow pupils' conventional Sats scripts for English, maths and science to be scanned and sent to examiners' homes for marking on-screen has run into problems. It was included in the contract the exam board Edexcel signed to administer Sats marking from 2004, but the board later had to abandon this move following negotiations with the QCA. Only last December, following last summer's Sats marking scandal, was it placed back on the agenda for future rounds of the Sats.

On-screen marking

Supporters of the use of technology in the examining process point out that there have been big changes in recent years, including the use of on-screen marking for many GCSE and A-level papers, and the increasing adoption of on-screen testing in non high-stakes situations. For example, Northern Ireland recently introduced compulsory in-class computerised testing at the start of the school year for primary pupils, in a tie-up with Durham University, which also offers on-screen in-class testing for 100,000 pupils across the UK. But why, particularly given that technology is now genuinely ubiquitous in many other areas of children's lives, has take-up been so slow for Sats, GCSEs and A-levels?

Boyle says: "Clearly, there is less use of technology for GCSEs and A-levels than for, say, on-line shopping or social networking. This is something to do with the nature of examining. It is a high-stakes activity, which is closely scrutinised. I think there is a genuine aversion to risk in this area, within government, within providers of assessment, amongst students, parents and staff. Because of this, things will tend to move slowly."

He adds that e-assessment presents some serious practical challenges. Having an entire year group sit down and take an exam at the same time, as happens with major conventional GCSEs now, would necessitate having two sets of computers: one for those taking the tests and another for other year groups, which is expensive and often impractical. Schools could be given the chance to stagger exams over a period of time, or to put students in for them at several stages during the year to get around this problem, but this would need to be tightly regulated, he says.

A joint statement on e-assessment, signed this year by Boyle and officials from all five exam boards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, sets out other problems, including that it may be easier to cheat by looking over someone's shoulder at what is on screen, rather than on a desk, and ensuring that hi-tech testing does not introduce some change in the standard of the exam. Given these difficulties, Boyle says it is understandable that boards are cautious. The statement concedes that e-assessment is still in its "early stages" in the UK.

Exam boards keen

Professor Peter Tymms, of Durham University, says: "The exam boards are all on to it, they are all thinking about it, and trying hard to do it. But they have not yet completely found their way forward yet."

Sue Kirkham, education policy specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, says: "The biggest issue is the IT infrastructure for schools. If you are tying up large elements of IT for tests and exams, you will not be able to use it for teaching. That's what everyone is worried about. We are also very concerned that there is no central strategy in this area from government."

A spokeswoman for AQA, the biggest exam board, said: "Delivery of on-screen assessment, besides requiring considerable investment from awarding bodies, also has resource implications for schools and colleges. We think that they are looking for a clear lead from the government and the regulator that this is still their agenda and that they are prepared to support it."

Many will agree with the sentiments behind Lebus's prediction. And the boards can point to some substantive changes, including Cambridge Assessment's launch of on-screen GCSEs in environmental and land-based science and a new computer-based international GCSE in geography. But there is clearly still a long way to go before this latest promise is fulfilled. It is a brave person who bets that, even by 2024, scribbling at a desk will have become a thing of the past in the exam hall.

Advocate of e-learning in higher education

Robin Mason, who has died aged 63 from pneumonia as a secondary complication from a brain tumour, changed the face of distance education through her research at the Open University (OU) and her contribution to higher education policy documents. Coming to higher education later in life, Mason joined the Institute of Educational Technology at the OU in the early 1980s, and worked initially as a part-time project officer. When she embarked on her PhD on computer conferencing in 1985, her work became ground-breaking. She was attempting to link students by computer and enable those studying at a distance to engage with academic debate - it was a wonderful, but risky, issue to research.

Back in 1985, technology was vastly different from what we have today, with students communicating with each other only through text, but Mason persisted, seeing the promise of a different, more student-focused learning experience. Her subsequent book, Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Education (1989), co-authored with Tony Kaye, documented the first large-scale use of conferencing with the launch of a course that enabled the OU to build innovative computer conferencing at a time when few universities made any use of it. For a time, this book was the seminal reference for any e-learning work. She went on to make a tremendous contribution to the field. In addition to websites, discussion forums, virtual tutorials, electronically submitted papers, blogging and sharing items over the internet, students now take part in online discussions using images and videos.

