1. Introduce Yourself! Most of the research has shown that in the traditional classroom, those students who sit toward the front of the class usually do better and are more successful. In online classes, you can do the same thing by introducing yourself by trying to always be the first one. Most online classes will require you to do this in a set place depending on the LMS (Learning Management System). For example, Blackboard, D2L, Angel, eCollege, etc.

2. Read Read and Read Everything! The more time you take at the beginning of the course to read all of the information, the easier the class will be for you. You will know what is exactly expected of you right away and will not forget anything or have any surprises. Remember to always be proactive and never reactive!

3. Downloading and Printing Course Materials It is always good to have backup copies of the key information in your classes like the course syllabus, calendar, contact information, assignments, etc. Sometimes you may not be able to get online or the online institutions system might be down or slow. Having saved copies on your computer or printed out can often help out. You can also use this to work on assignments in places you can’t go online to work on them.

4. Online Study Buddies Try to pick at least one other student in the online class that you have something in common with or can connect with and exchange contact information (cell phone, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, SKYPE, etc.). This can help you ask questions if you can’t contact the online instructor right away. This is also good online networking that will only help you in future classes and in your future professional career. Also, in emergencies you can have them possibly contact the online instructor or even online institution. You can even study online together. Also, many schools require online group projects through online teamwork and this can help you early on with assignments like these. Please see my previous blog posting on Online Teamwork: http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/11/online-teamwork/

5. Start your work ASAP! Start working on all assignments immediately and turn them in early. Also, try to always work at least a week ahead so if you do ever fall behind, you will never really be behind.

Can you think of any other things your should do right away when starting an online class? Please let me know @onlinefac on Twitter.

1. Course Room Chat- Most online classes have a chat function that allows you to chat in real time with other students who are logged into the class. It often will tell you who is currently logged into the class so you can chat with them. Many online instructors will publish specific times during the week they will be in the chat room as part of office hours. This is a great way to communicate in real time in an online class. Some instructors will set certain times for the whole class to meet and chat as well.

2. Main Discussion Forums- Most of the communication between instructor and student and student to student occurs in the discussion forums where you discuss the learning goals and course content. You basically answer the discussion questions and respond to your fellow students responses and the instructor will facilitate. This is where the most learning in the class occurs as well.

3. Individual Private Forums- This is where you can communicate directly with your online instructor. Often this is where you will find your returned graded assignments and course grades. Some online courses actually have specific individual online gradebooks. Some online classes will have their own internal E-mail system for each course.

4. Team Forums- In many online classes, your online instructor will divide the class up into teams to work on a course project. Please read my previous blog post entitled, “Online Teamwork:” http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/11/online-teamwork/ for more information on this.

5. Outside of the Classroom- Most online institutions really encourage all communication to occur inside the online course room. This allows for everything to be easily tracked and followed up on. But, just like a traditional non-online class, much communication does occur outside of the actual class. This is in the form of E-mail and cell phone calls. Some newer ways of communicating between online instructor and student and even student to student has been through texting, Facebook, Google+,- Twitter, and LinkedIn.

A Wiki is a website or application where you can quickly create, add, update, modify, revise, collaborate, track, and use content. http://www.wikipedia.org/ would be one of the most popular and famous examples of a Wiki. Here us a great Wiki on what a Wiki is: http://www.commoncraft.com/video/wikis

You can use a Wiki either on your computer or cell/smart phone. More and more online students are using such Wikis on their cell/smart phones in their online classes as stated in my previous blog posting, “Online Classes from your Cell/Smart Phone?” http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/10/online-classes-from-your-cellsmart-phone/

There is a lot of research coming out today on how students can and use Wikis in their online courses. I highly recommend this research article, “Why Wikis? Student Perceptions of Using Wikis in Online Coursework:” http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no1/deters_0310.pdf

Here are the 5 best Wikis for online students:

1. Wikiversity- http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Main_Page

Wikiversity is a Wikimedia Foundation project devoted to learning resources, learning projects, and research for use in all levels, types, and styles of education from pre-school to university, including professional training and informal learning.

2. Evernote- http://evernote.com/

A great resource to help online students take and save their notes, ideas, things they like, hear, and see. It helps keep all of your educational files structured, organized and in sync.

3. GTD TiddlyWiki- http://nathanbowers.com/gtdtw/index.html

Allows online students to make to-do lists

4. Greetings From the World- http://greetingsfromtheworld.wikispaces.com/

Allows online students to learn about different cultures and continents by allowing students to share their stories and cultures with others.

