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College can be challenging. College can be even more challenging when you’re separated from the physical things of college such as peers, instructors, classrooms, and Starbucks. Although online courses offer students flexibility in their schedule for completing a requirement, many students find these courses to be more difficult and time intensive than a face-to-face course. Online courses are two-edged swords that can make for a really effective tool if wielded correctly. So let us take the good with the potentially bad and make this a great course.
Taking an online course is like getting your driver’s license. Now that you’ve got your own ride, you’re in charge of where you go and when you want to go. You don’t have to wait around for someone else to be ready, everything is on your terms.
With an online course, you don’t have to wait for class time; class time is whenever you decide. If you want to watch a lecture or complete a quiz at 3 AM, you can do that. If you want to spread the lesson across a few days rather than having to complete it in a few hours, you can. The greatest strength of the online course is the freedom to learn and do the coursework when you want.
The other strength of the online course, coupled with mobile technology, is the freedom to be anywhere while learning. Planning a family vacation to the ocean? Perfect! I can’t think of anything better than statistics and that salty sea air.
All that makes online courses so desirable also makes online courses potentially dangerous for students. All of that freedom to do things when you want and where you want can be overwhelming for students. It gives one the perception that the coursework can be given low priority. After all, you have to go to work, to the gym, and to the store at certain times and you can get to that course stuff whenever. Why, you could even squeeze that assignment in while you are binge-watching that new series on Netflix.
Don’t be fooled; not everything delivered over the internet offers instant gratification. Keeping up with your online coursework is not like keeping up with your Facebook feed. It requires planning, dedication, and rarely requires the posting of a cat meme.
To be successful with an online course, you need to realize that it is first and foremost a course. You should expect to spend three times the credit hours per week learning the materials and completing the assignments. So, for a four credit hour course, you should expect to spend 12 hours per week just on that course (okay, in terms of time commitment, it may be like checking social media for some).
It can be difficult to squeeze in 12 hours of coursework whenever and wherever you have a few spare minutes. You will need to be proactive in planning for a time to work on this course. Take a look at your schedule each week and set aside times in which you will have around an hour to focus on your work. It doesn’t have to be the same times each week, but having a routine can help you get in the mindset of doing the work that needs to be done.
Taking the initiative to plan your time will help you be a more self-directed learner, which is a must for online courses. Whereas being in classroom allows for a lot of passive learning opportunities, taking an online course requires you to take charge and be an active learner. If you think about your classroom experiences, I’m sure you can recall times in which someone asked for clarification or to review some information and that you found the question to be particularly insightful or the review to be helpful. These moments don’t happen as often in online courses so you need to be in tune with your own understanding (or lack thereof) and to seek help when needed.
So what happened to all of that freedom? You still have it, but like your first car, you have to take some responsibility too. You can go on vacation as long as you’re willing to stay on track and commit the necessary time to your work. You can do your coursework at 3 AM if that is a time during which you are still able to make sense of what you’re learning.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- ONLINE COURSES ARE COURSES. Online doesn’t mean less work (it can often mean more) so align your expectations. Be ready to put the time in.
- PLAN YOUR TIME. It is difficulty to come across 12 extra hours, by chance. Plan your time each week and try to set up a routine to keep yourself on track.
- OWN YOUR EDUCATION. Compared to a face-to-face class, there are fewer opportunities to learn from others. You need to stay on top of assignments and checking your own understanding
Now that you know what to expect from online courses in general, we’ll look at this course specifically. We'll cover the couse expectations, assignments, assessments and all of the other syllabus stuff.