Best Online Degree

1. Log into your learning website(s) as soon as you can. In some cases, you’ll need to log into two separate sites. The first will be the core Learning Management System. The other will be the place where you do the course activities, and it could be provided by a textbook company (MyCompLab from Pearson is one example). Log in as early as you can because invariably there are glitches and gremlins to work out. If you wait until the last minute, you won’t have time to do much, and you’ll feel a lot of anxiety.

2. Make sure you have your texts (paper / digital / multimedia) before the course begins. In the past, it was a simple matter of purchasing a textbook (used or new). Now things are not so simple, and you need to check that you have access to the e-text, and also that the interface is functioning well enough so that you can work with your text in a convenient way. Access is a big issue in this case, and if no one has prepared for bandwidth overload, then you’re going to have to come up with a contingency plan for the times when your text (which is cloud-based) is slow, slow, slow to load.

3. Don’t rely on the syllabus as your sole source of information about the course. With today’s complex structures, it’s rather futile to think that everything is in the syllabus (even though everyone would like to think so). You’re going to have to be aware of all the intricacies of the course, so the best approach is to become comfortable with the course. That means going through and clicking every link at least two or three times.

4. Post an introduction on the discussion board and start to interact with your peers as early as you can.

5. When you have questions, post them in the “Ask the Professor” section of the discussion board in order to facilitate knowledge transfer and to diminish the sense of panic that can grip an entire online cohort.

6. Post and check in at least once every two days. Don’t miss anything. Take the time to check in and keep current.

7. Connect with your professor. Don’t become a burden. But, do show you are pro-active and that you want to do things ahead of schedule, and you’re willing to go the extra mile.

8. Develop a calendar for yourself and start doing time management. Once you have developed a plan for yourself, and you feel comfortable with the work and the due dates, you’ll start having an enhanced sense of self-efficacy. Don’t laugh. This is important.

9. Don’t fall behind with your readings. It’s very important to stay on top of the readings. This does not mean that you have to read every word and get bogged down in minutiae. What it does mean is that you need to familiarize yourself with all the readings and be able to capture the main points and the ways the text connects to your learning objectives.

10. Use strategies for maintaining attention and focus. Obviously, one of the best ways to keep focused when you’re slogging through your readings / instructional material is to employ strategies that require you to maintain focus / attention. What are the strategies? They can be as simple as asking you to summarize what you’ve just covered, and to write a synopsis or “précis” every chapter or so.

11. Stay on top of announcements and any “out of the box” deviations from the syllabus or course schedule. Usually these are to your favor. They usually have to do with unexpected problems, and they buy you time. Take the gift, run (!) and don’t look back.

12. Turn in work ahead of time and develop a backup plan if you’re not able to meet deadlines. Sounds simple? It is, and it is not. If the only contact you have with your professor is through the learning management system, you’re in trouble. You need to have at least three ways to send your professor work, and/or to communicate with her. I’d recommend the following: the course itself (the interface), email, and also phone / texting / social networking.

13. Use your college’s online library resources to develop high-quality papers that are well-documented with peer-reviewed articles. Wikipedia? Well, it’s a great starting point, but if you trust the information you glean there, you’re likely to make huge, egregious errors. You’re much better off using it as a starting point and then using whatever repository you like – EBSCO? Gale? And then you’ve got reliable information. Don’t forget free government sources. Go to http://www.fedstats.gov and http://www.childstats.gov if you’re in the U.S. and you have a sociology or psychology paper that requires demographics / statistics. You’ll be thrilled at the depth of the papers / research results available there.

14. Assessment: The Monster Under the Bed. You can’t escape it. You can’t run forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to be assessed. Do you like it? Believe it or not, some students thrive on standardized tests. For them, it’s like playing Texas Hold’em or Sudoku … it’s a puzzle they’ve figure out. For most ordinary mortals, however, the prospect of dealing with standardized testing – especially in a context of high-stakes, timed, online testing – is pretty ghastly. How can you succeed? Practice! Practice! Practice!