5. Metasaga- http://metasaga.wikispaces.com/

Allows online students to learn by exploring their whole environment, not just physically, but historically and culturally.

Do you know of any other great Wikis for online students? Please let me know on Twitter @onlinefac

Please stay tuned until next week when I blog on another great topic in online education!

Reference:

Deters, F. et. al. (2010). Why Wikis? Student perceptions of using Wikis in online coursework. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 6(1). http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no1/deters_0310.pdf

1. Salary- With a college degree you open yourself up to obtaining jobs that pay more. Who doesn’t want to make more money? According to the February 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/), a person with an associate’s degree makes 27% more in salary than someone without this degree. For example, someone with just a high school diploma only made $26,000 a year. A person with an associate’s degree made $33,000 a year.

2. Promotion- with a college degree you open yourself up to more promotions in moving up in a company or organization. You can work hard and be awesome at your job, but without the credentials of having a degree, you may never be promoted.

3. Job Security- Let’s face it, this past recession has showed us that no one’s job is secure. Having a college degree can make you more competitive and make the company or organization you work for not afford to lose you. And, the degree stays with you forever and no one can ever take it away from you! Each degree you receive allows you to work on another degree: associates-bachelors-masters-doctorate, thus making you more in demand and having even more job security.

4. Holistic Happiness- Having a college degree will make you happier in all areas of your life, professionally, academically, physically, emotionally, personally, and even spiritually. It will give you the confidence and tools to be able to do anything you want in life. It basically helps prepare you for life. It helps you improve your overall critical thinking skills which helps you always make better life decisions. Please read my previous blog post on critical thinking skills: http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/09/critical-thinking-skills-for-online-students/

5. Networking- While in college and getting your degree, you will be exposed to so many different people. These people can help you better network and make the life connections you need to find your first job, find future jobs, and be successful. Many very famous and successful people met in college and went on to do great things. Will you be one of them? Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer met in college and went on to create Microsoft.

Can you think of any other reasons why you can’t afford to NOT get your degree? Please let me know via twitter @onlinefac

Stay tuned until next week when I blog on another innovative topic in online education!

1. First, you should make sure you have a well developed online presence. This can be in the form of your own professional webpage. You should make sure your professional webpage has an updated copy of your resume and links to all of your professional work. There are many different ways you can make a free webpage. Google has many options. Or if you want something a little extra with your own name as the address you can pay a small yearly fee. For example, my own personal website at: http://www.briancsteinberg.com

2. Second, you should continue job searching. One great resource that you should be using is LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/ This is a great online job searching and networking resource/website that you simply must join and use once you earn your associates degree online! You can also use other forms of Social Media like Facebook and Twitter to job search and professionally network.

3. And finally, you should make sure you are in contact with the institution you graduated from and earned your associate degree online with. You should ask some of your online professors and even online adviser to write you electronic (E-mail) letters of recommendation as many perspective employers ask for this. You should also make sure you know how to get copies of your academic transcripts. Also, finalize all financial matters including financial aid and student loans.

Also, some online students go on to work on their bachelors degree online after receiving their associates degree online, either at the same online institution or a different one. If this is the case for you, then prepare for this next stage the same way you did when you first started your associates degree online.

Do you think you need to do anything else after you earned your associates degree online? Please let me know via Twitter @onlinefac.

Stay tuned until next week when I write another innovative and thought provoking blog post on online education!

1. Tuning in ALL Assignments On Time!- Turning in late work consistently does not make for a positive and lasting impression with your online professor(s). I know I automatically get a negative lasting impression of my online students who always turn in late work. I often notice that late work is often low in quality and even plagiarized more. Students who often turn in late work obviously get lower grades and even are not successful in their classes and in earning their online degrees. You should avoid turning in late work at all costs. This often tells the professor that you don’t really care about the class or your own learning. Many online professors do take a student turning in late work personally. By always turning in your work on time, you will always make a positive and lasting impression with your online professor. It is usually best to turn it in a few days early which makes an even more positive and lasting impression. But, life does happen and on occasion you might find yourself turning in at least one late assignment from time to time. Most of the time this won’t hurt you, but I would still communicate with your professor why it was late and that it will never happen again. Just remember, you might just have that same online professor again for a future class, so it is always good to leave with a good positive and lasting impression!

2. Not Making ANY Excuses!- As an online professor currently, and have also having a lot of traditional classroom college teaching experience, I have heard almost every excuse in the book. I even used some of them when I was in college myself! Most online professors have heard them all as well so please don’t think you are creating and using a new one. Simply do not make any excuses for any work you either turned in late or try to give poor excuses why you did not turn in late work. But, if you can prove a major emergency with documented written proof, then that may work more in your favor and still keep your positive and lasting impression with your online professor. This is good, just as long as this does not happen more than once.

