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1. You must be HIGHLY self-motivated and self-disciplined. Online classes are not easier than on-campus classes, contrary to popular belief. Online students should spend an equivalent amount of time working on and studying for their online courses that they would normally spend on traditional courses. Study skills experts recommend that students spend three hours outside of class studying for every hour spent in class. Therefore, if you're enrolled in a 4-credit online course, you should plan to work for those 4 "classroom" hours on your own, PLUS the 3 homework hours per credit that students in traditional, seated classes spend studying, for a total of 16 hour per week (4 "classroom" hours + 12 "homework" hours). Successful students in traditional, face-to-face classes attend class regularly. The online equivalent means logging in nearly every single day and keeping current with all aspects of the course. When you checking in, some of the activities you should be attending to include participating in group discussions, completing the reading assignments, checking instructor postings, and keeping track of when assignments are due. Checking in NEARLY EVERY DAY is best online success strategy. Online classes are not designed for persons who are procrastinators by nature, nor are they designed for students who prefer regular face-to-face contact to solve course-related problems.
Students need to interact regularly with the other students in the class. Online courses require group discussions among members of the class; therefore, online students need to be capable of sharing their ideas and thoughts in writing with other students and with the instructor. In online discussions,
3. You must be familiar with basic computer skills and have regular, reliable access to adequate computer equipment. Online students must be able to
compose assignments in Microsoft Word and submit them to the
D2L Dropbox, attach
Microsoft Word files to e-mail messages, conduct research on the Internet,
discuss topics online with other students and their instructor, access Websites, and
move comfortably between screens in a Windows environment. 4. You must possess and demonstrate excellent time management skills. Successful online students need to set up a daily or near-daily scheduled time to stay current on the class Schedule, check-in with their Groups via Discussion Rooms; and look for communications with their instructor by checking e-mail and their professor's Bulletin Board. Establish this dedicated class work time, and stick to it. Procrastination can easily creep up and set you way behind. It is the STUDENT'S responsibility to keep track of due date deadlines for assignments and communications. It can be easier to let these dates slip without traditional classroom reminders. Also, computers often have things go wrong with them, so students need to be aware of late penalties and be sure to get their assignments done far before the due dates. Always submit assignments to the Dropbox well in advance of the time it closes, in case you have any technology issues or need to re-submit documents, as late assignments are not accepted, even when they're due to technological issues.
The method of communication in online classes is writing. Thus, it is imperative that students have strong writing skills so they are able to effectively communicate their ideas, thoughts, and opinions. Students should also communicate in a consistently professional manner while engaged in all classroom activities. Communications in a classroom environment are necessarily more formal than those between friends online. To this end, be sure to write clearly, and just as professionally and correctly as you would in a work environment. Follow the rules of standard written American English. Write all assignments early enough that you have time to put them away for a while before going back to proofread, revise, and edit them. Double-check to make sure
that you've followed all of the directions when completing assignments
before submitting them. 6. You must be an independent learner. Students will not fare well in online classes if they need step-by-step instructions for every assignment or if they need structured time with an in-class instructor and specific deadline reminders. Students need to be comfortable with making independent judgment calls, working largely on their own, and keeping themselves up-to-date.
The only interaction that students have with the professor or their classmates is through their messages. If students don't ask their questions online, they will be on their own. Students who struggle with the lack of the person-to-person contact for asking questions should not take an online class. It will be helpful to have multiple channels to contact your fellow Group members. Exchanging phone numbers, in addition to having others' e-mail addresses and our online forums, will come in handy throughout the semester. Be open to asking your classmates in
your Group for help and clarification--that old adage
about other people wondering the same thing is usually true.
Be equally open in helping others find answers.
8. You must foster a lifelong love of learning. Online courses are challenging. Approach them with a positive, upbeat attitude, just as you would anything else in life at which you want to be a success. Develop a lifelong love of learning. Be curious about everything. Be open to new ideas--even controversial or uncomfortable ones. Give them serious thought before accepting or dismissing them. Focus on how you can learn and improve. Accept and regard your grades as feedback: if you are happy with the feedback you are receiving, keep doing what you're already doing. If you are unhappy with the feedback, strategize ways you might approach the situation differently to achieve the outcome you want. Truly believe that there is benefit
in all learning and experience in life, even if it's not your favorite subject,
even if you can't imagine how it applies or is useful, even if it's not within
your major. 9. You must be open-minded. Taking an online course involves some discomfort, as it is not the way most people are accustomed to learning. You may not agree with the assignments given, the amount of participation required, or the class policies. If you see from your perusal of the course syllabus and schedule that this is the case, it is in your best interest to withdraw from the course, so that you can recoup your expenses. Remaining in a class that you've registered for indicates that you agree to abide by the Syllabus, which is essentially the contract between students and their professor. Readings, assignments, and group discussions may revolve around controversial subjects. Students need to be respectful of ideas different from their own. Avoid pre-judging what you will like or dislike, or deciding in advance what is right or wrong. Listen to others respectfully and completely, and try hard to remain open to really hearing them before you respond. Students who are narrow-minded will not be successful in an online class. __________ The information in this document was compiled from years of teaching online courses, being a student in online environments, and sifting through data collected by Jill Harrison, Project START Advisor, from surveys of ARCC Online Professors, 2002.
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