Page 26 - Keys to College Success

Set up an effective workspace. Do what
you can to establish a space in which you can
focus and learn.
■ Be sure you have enough light, as well as
electrical outlets and internet access.

■ Keep textbooks, notes, notebooks, pens,
and pencils nearby.
■ Store materials for different courses
separately, perhaps in folders or a stack
of f ling trays.
■ If noise is a problem, try a white noise
machine or listen to calm music through
headphones.
■ Consider enhancing your work area with
photos, quotes, or anything that inspires
you.

Manage your time and schedule. When you
don’t have to be in classrooms at regular times,
the lack of structure can make it tough to stay on track. Setting up a structured, regular
weekly routine will help.
■ Choose a planning tool that suits you—a paper planner, electronic schedule app,
or whiteboard calendar (or any combination of these.)
■ Put in your synchronous class meetings f rst. For asynchronous courses, schedule
two or three days and times that you will access the course each week to watch
videos, read discussions, post responses, and interact.
■ Log in dates for assignments, projects, quizzes, and tests.

■ Break signif cant assignments down into smaller sub-tasks. Schedule each task in
your planning tool, and focus on one at a time

Hold yourself accountable. Learning online often requires students to muster extra
self-management, since no one is reminding you in person of the tasks you need to
complete.
■ Look at your responsibilities for your coursework and plan out how you will hold
yourself accountable for them—set larger goals and then create short-term goals
that support them. Schedule these goals to be completed by specif c times.
■ Set reminders for your goals, assignments, lecture viewing, and other time-
sensitive tasks.
■ Take notes on your video lectures or during videoconference discussions.
■ Check email regularly for updates and changes.
■ Be online to take part in synchronous lectures or videoconference meetings.

■ Contribute to discussion boards as much as you are required to, and maybe more.
Discussion boards are the primary mode of participation and communication for
many online courses. Although posting can take time and effort, online discussion
gives you a chance to think through your answers and craft them carefully. See
Figure 1 for tips for getting the most out of your discussion board postings.

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