3. Posting First in all Online Class Discussions- I often find that many students are afraid to post first in their online class discussions. Many students wait until “other” students post before they do because they don’t want to be the first one. Online professors know this and will always have a more positive and lasting impression of you if you are always the first to post. Also, the quality of your posts and how well you follow all of the very detailed directions in the class.

4. Always Using Good Netiquette- As an online student, you are always expected to use good online netiquette. Those online students who continue to use poor netiquette in their online classes will only leave a negative lasting impression with their online professor. For more information on what good netiquette is you can refer to my previous blog post on the “Top 10 Netiquette  Rules in Online Education:”  http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/09/top-10-netiquette-rules-in-online-education-part-one1-5/

5. Positive Tone- You must always write in a positive tone in all of your online courses. Online professors will get a negative impression of you if you are always writing in a negative tone and or picking fights with other students in the online class.

You may ask why is it so important t leave a positive and lasting impression with your online professor? Well, like I said earlier, you might have that online professor again or even need their recommendation to get into graduate school or a future job!

And finally, I often see that many students use the website: http://www.ratemyprofessor.com  This is a great website, but remember that any non-constructive comments you make about a certain professor may prevent you from leaving a positive and lasting impression with you online professor(s). The same goes for Social Media and any other public published information.

Can you think of any other ways to make sure you are always making a positive and lasting impression with your online professor? Please let me know via Twitter @onlinefac

Stay tuned until next week when I write another innovative and thought provoking blog post on online education!

Different online institutions and or online instructors will have different requirements for you to receive full credit for the class discussion portion of your grade, but be prepared for spending a few hours a week answering the initial discussion questions using the course readings and outside documented research to support all of your answers, responses, ideas, information, and opinions. Also, to respond to your fellow students discussion responses as well which usually counts as participation points.

In most of my online classes, I require that each student answer two discussion questions by Wednesday of each week and then make at least two substantial discussion responses in each of the two discussions on separate days throughout the week.  This makes sure the discussion is ongoing throughout the week and prevents each student from just logging into their online classes during one night and completing all work at once. Real learning does not occur by the latter, but by logging in multiple times throughout the week.

I often notice that many online students are not as active as they should be in the online class discussions. Many students don’t meet these very detailed requirements and often lose many points which often prevents them from getting the grade they often desire as well as decrease their overall learning and future professional career opportunities and goals. Some students may dread online class discussion because they may be boring and hard to follow. In my online classes, I like to “spice” them up by trying to make them as interactive, current, and relevant as possible. I like to add YouTube videos, apps., games, pictures, images, and links to current events. I also like to play devil’s advocate, introduce very controversial and debatable topics, and use the Socratic Method (the who, what, when, where, why, and how of everything). I often encourage my students to do the same and always lead by example. I find this often to be contagious. Also, following good online netiquette is always expected. Please read my past blog post on “The Top 10 Netiquette Rules in Online Education: http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/09/top-10-netiquette-rules-in-online-education-part-one1-5/

And finally, what I enjoy most about online discussions is the fact that every student is required to post their thoughts and ideas on the topic. In traditional classes, one can keep quiet and never say anything during the whole class and still pass the class. How do you like participating in online discussions? Are you making the most of them? How can you improve your discussions so you increase your overall learning and critical thinking skills? Please let me know via Twitter @onlinefac

Please stay tuned until next week when I blog on another exciting and innovative topic in online education!

Reference

MacKnight, C.B. (2000). Teaching critical thinking through online discussions. Edcause (4) 38-41.

I often find many new online students who have been out of school for many years to have forgotten some of their basic writing skills. Most of these basic writing skills involve basic spelling and grammar. I too often find online students making these basic errors in spelling and grammar. Most of these errors can be prevented by online students just proofreading their work in Microsoft Word. A good application that helps check your grammar is: http://www.grammarly.com/

Most online faculty will grade your assignments using a set rubric. Usually 20-30% of your total grade on assignments will be based on your use of spelling and grammar. You are also graded on your overall writing structure and how well you answer the set assignment questions. Also, how you support all of your ideas, facts, and opinions using documented research. Your assignments should also always be in APA Format which is also part of good writing. If you want to learn more about APA Format, please read my previous blog post on it: http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/09/what-is-apa-format/

As an online student, you should always try and improve your overall writing skills. You cannot expect to be a great writer overnight. It takes a lot of practice and hard work. Many online colleges and universities offer great online writing labs and applications to help you. Also, many offer some great online tutoring which can help you with your overall writing. One such writing service that many online college and universities contract out to is called Smarthinking: http://www.smarthinking.com/

And finally, most online students who seem to have the biggest challenges with their writing often tell me that they don’t even know where to being when starting to write a paper/assignment. I often tell them that they need to start with an outline. This is so important in good writing. I can’t tell you how many students I find that don’t first create an outline and then write from that outline. Using an outline is the key to good writing and being a successful online student.

