I have been taking online classes every year for the last 5 years, at both the high school and university level, so I thought I would make a post with some quick tips for succeeding in online classes!
Make sure you know what time things are due. Obviously, knowing the date is important too, but when you are using an online dropbox, knowing the time it’s due is crucial. The link will disappear on you. I once almost failed an online class because I thought my assignment was due at 9PM, but it was actually due at 9AM!
Email the prof with your questions. It’s a lot harder to a prof to know you or like you with an online class. You can’t get their attention by just showing up, because they can’t see you! This is what saved my ass in the above story… I had contacted the prof many times throughout the semester, so he accepted my assignment late anyways.
Schedule a time to complete each module. There is no specific lecture time, obviously, which is nice but also makes it easier to fall behind. I recommend choosing one day a week that you use to complete the week’s activities, and can then forget about it for the week.
Participate in small activities, even if they are only worth 1-2%. If something is easy marks, you should always do it, especially in online classes where sometimes participating in a discussion can take 3 minutes and get you a 1% mark.
Remember what the prof can see. For example, don’t get heated on a discussion board that is moderated by the prof. Remember that the prof can see what you have completed on your checklist (what links you have clicked on) and how much time you spent online. In high school, I knew a girl who lost 10% of her mark because her teacher found out she was completing weeks of material in one sitting.
Start by signing up for one online course to try it out. I really like online classes and try to take one each semester. It definitely has it’s benefits, but some people hate it. Don’t decide to do an entire semester or half your classes online if you’ve never taken an online course before. See how you like it first!
In the same vein, for your first online course, take something you are comfortable with. If you struggle with math, maybe don’t go with math for an online course. You are already dealing with a new learning environment and an unfamiliar interface, so piling “extremely confusing content” on top of that is probably going to be a bit much.
Still buy the textbook and do the readings. Just because it is online, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do readings! Also, because you can’t ask questions in real time, the textbook is a great resource if you don’t understand lectures.
Know who/how to ask for help. I mentioned above that the textbook is a great resource, but you may need more than that. Figure out who your specific content is for questions, if there is a discussion board for questions, if there are secondary texts, and/or if there are any linked websites the prof said would be helpful!
Hope this helps! Feel free to reblog and add your own. :)
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