Is the online program appropriate for me?

Before you take that Online Course!

Taking courses online can be scary and intimidating if you've never done it before. All the worse if you don't consider yourself computer or internet savvy. However, with a little thought and planning, you will be able to not only take an online successfully, but you'll find that it's often better than a face-to-face course. Especially when you can move at your own pace, rereading and even redoing some of the work until it 'clicks!'.

First let's talk about your 'fit' to the online environment. In order to complete an online course successfully--this means learning the material--you must have the following traits:

You must like to work independently. If you're the type of student that needs a lot of dialog with your instructor to understand the concepts, then you might not be a good candidate for an online course. Online courses expect that you will find your own way much of the time, although keep in mind that asking questions of your instructors is still KEY!
You must be time-wise. Letting time get away from you---we're talking procrastination here--is going to get you into a lot of trouble. Work piles up in any course, and online courses just let you get away with it if you let it. Be persistent!
You must like to read and write! Online courses are basically text-based, although you may have an occasional sound bite here and there. Remember that even a lot of multimedia--slides and images--are visual and textual.
You must be a participator! If you're usual style in the classroom is to sit quietly and listen, you'll be challenged to change your ways in an online course. Whereas one student may answer a question in the classroom, everybody answers everything in an online course.

What's an Online Course like?

An online course has pretty much the same content and conceptual basis as a face-to-face course. The biggest difference is the delivery of the materials. As we said above, most online course lessons are delivered through print media. In addition, most communication among classmates and between you and your instructors will be via discussion boards, chatrooms and email.

The advantages to this are many... For anyone who has tried to keep up with fast-speaking lecturers, or for anyone trying to communicate in a different language, print and other 'captured' media is a distinct advantage. Lectures can be reread or replayed, and a record of communications is automatically kept. Research is finding that written communication results in more thought-out dialog within the virtual classroom, resulting in better quality work all around. Of course there are disadvantages as well, and these are what must be overcome. You may be sitting there in front of your computer with a horror-struck look of bewilderment--but your instructor can't see that. Nor will you be able to see your instructor's visual cues or hear voice inflections.

So how do we overcome the disadvantages? Through communication! Ask questions! Clarify! If there is a Frequently-Asked-Question Discussion board, read it! Chances are others had the same questions before you. Take advantage of it.

Before you write that e-mail!

Although it is always a good idea to ask questions when something isn't clear, make sure that you've made the attempt to find the information in the course first. If there are 25-50 students in your class and everyone sends an email asking about something that is clearly stated in the course already, your instructor will be inundated with more trivial matters and won't get to the big problems at hand. What are trivial questions? Thinks that are probably in your syllabus or course readings: Like

When is ___ due?
What do we have to read?
How do I use the course features?

First help yourself

Before beginning your course, take any available orientations. If nothing is available, click through the buttons and see how they function.
Find out what help files are already available within your virtual classroom. Educator has a Help Center located at the bottom of each screen. There are context-sensitive topic headings--or to review the whole thing, click on the Question Mark icon.
Read carefully--and more than once!
Read the course literature on how to study.
Manage your time wisely. Schedule time consistently and regularly to work on the class. Try to do it in the same place as well as the same time.
Download or print out pages for referral when you're offline.
Listen to your instructor's directions! Even if you've taken an online course before, don't think every instructor is the same. You would not expect that in the classroom. So try to discover what is important to your instructor--and make those things important to you!
Don't give up! The more experience you have working online, the easier it gets! And most students will report that what terrified them at first is a snap now.

Netiquette

Just as the physical world expects certain behavior, so it is with online courses. Keep these pointers in mind as you progress through your courses:

Reread what you write before you hit [Send!]. Writing can be cold, and humor can be misread. It goes without saying to never write in anger!
Help each other out. Ask questions not only of your instructor, but of your classmates too. They'll have their own opinions about what works and what doesn't.
Be patient. Most institutions have policies regarding a reasonable amount of time for e-mails to be answered and assignments to be graded. Find out what they are and adhere to those timelines.
Don't plagiarize. It's easy to do and easy to catch. And it's NOT going to help you learn!