Mason extended her work outside academia and teaching to evaluate several large European Union projects in computer conferencing. She began a long-standing involvement in policy matters as an adviser to the EU, the European parliament, Unesco and, later, the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Her work on virtual campuses still has relevance at the policy level today, underpinning part of Sir Ron Cooke's 2008 report on online innovation in higher education.

She played an influential role in the development of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), founding one of the research committees and acting as a trustee for the association.

Mason's work took her all over the world - she was Australia's Scholar of the Year and spent 2003 sharing her expertise across the continent. She was passionate about helping other teachers and lecturers to use e-learning. Among the international projects she worked on was one aimed at helping Caribbean, African and Pacific university staff to adapt open teaching materials to their own needs using different technologies. This was just one instance where Mason directly influenced teaching methods.

Closer to home, she instigated the OU's first virtual graduation in 2000, also the UK's first virtual ceremony, for students on her global MA in online and distance education. Twenty-six students from eight countries, after three years of remote e-learning, came face to face, virtually, with the OU's vice-chancellor. Mason commented that "despite the technology and yet because of the technology, many of the students have developed very close friendships with each other and with the tutors".

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Mason completed her first degree at Toronto University and her master's at Madison, Wisconsin. She was a free spirit, best exemplified by stories recounted by colleagues. One remembers her swimming across a very chilly Norwegian lake during a break in an international conference programme. Her colleagues sat anxiously on the shore, wrapped in warm jackets, while Mason swam into the distance and, so her colleagues thought, into mortal danger of hypothermia. They were greatly relieved when she emerged again, dripping and smiling.

Much loved by her colleagues, she was known as a maverick who didn't give much regard to what she saw as unnecessary administration. But she struck the right balance between scholarly activity, practical application, and having fun with new ideas. Her legacy will continue to inform educational technologists in the future.

She is survived by two children, Lydia and Quentin.

• Robin Mason, academic and education policy adviser, born 12 July 1945; died 15 June 2009

The new Latitude 2100 is designed for use in schools, and it's a market Dell seems to be taking seriously, though anybody can buy them

The original netbook -- the Asus Eee PC701 -- was launched in the UK for the schools market, where it was called the RM Minibook. Now Dell is targeting school children (or K-12, in US terms) with the Latitude 2100. This is a somewhat ruggedised (or rubberised) design with a 10.1 inch screen, a nice strap, and comes in a range of bright colours: School Bus Gold, Chalkboard Black, Ball Field Green, Blue Ribbon and Schoolhouse Red.

The UK version has the same colours, and presumably kids will associate the names with things they've seen on Sesame Street or South Park rather than personal experience.

There's a "Network Activity Light" on the lid so the teacher can see if kids are surfing the net when they should be doing something else. The system also has classroom software, and schools will be able to get carts for storing and recharging up to 24 netbooks.

Although clearly designed for the schools market, the systems will also be available to businesses who want them.

The spec is standard netbook (see below), with a choice of operating systems: XP Home, Vista Home Basic, and Ubuntu Linux. However, I suspect most will ship with Windows 7.

One variation is that the Latitude 2100 also offers an optional touchscreen, though it's not a convertible like Intel Classmate 2-style designs.

The US-based Dell site Edu4U has more info, as does Direct2Dell.

Dell had a UK launch at the Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith, London, to discuss how it is "working with education establishments in the UK". (Sorry, I didn't go.) It does seem to show that Dell is taking the education market seriously.

Dell says the Latitude 2100 is available now, with prices starting at £259 plus VAT and delivery.

Quick spec:

Intel Atom N270 processor
Up to 1GB fixed RAM; plus memory slot to accommodate up to 2GB RAM total
Display: 1024 x 576 LED screen, optional touch screen
Storage options: standard hard drive options up to 250GB; SSD drive up to 16GB
Battery: 3 and 6-cell battery options
Wired Connectivity: 10/100/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless Connectivity: 802.11g standard, option 802.11n
Ports: 3 USB, VGA, headphone/speaker out, mic
Expansion slot: SD/MMC card reader

Each summer we're subjected to a string of arguments over whether getting an A-level or GCSE is getting easier. But thanks to officials in Denmark, it may be time to stop talking about dumbing down exams and start talking about wiring them up instead.

According to reports in the Danish media, ministers are about to trial a system where A-level students are allowed to take internet-connected computers into exams.

The reason, say officials, is that collecting facts and figures is now a task best left to computers - and that youngsters taking exams shouldn't necessarily be blocked from one of the tools they are routinely expected to use in their studies.