How else can you improve your writing as an online student? Please let me know via Twitter @onlinefac  Or you can friend me on Facebook at Professor Instructor Steinberg

Please stay tuned until next week when I blog on another topic in online education!

Many online institutions and even individual online faculty members do have guidelines, policies, and procedures on given popular holidays like Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Christmas, New Years, etc. Most of these online institutions and online faculty will work out their academic and class schedules so that no assignments are due on these holidays but not all.

Traditional colleges and universities on campuses usually follow a semester system where there are set breaks during most of these holidays, but with online institutions many do not have set semester systems and have random schedules. Some of the bigger online institutions start new classes almost every week. It might be beneficial for you as an online student to check these policies on holidays and assignments being due.

Also, with vacations you should always plan ahead to see what you will need to do. In many cases you can work ahead when taking a vacation. It is always good to work with your individual online faculty members in these cases. I know most online faculty will allow you to turn in assignments ahead of time, but you might be challenged with the class discussions because you are mostly required to participate during that specific week. This might force you to still work on your classes while on vacation. I know some students will actually take a quarter off from online classes for this case if they know they won’t have online access on vacation. But, with increasing access to your online classes by cell/smart phone, this might be easier to still work on your classes while still on vacation. Please see my previous blog post on using your cell/smart phone for online classes: http://www.associatedegreeonline.com/2011/10/online-classes-from-your-cellsmart-phone/

Most faculty will work with you in most of these cases just as long as you contact them before hand. Nothing is more frustrating and more challenging then when you tell a faculty member why you missed class due to a holiday or vacation after the fact!

And finally, some students actually like holidays because they are off from work and have more time to catch up or work ahead in their classes. I have been noticing this more and more as an online faculty member. I often think that on holidays my classes and grading would be less, but this is often not the case.

Would you or do you find yourself working more on your online classes and assignments during holidays to catch up or work ahead in your classes? Have you thought about what you will do in your online classes during holidays and or if you were taking a vacation? Let me know via Twitter @onlinefac

Please stay tuned until next week when I blog on another topic in online education and classes.

You as well might not like the idea of doing online teamwork to complete online assignments and projects, but this is a skill that I feel will be more needed in the future workplace. More and more jobs in the future will require you to telecommute and to complete projects online with your fellow employees near and far as our society becomes more globally connected and the distance is taken out of everything. This is why knowing how to successfully complete online teamwork is so critical and vital to your career success.

I have talked to many employers about this and they agree that a job candidate who knows how to successfully work in online teams would be a vital asset to their company and or organization. Kemp (2006) proves this statement: http://jolt.merlot.org/documents/MS05010_000.pdf

Professor Matthew Allen once said, “There is a movement at the moment to think about how internet technologies can make group work more effective, perhaps less time consuming, and maybe a little more transparent, or fairer to the student that are participating in the group. For more information on online teamwork and collaboration please visit this link on Acadmia.edu: http://online.cofa.unsw.edu.au/learning-to-teach-online/ltto-episodes?view=video&video=267

You might ask yourself what are some good ways to be successful in working in online teams? Most of online teamwork in online courses revolves around the class discussion boards which your instructor will break into smaller segments by group/teams. Most online student teams are usually 4-6 students each. To be successful you should always start your teamwork early and communicate as much as possible with your other team members. This communication should be in the course itself, phone conference, E-mail, and even video chat using programs like SKYPE or OoVoo. I find that most online teams fail because of poor communication, lack of focus and direction, and too much procrastination.

And finally, many online teams will require one student to be the team leader. Many online students fear this as well, but I highly encourage you to do this because this shows great online leadership skills which employers also look for. You could even put this on your resume and bring it up in an interview when they ask to describe your leadership skills and to give examples of it.

Have you ever been on an online team before? Do you think online teamwork will be a needed skill in the workplace of tomorrow? Please let me know @onlinefac on Twitter.

Stay tuned until next week when I blog on another topic in online education.

Kemp, L.J. (2006). Learning about teamwork in an online study environment. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 2(1).