5 Tips to Succeed in an Online Course
You should plan to devote at least the same amount of time to your online courses as you would to attending lectures on campus and completing assignments. Other good study habits, such as attending class (logging on) regularly and taking notes, are just as important in an online course as they are in a lecture hall! Intentionally schedule your time. You should plan to devote 10-12 …
Taking an online course gives you a lot of flexibility in where and when you do your coursework. That flexibility, however, means you have to take some extra steps to be successful. You have to be proactive about creating some of the structure you get naturally in a face-to-face course. Here are seven tips to help you stay successful once you are ...
Ensure your computer is working well, install any needed software, and verify your browser is up-to-date. If the course will use special tools, test them out early to ensure they work on your system so you can focus your attention on course materials and not be distracted by technology problems.
Contrary to popular believe, online courses are typically not “blow-off” classes. They usually have very similar academic rigor to their face-to-face counterparts. Also, many online courses take a full-semester’s worth of content and offer it in half of that time, doubling the pace of the course. Approach your online course with this in mind so that you are not caught off-guard and fall behind.
The online space need not be an isolating one. It’s true that your instructor lacks seeing your body language in class to get a sense of whether you might be struggling. Your instructor is still there to help you, though, even if you never meet him or her in person. In fact, many students in post-course surveys at Illinois report their instructor as being equally or even more available than in face-to-face courses.