Tips for Being an Online Student

There are many resources dedicated to learning to be a good online learner. We have included some of them here.

• Online Readiness Checklist
• Starting Strong as an Online Student
• Learning Styles Inventory
• A Few More Tips and Tutorials
  

DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING GOOD RELATIONSHIPS IN YOUR ONLINE COURSES:

With Your Instructor . . .

As an online student, most of your communication with your instructor will be through email, chat, and discussion boards where you should always be courteous and professional.Although you are physically invisible when you access your online courses, your language and online behavior is not. How you address and respond to your instructor is an important consideration.  Let rules of courtesy and netiquette be your guide as you interact with your online instructor:

Follow all directions in your course syllabus, announcements, course documents and discussion boards to minimize any problems with your instructor and to avoid disrupting your own and others learning process.

Know the procedures that your instructor has published either in the course syllabus, announcements, or discussions boards to resolve any questions or conflicts.

If you have a problem with your instructor, think before you compose an email, start a chat session, or make a telephone call to the person to discuss the problem. Be diplomatic. Be polite. Avoid argumentative words or a confrontational tone.

Contact your instructor immediately if you are experiencing problems with your course content, understanding of the material, assignments, or in adhering to deadlines. Contact your instructor immediately if you are experiencing problems with your course content, understanding of the material, assignments, or in adhering to deadlines.

With Your Classmates . . .

Your language in an email or discussion board reflects back on you. It is important that you treat your fellow students with respect and as you would want to be treated. It is just as inappropriate in an online course to make jokes or offensive remarks about race, nationality, religion, sexual preference, physical condition, or communication skills as it is in a traditional classroom, the work place, or any place else. Important to remember is that your remarks are visible, perhaps all semester, for your instructor and your fellow students to view and reflect on.

Follow all directions in your course syllabus, announcements, course documents, and discussion boards that relate to course communication to minimize any problems with your fellow students. Know the procedures that your instructor has published either in the course syllabus, announcements, or discussion boards to resolve any questions or conflicts.

If you have a problem with another student and want to discuss it with the person, think before you compose an email, start a chat session, or make a telephone call. Be diplomatic, polite, and respectful. Use your word processor to write emails and discussion board posts and reread them before sending them to make sure that you are being courteous. If it is an email communication, consider placing it in your Draft folder to review later to reflect on your writing before you send it.