Classic art masterpieces used as illustrations
TL;DR:
Online learning offers flexibility, but success requires discipline and a consistent routine. Schedule study time, participate regularly, meet deadlines, and contact your instructor promptly when problems arise. For the intensive six-week course described below, plan on about 15 hours weekly for all course activities combined. Follow your course's attendance policy and workload expectations. A flexible schedule does not mean less work.
Want to be a good online student? Develop good habits and stick with them. Here are habits that lead to success in learning via the Internet:
In lecture-based classrooms, students learn primarily from a content expert who presents the course material. Writers on education sometimes describe this instructor as the "sage on the stage." Classroom discussion may focus on exchanges between the instructor and individual students, although many face-to-face courses also include substantial collaboration among students.
In discussion-based online courses, learning develops within the learning community as students reflect upon the course material and share their thoughts with other students on discussion boards. The online instructor is often called a facilitator or a "guide on the side." The facilitator guides the flow of the class and encourages students to learn from one another through collaboration.
People new to online learning will soon realize that there are differences in how learning takes place and in the student's role in the learning process. In a traditional classroom setting, a student may walk into class, sit in the back of the classroom, and offer very little in the way of contributions to the class. While that student may have listened and taken notes, the rest of the class and the professor have little awareness of how much that particular student has learned or how much he or she knows about the topic. Whatever that student has done to prepare for that day's class session may not be clearly evident to anyone else in the class. In some courses, instructors assess much of that learning through examinations, papers, and other assignments.
In discussion-based online courses, every student is expected to participate actively and make learning visible through regular contributions. Instructors may assess students' understanding through discussion participation as well as examinations, research papers, and other assignments.
To be successful online, the student must be creatively engaged in the learning process. One benefit of online learning is the time available for reflection and response. In a typical face-to-face class, the instructor may pose a question to which answers are immediately expected. In an asynchronous online discussion, a student may think about the question, research it, and reflect on the best way to formulate an answer before sending it to the class. Some introverted students may feel more comfortable participating in written online discussions.
Successful online students are self-disciplined and highly motivated to learn. Productive online students need the ability to work alone while also being able to demonstrate good thinking and reflection skills.
Adapted from material by the Office of Enrollment Services and Online Education, Nazarene Bible College. The example below describes a six-week course with an estimated total workload of 90 hours.
Sometimes students misunderstand what is meant by the "flexibility of online classes."
Flexibility is a strong selling point for online education. Students don't need to drive to a location once, twice, or three times a week to attend class. Schoolwork can be done after the kids go to bed. It can be done in the middle of the night. Or it can be done early in the morning. If you want to go to class in your pajamas, nobody is going to know or care. If an emergency disrupts your schedule, contact your instructor about making up work within the course's policies.
However, flexibility does not . . .
To understand the time commitment, consider a course requiring about 90 hours of work in total. That estimate includes all learning activities: reading, studying, research, writing, discussion participation, and any other assignments. Spread over 15 weeks, 90 hours amounts to about six hours per week. Condensed into six weeks, the same workload amounts to about 15 hours per week. The shorter schedule changes how much time you need each week; it does not reduce the total work. Your actual study time may vary with the course requirements and your learning pace.
For this six-week course example, set aside about 15 hours each week in total. You might reserve two five-hour blocks for focused reading and writing, then distribute the remaining five hours across the week for discussion participation and other course activities. Discussion time is part of the 15-hour total. Protect your study time just as you would protect scheduled class meetings in a traditional program.
Arrange these hours around your responsibilities while meeting deadlines and attendance requirements. Develop a consistent personal routine and adjust it when assignments require more time.
Choose any time of day. However, keep it consistent. If you do it in the morning, do it every morning. If you do it after the kids go to bed, do it every night at that same time.
Practice good time management. Develop proper study habits, and your online educational program will bring great fulfillment.
 | What kind of online student are you? Do others think of you as Busy or Wordy or Disconnected Dan? Do you sometimes come off to others as Oblivious or Trite-ly or even End-times Edith? [ read more ] |
Developing good habits will set you up for success in online learning. Good online students are disciplined and motivated. Plus, they have developed good thinking and critical reflection skills. Online students who do well schedule their learning times and stick to that schedule. Successful online students engage creatively in the learning process and plan for the workload their course requires. For the intensive six-week course example above, that means about 15 hours weekly for all course activities combined. They meet attendance requirements and avoid falling behind. They communicate promptly with professors when problems arise.
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