"It is a good way to get historical facts or an article that may be useful in a written civics exam, for example," Søren Vagner, a consultant with the Ministry of Education told Danish newspaper MetroXpress last week.

At a simple level, this makes a lot of sense. The internet is now such a powerful research tool that it has done away with lots of the old methods like learning by rote - turning facts into commodities in the same way that calculators dispense with some basic mathematical activities. Why bother remembering facts and figures when you can call them up on demand with a computer?

There are a number of potential pitfalls, however, not least protecting against plagiarism and the problem of students lifting information from online sources to pad out work.

Vagner was quoted as saying that examiners would keep a close eye on what students submitted, and would conduct regular, randomised checks of the web pages that they had used in the course of their research to keep tabs.

Checking for plagiarism is relatively easy, of course (a simple web search for groups of words would do half the job) and web-based plagiarism is something that schools are already trying to cope with.

But the biggest problem is one that doesn't seem to be addressed: the possibility for students (or other people) to collude over their exams.

Something as simple as giving a kid internet access could easily open Pandora's Box - because you can be sure some enterprising hacker will find a way to escape a teacher's gaze and talk to, whether that's other students in the exam hall or somebody else entirely.

According to this report in Politiken, the new system will be tested during mock exams later this year with a view to rolling out on a wider scale in 2011.

I've contacted the ministry to find out more - but so far there's been no response.

From video marking to Second Life, technology is transforming the options for online students

There's not a red pen in sight when Russell Stannard marks his master's students' essays - but it's not because the students never make mistakes. Stannard doesn't use a pen, or even paper, to give his students feedback. Instead - and in keeping with his role as principal lecturer in multimedia and ICT - he turns on his computer, records himself marking the work on-screen, then emails his students the video.

When students open the video, they can hear Stannard's voice commentary as well as watch him going through the process of marking. The resulting feedback is more comprehensive than the more conventional notes scrawled in the margin, and Stannard, who works at the University of Westminster, now believes it has the potential to revolutionise distance learning.

"It started when I began to realise how useful technology can be for teaching," he says. "I wanted to help other teachers, as well as general computer-users, to learn how to use tools like podcasting, PowerPoint and BlackBoard, software that a lot of schools and universities use to allow teachers to provide course material and communicate with students online."

Follow the mouse

So he set up a site to teach people how to use the technology, providing simple, video tutorials where users watch Stannard's mouse pointing out how to use the software, with his voice providing constant commentary. He used the screen-videoing software Camtasia, and the site rapidly took off: it now receives more than 10,000 hits a month.

Then he started considering integrating the teaching style into his own university work. "I was mainly teaching students on master's courses in media and technology, and I realised that while I was talking about the benefits of new technology, I should be making the most of the opportunity to use it," says Stannard. "That's when I had the idea of video marking. It was immediately well received. Students receive both aural and visual feedback - and while we always talk about different learning styles, there are also benefits to receiving feedback in different ways."

Stannard says the technology is particularly useful for dyslexic students, who appreciate the spoken commentary, and students learning English as a foreign language. "I started my teaching career in language learning, so I quickly realised that students learning English would benefit from video marking. They can replay the videos as many times as they like and learn more about reasons for their mistakes."

Stannard also believes video marking is "perfect" for distance-learning students. "It brings them much closer to the teacher," he says. "They can listen, see and understand how the teacher is marking their piece, why specific comments have been made, and so on."

The technology is already being used for informal distance learning, as Stannard uploads the videos he makes for his lectures at Westminster to multimedia trainingvideos.com. Now 60,000 people a month view the videos.

Second Life

Online marking is part of a package of new technology that is transforming the face of distance education, from Royal Mail-reliant correspondence courses to online, interactive learning. This is clearly evident on Second Life, the virtual world where users create personalised avatars (characters) to interact, which is home to scores of UK universities, with some teaching entire distance-learning modules through the site. Kingston University has developed a virtual courtroom for law students to practise on the site, while e-learning specialists at St George's, University of London, have come up with a program code enabling Second Life users to create training scenarios.

One sees paramedic students enter Second Life to attend emergency scenarios. The characters have to assess and treat patients by speaking to them, checking their pulse, dressing wounds and administering drugs. They have to transport the patient into the ambulance and to the hospital, and then write handover notes, which are emailed to their real-life tutor for feedback.

