What you want is important

Regardless the setting (online, blended or traditional), students want course information available online.  Students are demanding access to materials at course onset.  Students are letting us know what they're thinking and we would be well advised to listen to them. 

A 2006 study of a major southeastern university that used WebCT as the primary means to deliver online course content noted that "bottom-up pressure from students desiring content online is more important than pressure from above, and that the ‘extended class’ (24/7 access) may be the most important feature of an online class component" (Harrington, Staffo, & Wright, 2006).

In every instance, the instructors in Harrington's et. al, study stated the pressure to deliver content online came from the students, and all instructors complied.  While continuous research is warranted regarding the effectiveness of the online learning (and I argue this research is no more important for online learning as would be desired for any kind of learning!), the facts seems to support that notion that online learning, with its student-centeredness, seems to provide deeper learning.  Perhaps the prospect of introspection and responsibility for their own learning is the driving force behind student access demands.

24/7 access, according to the study, does a couple of things.  First, access expands the classroom.  Online students already know the advantage of having round-the-clock access, but with blended and traditional delivery methods, having access outside normal class hours seems to promote deeper learning and reflection.  In other words, students have more opportunity to mull over the material.  Second, access generated more collaboration and interaction.

What does this mean to online instructors?  The obvious answer is we must deliver the online content.  An implied mission is we must know 'how' to deliver the content.  I'm not saying we need to be technical experts, but we need to know more than just how to access the software.  Harrington's et. al, study focused on seven instructors with technical expertise ranging from 'expert' to 'novice.'  Although the novices acknowledged their need for program-use training, not one instance was reported in which content was not delivered.  In other words, technical competence was not an issue.  I will note here that robust technical support was available, so technical competence was not addressed in the study.

As the demand for e-learning continues to expand, online instructors, operating in an atmosphere of student centered learning, must listen to what the students are saying.  Students, after all, are the reason we exist.

References

Harrington, T., Staffo, M., & Wright, V. H. (2006). Faculty uses of and attitudes toward a course 
    management system in improving instruction. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 5(2), 13.