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Be sure to check how many days per week you must be online. Be sure you check how many posts (responses) per week you need to make and if there are specific dates these must be made by or if that varies depending upon the professor. Check when your actual online week begins and ends (times and dates). Example: midnight or noon of a certain day each week. This is critical when you are trying to find time to get assignments completed and posted to the assignment area for grading.
Ask what is required to participate and what it means to be in attendance. Be sure you know the difference between the two. There is a huge difference here. Some universities will require substance in everything you do. Ask specifically what this means. Also, check on what, if any, consequence there could be if you were to take a month off from your classes (program of study). How will this affect you and your financial aid? What about exams-how are these handled? Be sure you know upfront!
What Do I Need to do as an Online Student?
As an online student it is important that you are well aware of what you are getting into before you get into it. In other words, do your homework upfront first. Many online students fail in the online environment because they did not take the time to do a thorough background check on the university chosen or the program of study they went into. Instead, as many online students do, they think that an online class will be easy, and that there is less time involved because it is after all, online. Thus they enrolled because they figured it was flexible and would meet their time demand needs. After all, online is supposed to cater to the needs of the adult student, right? This is erroneous and could be a very expensive error.
Once you have done your thorough background check which covers many of the items outlined in this article, touched base with a real person at the university, be sure to check out the online tutorial first to be sure you are comfortable with the online platform. Remember, once you are enrolled, you are more or less stuck because not only have you invested time and money, but also, most likely, you can't get the money back that you already paid upfront. Furthermore, while this might seem repetitive since it was mentioned before, be sure you have a support system in place that allows you time necessary to take the online classes (program) you are interested in. Having a support system of friends and family will greatly enhance your likeliness of success because they will help you to find the time you need. Family members will help to alleviate daily routine items that you may have done up 'til now, but now you won't be able to do because you no longer have the time.
Set Aside Study Time
Be sure you have study time set aside without any distractions. This will involve your family's commitment to help you succeed. Be sure you are committed to online learning. In other words, are you motivated to work a lot on your own? Online learning means you are fully responsible for your learning outcomes. It is not up to anyone else to get you to read the lectures, the text, etc. Only you can do that. Are you ready to commit the time needed?
I would caution you here though to be sure that the online university has an online system in place that is stable and does not drop you offline every so many seconds. This is extremely frustrating and will make you wish you never enrolled into any online course. It will make you detest the online learning environment when in fact, you could really love it, but because of the frustrations of being dropped you end up not having the patience to enjoy it.
Conclusion
Online learning is a flexible way to attend class(es) and gain a greater advantage to attaining higher goals to meet career needs that once were not available to aspiring individuals. Online learning presents challenges, but also, much joy. Learning can be fun!
The challenges can be lessened if you are prepared for this fast-paced, intriguing mode of learning. However, start out slowly. Take one class at a time until you have adjusted to the new online learning environment that you are now into. Adjusting does take time. Do not just leap into several classes before you get your feet wet!! By taking into consideration the items described throughout this article, you will be better prepared to take on the many challenges and joys of realizing that higher degree.
Online learning encompasses many aspects of emotions from fear, joy, frustration, intimidation, and so forth, but if you are aware of these emotions and why you are feeling them, that is half the battle to success in online education.
"Education is the ongoing learning that occurs when a person experiences new situations or people or engages in self-directed learning to learn a new skill or a new way of thinking about things" (Jewell-Kelly, 1990, p. 1).
And as Senge (1990) observed,
"Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we re-perceive the world and our relationship to it. Through learning we extend our capacity to create, to be part of the generative process of life" (p. 14).
Furthermore, Mertz (2003) described,
"The online environment is one in which students take on a more focused role in their learning. Rather than a surfaced method, learning now takes on a deeper approach" (p. 63).
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