While the technology is currently being used in-house at St George's, the developers have made the code available for other universities or individuals. The code, Pivote, can be freely downloaded from Google Code, where techy types can then use it to create virtual worlds to run other courses.

Dr Terry Poulton, head of the Second Life-academia link-up at the university, says the code has potential applications beyond single disciplines. "The technology could enhance any course with a focus on solving real-life problems, such as architecture, law, or engineering," he says. "It could also be useful for professional development, particularly when preparing staff for crisis situations that they do not often face."

Other academics are already using new technology to make university courses more accessible to working professionals. At Bournemouth University, a part-time master's in creative media practice, launched in 2005, is run entirely online. Recruits are all working people who want to undertake further study but cannot commit to a face-to-face course. The students - over a third of whom are international, living in South Africa, Mexico, New York and Finland - use blogs, podcasts and Skype, the internet telephone service, to study. The first time the students and their tutors meet is normally at graduation.

Jon Wardle, associate dean of the media school at Bournemouth, says the course represents a changing mood in academia. "Higher education has recognised the need to provide opportunities for lifelong learning for a long time, but the early work in the area was poor. Now, because of sites like YouTube, Facebook and Skype, these courses are really able to hit the spot and meet learner needs.

"Lecturers and students are both starting to understand that online learning doesn't have to be a poor alternative to traditional campus-based courses. The days of the very bad, old-school correspondence courses are over. Now the future is about trying to discover new pedagogies which might not work face-to-face, but work wonderfully online."

Further education colleges are starting to catch on to social messaging. Sort of

Are you a member of the Twitterati? You've heard of MySpace and you're probably a whiz when it comes to Facebook, but it seems that we should be all of "a-Twitter" now.

Twitter is the website on which users post statements called "tweets", which can have up to 140 characters. More than 300,000 tweets are already sent every day in the UK.

The actor Stephen Fry is one famous exponent, and MPs have jumped on the bandwagon too. Jim Knight, the schools minister, is a regular tweeter, whose recent posts range from the inane "realised I never had that pancake yesterday - does that mean I can ignore Lent?" to the more waspish "wondering for how much longer we'll have to listen to Michael Gove".

The further education minister, Siôn Simon, has just started tweeting and the higher education minister, David Lammy, even appeared on the BBC's One Show extolling Twitter's virtues.

Now even a few further education colleges have caught on. Sort of. When it comes to writing succinctly, we further education sorts do struggle. We're used to using eight words when one would do, and flabby paragraphs with 50-word sentences. And we do love our jargon.

Twitter pioneers include Deeside College, Havering College, Regents College, Sunderland College and my own college, Cornwall.

Breaking news

News of the Chinese earthquake last year broke on Twitter, as did the first images of the US Airways plane that had to crash-land in New York's Hudson river and last week's crash at Schipol airport near Amsterdam. The FE sector isn't tweeting on such a grand scale, but it's interesting to see the difference between how colleges and universities are using this forum.

University tweets are "talking" to their current students: they warn of campus disruption, inclement weather and current research. Nottingham Trent University is looking for past and present cannabis users - it wants to establish whether users are more prone to developing schizotypal personality.

Meanwhile, some colleges - struggling to see the wood for the trees - are tweeting about the "special of the day" in the canteen.

It gets worse. Delve deeper and you will find some very odd posts on colleges' Twitter pages. One college tells us "network upgrade takeing [sic] place service interruptions possible during next 30 minutes". And that "all studio (gym) classes this week canceled [sic] due to the adverse weather conditions".

Another college "tweets": "Adapting my 'Ldap Active Directory users to SQL database' webpage, Ldap queries are so intuitive (ha ha)." Yet another says: "Just opened a Twitter account." It's gripping stuff; you can see why students would want to enrol.

But is there a right way to use Twitter, and what could colleges use it for? I know my college currently has around 100 "followers" but I don't know who is reading the posts, or where they come from - because you don't have to be a "follower", or even be logged-in, to read a Twitter page. This means it can't be used as a robust marketing tool; I can't measure if it's helping to put "bums on seats".

Personality

Colleges can build a "personality" using Twitter; a faceless institution can communicate a sense of humour, passion and even quality through this medium.

Cornwall College's Twitter page isn't "talking" directly to students because younger students aren't yet the ones looking at Twitter. We have seven campuses, 40,000 learners and 3,000 staff, so we need to appeal to a wide community. Students, staff, parents, businesses, alumni - they're all out there, and we need to keep them engaged and interested in the college and what it's trying to achieve.

