- Online learning is time consuming. Many students believe that online learning is more work than onground learning. It may not take more total time since you don’t have to drive to class, find a place to park, and sit in class, but it should seem that you are spending more time than what you are used to in terms of “homework.” Reading and writing always take longer than talking and listening.
- It helps to be clear about your technical skills. Take the sample course or talk with the professor ahead of time and make sure your computer, keyboarding, email, and attachment skills will support your learning online.
- Choose your professors wisely. Just like an onground class, some professors are better than others at teaching online. “This is far and away the best of the 5 online courses I have taken. The instruction quality made the biggest difference.”
- Your ability to interact on line may be constrained by your writing and typing abilities.
- Online courses require self-discipline. Even when there are definite deadlines, you must make yourself go do the work.
- Online learning gets easier after you get used to it.
- Most online classes use a threaded discussion forum or bulletin board for class discussions. Students have differing reactions to this form of communication:
· Some people don’t like the lack of face to face interactions. “I’m a big people person and quite social.” “The way we can see people’s facial expressions and hear their voices makes a major difference.” “Online classes are great, but not for me. You still haven’t captured the teacher-student interaction that I get in the classroom.”
· Some people like the online discussion because they allow students to think before they write rather than onground classroom discussions which “tend to be blurts of raw, not necessarily thought out ideas.”
· People who are “shy” or don’t speak up in class seem to like this format. “I felt I was more inclined to participate and express myself in the online format, as opposed to the classroom situation where I feel self-conscious about raising my hand.”
· Because shy people “speak up”, some students like the fact that they hear from all of their classmates, not just the most vocal.