Being a Successful Online Learner
Successful online learners are:
- Self motivated
- Get started early on assignments and don't procrastinate
- Learn on their own from reading and written discussion with classmates and instructors
- Are comfortable with technology
- Have good time management skills
- Schedule time alone each week to keep up with their classes
- Have a place in their home, or elsewhere, to complete coursework
Having good time management skills and being self-disciplined are essential qualities of successful distance learners. During the first week of class, you will receive the syllabus and schedule for the course. These may be the most important documents you will ever receive in an online course because they contain the due dates for all of your assignments and the dates for quizzes and tests. They will be your roadmap for the class. Since you will not be meeting weekly in a classroom, you not have someone constantly reminding you of these dates. The responsibility is yours!
It is important to develop a system of time management that will allow you to keep up with your coursework and due dates. This simple strategy will allow you to manage the schedule of your class and also be proactive about due dates. Purchased an inexpensive weekly planner (one that you can lay open and see an entire week on the two pages that are open). When you get the schedule for the course that you are enrolled in, immediately write in all the assignments, and the quizzes and tests, in red ink on the dates that they are due. Then go through the planner and make a note one week prior to the due date about assignment or test. For example, if there is an exam scheduled for February 27, note that on February 20. Highlight these dates to make sure they get your attention. Keep this planner, open to the current week, next to your computer for the duration of the class. In this way, every time you get on your computer you will have a visual reminder of the important dates for that week and also bereminded of the assignments that are approaching for the following week.
You may choose to use this system of scheduling for the course, or come up with one of your own, but the important thing is to have a system in place for keeping yourself on schedule in the class. If you do this the first week of class, as soon as you have you syllabus and schedule, you will have laid a solid foundation for managing your course for the rest of the semester.