"I do think it's important for colleges to engage with social media," says Heather Yaxley, a lecturer at Bournemouth University and social media expert. She says it's too soon to see where the real potential lies. "At the least they need to monitor and understand what's going on."

Twitter might not be here for the long term, but colleges should take advantage of the hype. There's such a lot of noise around Twitter - it's free, and easy to get involved in. But be careful, look at what your college is tweeting, and, for goodness' sake, use a spellchecker.

• Ruth Sparkes is PR manager at Cornwall College

Top Twitter tips

• Register your college's name at Twitter, even if you don't use it - or someone else might, and its reputation could be at their mercy.

• Connect with others - start following other colleges, students, media, MPs, quangos, etc.

• Use facilities like www.search. twitter.com to monitor what's being said about your college.

• Never forget that what's written on Twitter is immediately live and public.

• Don't get obsessed about your "followers". Remember, the quality of the people and organisations you communicate with is far more important than the raw numbers.

• Evidence for games is weak, says Which? report
• Experts say they are no better than a crossword

People who spend money on "brain trainers" to keep their minds agile may get the same results by simply doing a crossword or surfing the internet, according to research published today.

A panel of experts, including eminent neuroscientists, found there was no scientific evidence to support a range of manufacturers' claims that the gadgets can help improve memory or stave off the risk of illnesses such as dementia.

Devices such as the Nintendo DS, endorsed by the actor Nicole Kidman and the singer Cheryl Cole, have enjoyed a surge of popularity recently. But the experts employed by the consumer group Which? concluded that much of the evidence supporting the claims was "weak" and that in some cases other activities, such as playing standard computer games, could have the same effect.

Importantly, none of the "brain training" claims were supported by peer-reviewed research published in a recognised scientific journal.

Which? asked a panel of scientific experts to examine gadgets and their claims. They included Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, Mindfit and Lumosity.

Martyn Hocking, editor of Which?, said: "If people enjoy using these games, then they should continue to do so - that's a no-brainer. But if people are under the illusion that these devices are scientifically proven to keep their minds in shape, they need to think again."

Which? members who had written to the organisation about brain training were asked to try the products for a month. One of the experts, Dr Adrian Owen, assistant director at the Medical Research Council's cognition and brain sciences unit in Cambridge, said of the research involving one group: "If they'd been asked to play Space Invaders for a month and improved at it - as surely they would - would we have concluded this was a beneficial form of brain training? Probably not."

Michael Scanlon, a neuroscientist from Lumosity, defended the company's research standards, and said: "We would never say Lumosity is proven to improve day-to-day living, but there is more and more evidence it does. We have actually conducted our own clinical trials to measure effectiveness of the product."

Also under the spotlight was Mindfit, a CD-Rom endorsed by the scientist Lady Greenfield. Two of the three studies it used to support its claims that it improved mental performance were found to be flawed. It also claimed that "cognitively challenging" activity protects against Alzheimer's. Bruce Robinson, chief executive of MindWeavers, which produces MindFit, said: "If you look at the wider evidence in the field the broad conclusion is that brain stimulation is working. With the MindFit product, a study was done by an independent medical centre in Israel which supported that evidence. We are not claiming MindFit will stop Alzheimer's."

Nintendo said: "Nintendo does not make any claims that Brain Training is scientifically proven to improve cognitive function. What we claim is the Brain Training series of games, like playing sudoku, are enjoyable and fun. These exercises can also help to keep the brain sharp."

Tried and tested

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo) £110 including DS console:

Instructions say it can help consolidate memory and creativity

Which? No evidence that using this product will have any functional impact on your life whatsoever

Mindfit (PC CD-ROM) £88

Company claims "exercises important abilities known to decline in later life"

Which? Tests didn't show using it was significantly better than playing Tetris

Lumosity (online training system) Luminos Labs, £4.99 a month

Company says: "Exercises ... designed to stimlulate neuroplasticity that leads to improved cognitive ability"

Which? Does not mean improvements on tasks will lead to improvements in day-to-day living

Enthusiasm for virtual learning is limited, say Ofsted

School inspectors yesterday dampened ministers' hopes that tens of thousands of students would soon be logging on to online classrooms.

Ofsted said many schools and colleges in England were reluctant to embrace new technology which enables teaching and learning to continue online and out-of-hours.

