What I Really Learned As an Online Student (or… It Ain’t All Cereal & Pajamas, Kids)
So you’re thinking about enrolling in some distance learning courses. You figure it’ll be a cakewalk… eating cereal in your pajamas at your computer. Not having to get up early and drive to campus, circling the parking lot like a vulture looking for your parking spot prey.
Well, I’ve gotta’ tell you, online classes ain’t all cereal and pajamas, buddy. And if they are, then you’re probably doing something wrong. If nothing else, you should keep milk away from your computer. Just trust me on that one.
Let me tell you a little of what I learned from my three years of online classes. I’ll expand on each of these in upcoming posts. If you can benefit from my experiences, it might just make my student loan payments sting a little less. Well, probably not, but it’s a nice thought anyway.
1. It doesn’t pay to stay anonymous.
In every class, there are “lurkers.” Their name shows up in the chat room roster, but you never see their names in the actual chat. Depending on the professor, they often find a way to make it through a whole semester in their state of online limbo. We’ll talk more later about why this is just a bad idea.
2. Don’t “talk” just to “talk.”
You’ll also find at least one student in every class who makes jokes or comments that don’t really contribute anything. Imagine being in a chat room with Gary Busey. Not the Gary Busey who played Buddy Holly (and yes, I’m old enough to remember that), the Gary Busey from the current season of “The Celebrity Apprentice.” It’s annoying to professors and other students. This is not the way to make an impression.
3. Be prepared.
They’re called group discussions for a reason. You don’t want to be “that” student the teacher calls on for a brilliant insight, and all you have to offer is a nugget of another kind. Now, I’m not condoning doing your class reading during work hours. Sure, I used to do it, but I’m NOT condoning it. You are going to have to learn to be flexible and kiss some of your free time goodbye.
4. Group projects are no joke.
Online professors have an ongoing love affair with the group project. They say that it “maximizes the potential of the collaborative online environment.” If you break out your secret decoder ring, you’ll probably find that this means, “I don’t feel like lecturing for a full two hours the entire semester.” Either way, the group project can make or break your grade in a class, so take it seriously.
5. Every grade counts.
You may be looking at your class syllabus and thinking “I can afford to miss a couple of these quizzes… they’re only one point each.” One point is one point. The real point is, make every point count for you, not against you. Unless you’ve got the Psychic Friends Network on speed dial, you never know when you’re going to bomb an assignment. Those little one point quizzes might just turn out to be your best friends.
So there you have it, in broad strokes. In my three-year tour of duty, I learned quite a bit about how to survive online courses and maintain some degree of sanity. Come back next week and I’ll expand on the first point about the dangers of remaining anonymous.
