This volume contains a collection of 48 articles which were originally published between 2006 and 2010 in the Learner Autonomy SIG's newsletter Independence. All of the articles were written in connection with a project which likened exploring the multifaceted concept of learner autonomy to opening a metaphorical "can of worms". Ten "worms" were released into the academic community, resulting in a series of short articles. The following areas are explored in this collection: Assessment, Classroom research, Counselling / advising, Culture, Learner training, Motivation, Self-access, Teacher autonomy, Teacher education, and Technology.

Introduction by Carol J Everhard

Assessment. Chapters by Hanne Thomson, Sanja Wagner, Viljo Kohonen, and Gina Oxbrow

Classroom Research. Chapters by Lienhard Legenhausen, Klaus Schwienhorst, Naoko Aoki, Dieter Wolff, and Jose Lai

Counselling / Advising. Chapters by Marina Mozzon McPherson, Sarah Toogood, Sara Cotterall, E. Desiree Castillo Zaragoza, Mia Victori, and Sally Logan and Moira Hobbs

Culture. Chapters by Adrian Holliday, Bojana Petric, B. Kumaravadivelu, and David Palfreyman

Learner Training. Chapters by Barbara Sinclair, Gail Ellis, and Leni Dam

Motivation. Chapters by Ema Ushioda, Terry Lamb, Martin Lamb, Tim Murphey, and David McLoughlin

Self-Access. Chapters by Richard Pemberton, Lucy Cooker, Humberto Cervera Rosado, Alex Ding, Anna Gorevanova and Jamilya Gulyamova, and Bruce Morrison

Teacher Autonomy. Chapters by Flávia Vieira, Isabel Barbosa, Manuel Jiménez Raya, and Leslie Bobb Wolff

Teacher Education. Chapters by Leni Dam, June Miliander, José Luís Vera Batista, Anja Burkert, and Frank Lacey

Technology. Chapters by Vance Stevens, Dafne Gonzalez and Rubena St. Louis, and Deborah Healey

Conclusions by Jo Mynard