In 2005, the government asked its agency which promotes learning through technology — Becta — to ensure the majority of schools and colleges made more effective use of technology. But today's study by the inspectorate found the take up of online classrooms was currently more of a "cottage industry than a national technological revolution".

Inspectors looked at the online classrooms — or virtual learning environments — of 23 colleges, 12 schools and seven other educational institutions.

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are similar to intranet sites. Teachers can return coursework on them, provide notes for pupils who have missed lessons and post mock exam questions. Schools and colleges started using them in 2000.

Christine Gilbert, chief inspector, said some schools and colleges were using VLEs as "dumping grounds or storage places for rarely-used files, rather than for material that enhanced the face-to-face learning done inside the classroom".

She said: "The best VLEs allowed learners to reinforce their routine work, or catch up on missed lessons. In those best cases, the material offered was fun and helpful. In the least effective examples, documents had been dumped on the system and forgotten." In some cases, she said material posted was unhelpful.

However, in one adult education centre, a student who had moved to France kept in touch with her French class through the online classroom. In another, students used the VLE on Christmas day.

None of the educational institutions surveyed gave comprehensive cover to every subject they taught on their VLEs. Older students in colleges were more likely to use the online classrooms than pupils in schools, Ofsted found.

Gilbert said: "Although young people use computers and the internet routinely in their personal lives, there was no great expectations on their part that a VLE would replace a significant part of their face-to-face learning.

Melanie Hunt, director of learning and skills at Ofsted, said take up of VLEs had been slower than hoped partly because teachers may not have had sufficient encouragement from their managers. She said some teachers had not been trained to use the online classrooms and, particularly in primary schools, could not spare the time to keep the VLE up to date and post materials on it.

A spokesman from the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "This snapshot survey from Ofsted looks at just 12 schools out of 23,000 and makes it clear that while good progress is being made, it is early days and there is more to do. The bottom line is that we are the world leaders in schools ICT with the highest levels of embedded classroom technology in the European Union; one computer for every three pupils; and almost every single school with broadband."

If you want to see the world and gain qualifications, why not study while you travel, says Julie Ferry

A typical day for Jannie Armstrong starts with a short walk to work. Nothing remarkable there, but his walk is through the streets of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. His office? The old Diplomatic Corpus building, which used to house foreign embassies during the country's communist period. Armstrong is a food security coordinator for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, an NGO based in the region, and supervises projects to help economically or socially marginalised families make ends meet by diversifying their income and food consumption.

It's a pretty full-on job in itself. However, despite the everyday challenges, Armstrong has just managed to complete an MSc in food policy at City University, London, making him one of a growing breed of postgraduate students who choose to study from afar.

"I'd been working in the field of development for over a decade in east and central Africa and the Balkans but while I had a great deal of experience I didn't have the academic credentials to back it up. A fair proportion of my professional life had focused on food security, so when I found a course on food policy by distance learning it seemed an obvious choice."

Armstrong, 36, lives with his wife, who works for Unicef, and his two children in Mongolia, so knew that any course he embarked upon would have to fit in with his other responsibilities. The City course, which was created specifically so tutors and students never had to meet, ticked all the boxes.

The course was comprised of four modules, each lasting four months, followed by a dissertation. At the beginning of every module Armstrong would receive a package containing reading material, CD-roms and a course workbook. He would then begin a flurry of email and telephone conversations with the course tutors, including Professor Tim Lang, the man who coined the phrase "food miles".

"Initially I was very sceptical about doing the course via distance learning," explains Lang. "My usual teaching style relies on seeing students face-to-face and so I had to imagine how to create something worthwhile removed from the classroom situation. However, it became clear that having students like Jannie working on the ground while they were studying was very beneficial. Now I am very proud that we have students all over the world."

However, studying for a postgraduate qualification can have its drawbacks. Armstrong suggests that you can miss out on the natural exchange of ideas with fellow students that comes from being on campus. He also says that self-motivation is essential.

"The main advantage to this course is that you set your own schedule, although that could equally be a disadvantage if you're inclined to procrastinate. If you have a particular interest in the subject you'll be fine as a distance learner, but if the subject matter is not your favourite, I can see how it would be easy to become demotivated."

Charlie Ball, deputy research director of the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (Hecsu), agrees that motivation can be a problem for postgraduates who are studying abroad but says the benefits of travelling and studying in this way outweigh the pitfalls.

