Flexibility, technology, and the daily life practices of distance students living beyond the digital mainstream

In this paper it is argued that even though communication technologies release distance students considerably from their dependency on a campus, students are still very much connected to places in their daily lives. These connections are constituted through the “placing” of technology, the students' relations to people in their daily lives and the students' relations to the education institution. Communication technology not only releases students from the spatial dimensions; it also attaches them to specific places. It is argued that the use of technology in distance education can reduce the students' flexibility even if they do not have to attend campus regularly. The empirical analysis presented in this paper is based on a case study of a Master's degree programme in Public Management offered by Open University Indonesia (Universitas Terbuka).