Whether students think about them or not, learners all enter the formal educational arena with certain expectations. For instance, they have expectations about their role as a student and expectations about the instructor's role in the class. They have expectations about teamwork and how effectively they can communicate online compared with their abilities in an in-person classroom. They have perceptions about what constitutes good teaching and a "good course." In short, students with any familiarity with formal education have ideas and expectations concerning just about every aspect of their current or future educational experience. Despite the fact that they often go unarticulated, how important are these perceptions and expectations to the student's learning?