"Students who are on campus 24/7 sometimes struggle with motivation, so while travelling or living in a new country you have to be quite determined to get down to some work. However, going on to travel after graduation can be hugely beneficial. A lot of people work while they travel so there is no good reason for you not to consider studying as well."

Samantha Maslen decided to combine her love of travel and professional need for further study after completing her psychology degree at Reading University. The 26-year-old began an MA in international public relations at Cardiff University and then went on to complete her research into the communication of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals at the UN in New York.

"I wanted a very practical qualification that I could go into the workplace with, so I chose the MA at Cardiff, which was the only one that focused on international public relations at the time," says Maslen, who now works as an account manager at Burson-Marsteller. "I applied for the internship at the UN independently but the university supported me and while I was in New York, I kept in constant contact to ensure they were happy with the way my research was going."

Maslen says her research was greatly improved by being able to interview key figures in person, even though the workload was particularly demanding.

"I worked really hard during my internship and then I had to do my research on top of that. In some ways it would have been easier to have locked myself away in a room in Cardiff for three months to write my dissertation, but the quality of the research wouldn't have been so good."

One postgraduate qualification that is particularly suited to studying away from the home university is the MBA. Karl McEntee, 33, is a systems support specialist for Coca-Cola and frequently travels around the globe. He completed his MBA at Oxford Brookes University in 2007 even though he calls the west coast of Ireland home.

"I was keen to gain a broader view of business because I was working for a large multinational," he explains. "But there was no way I could give up work to study and I needed the course to be flexible, as I was travelling a lot."

McEntee says that completing his studies via distance learning didn't affect him academically. "Once I started the course I realised that it was irrelevant where I was based - once you have an internet connection you are ready to go. Most of the interaction with the tutors and other course participants is purely online and any deadlines you get are well in advance, so if you have good time-management skills you will do well."

Calls for revival of e-learning to secure future of higher education

UK universities should push to become world leaders in online higher education, ministers will say tomorrow, despite the failure of the UK e-University four years ago.

The universities secretary, John Denham, is likely to call not for a revival of the UKeU, which collapsed in 2004, but to develop a "global Open University in the UK".

A report for the government on the future of British higher education online suggests the UK is seen as world-class, and often world-leading, in networking, content and digital libraries, as well as access management and many areas of e-learning.

But it lags behind in generating and making available high-quality modern online learning and teaching resources.

The report by Prof Sir Ron Cooke, chairman of the UK universities' Joint Information Systems Committee, suggests creating centres of expertise in educational technology and e-teaching through clusters of institutions, with comprehensive staff and student training.

Learning resources should be grouped together, coordinated nationally and provided freely, he will say.

Institutions should be encouraged to use virtual education technologies for their students and share them with similar universities, the report suggests.

Effective and competitive online learning at both undergraduate and postgraduate level would help meet students' changing needs and stimulate growth in both higher education and the skills sector, and save staff time.

"Failure to do so will reduce the UK's ability to exploit e-learning," it says.

An aide to Denham said he saw an opportunity for the UK to dominate online HE learning because of the strength of the UK's reputation, language and location.

"There are domestic benefits to running a shared system and those shouldn't be overlooked but it would also provide opportunities for universities in terms of attracting international students and doing some distance learning," she said.

This would mean more international students either studying here part-time or in their own country.

Denham also wants to introduce more flexibility for students either to take a longer time to complete a degree or swap universities.

Shared resources would help that to happen.

Cooke's report will say that more effective leadership is needed at all levels to exploit the existing infrastructure.

"It is essential that the UK does not lose its lead and continues to play a full and leading role internationally in the ICT world," he says.

Attempts to set up an "e-University" to offer British online higher education courses worldwide collapsed in 2004.

MPs attacked the project for being an "absolute disaster" and "shameless waste" of millions of pounds.

New technology now makes changing careers a doddle. But which courses could set you on your way?

A year after Fiona Sellers, 39, sold her headhunting business she decided she wanted to retrain as an interior designer. "I've always been addicted to interiors magazines and part of me wanted to do something creative," she says.

Sellers, from Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, needed to study design, but with two young children, she decided to look into distance learning. "I spent a while doing internet research, and came across Inchbald school. I was impressed by the website - it was well designed, with plenty of interaction," she says.

Sellers signed up to a two-year "fast track" interior design online course. Both this and a three-year option cost £12,500. They are web-based, but have some face-to-face time. Sellers adds: "I met my personal tutor at the start of the course, and I've seen her twice since, but we mostly communicate by email and the course discussion forums.

"I'm only eight months into the course, but I'm absolutely loving it. The hardest thing is juggling the 20 hours a week I'm studying with my home life. I'd advise others thinking about doing an e-learning course to think carefully about motivation. Make sure you can commit the time - whatever you think it will take, add another 20%, and make sure you can be disciplined about working from home. But if you are realistic, it can be hugely rewarding - and fun."

To follow in Sellers's footsteps and take a distance learning course to change career, here's a selection from the thousands available on the net.

Course Make or Break 1: starting your business
Website learndirect-business.com/business-courses/make-or-break-1-starting-your-business
Who's it for? New small-business owners, or those thinking about starting a business.
When? Course starts at students' convenience.
Price £29.99
What's involved? You sign up online and receive a CD-Rom with five hours' instruction, including videos and case studies. Course topics include the risks involved in a start-up. There is information on how to form a business plan and deal with legal regulations.
Qualifications None, except boosted confidence.
Alternatives Learn Direct also offers a more comprehensive course, Setting up your own business, which takes between 42-150 hours and includes costing, pricing and staffing. You have to register at your local centre for this online course.
learndirect.co.uk/aboutlearndirect/centresearch/

Course NetLearn languages: learn a foreign language online.
Website nll.co.uk
Who's it for? Anyone interested in learning a new language. Advanced skills can boost your employability.
When? Courses can start at students' convenience.
Price From £995 for two hours of one-to-one tuition for 12 weeks (24 hours) to around £2,800 for three hours of lessons per week for 24 weeks (72 hours).
What's involved? Hour-long lessons take place using the free internet-telephony software Skype. You arrange a time to "meet" your tutor, you spend an hour learning together, using exercises sent over the internet. Each session includes a test and homework.
Qualifications No certificates, but a foreign language can boost employability.
Alternatives The BBC's free language-learning site includes courses with features such as French crosswords and phrases for going abroad.
bbc.co.uk/languages

Course Online master's (including MBA) at this web-campus affiliated with the University of Liverpool. Subjects include IT, business, marketing, management and public health.
Website uol.ohecampus.com
Who's it for? Graduates with a bachelor's degree relevant to the applied field, with two years' professional work experience.
When? Intake dates are in October and November.
Price Costs range from £8,296 for the MSc in global consumer marketing to £17,309 for an MBA. Fees include tuition and access to online library resources, but do not allow access to the University of Liverpool's library or campus. There is a £100 registration fee.
What's involved? Coursework, class discussions and group projects take place in an online "classroom". There are no fixed lecture times, you leave a message in a web-based forum and exchange documents online and through email. There are weekly assignments, but no exams. Instructors warn the course is not a "soft option" master's.
Qualifications Graduating students receive the master's diploma, and can attend a graduation ceremony at the Liverpool campus.
Alternatives Many universities offer masters' courses online. The Open University is one of the largest providers of distance learning. Its undergraduate courses start at about £3,500. A three-year MBA costs about £11,000.

Course Creative writing at Oxford
Website onlinecourses.conted.ox.ac.uk/subjects/creativewriting.php
Who's it for? Keen readers and aspiring authors who want to turn their hand to creative writing.
When? January 14 to March 27.
Price £250 for UK/EU citizens.
What's involved? The course starts with an introduction to writing fiction, then characterisation, plotting, description, dialogue and editing. Students have to produce two pieces of creative writing for the course tutor, and are expected to put in 10 hours' work a week. Student/tutor interaction via an online forum.
Qualifications Successful students receive 10 units of credit, awarded by the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The credit goes toward undergraduate level 1 of the credit accumulation and transfer scheme.
Alternatives The BBC offers mini-courses in creative writing with professional advice and exercises.
bbc.co.uk/learning/onlinecourses/#creativewriting

Going the distance

Do research your course provider thoroughly. If it's a large company, look for feedback online. If smaller, ask to speak to a graduate about their experience.

• make sure you have the computer capabilities to do an online course. For some, you'll need high-speed internet, others might require you to be signed up to an internet telephony company.

• check how much contact time you'll get with a tutor to ensure you will be getting good value for money. Compare with other equivalent courses.

Don't take on too much. Check how much homework you'll have, and decide if it can fit into your commitments.

Don't keep your studies secret. Even if you're working towards a change of career, it's best to tell your employer that you're taking on a new project - you might need their support later. The same is true for family members.