4 Online Course Struggles To Be Aware Of

4 Online Course Struggles To Be Aware Of Image via Pexels.com Time management Having a flexible schedule is definitely a benefit of taking an online course, but this requires much more  time management skills  than some people may realize. You need to give yourself enough time to complete short-term coursework like textbook practice pages on top of long-term assignments like term papers. Rememberâ€"in a traditional course, your professor sets class meeting times two or three days a week. You’ll probably get some work done during class time. In an online setting, this is not always the case. You must designate appropriate times for “classwork” and “homework.” Procrastination is your worst enemy! Avoiding the struggle:  Your planner is your best friend. It’s a good idea to invest in a planner with monthly calendars as well as daily to-do logs. Write down important due dates in the monthly calendars, and then divide work into your daily logs. While you should plan out your week ahead instead of taking it day-by-day, it can get a bit overwhelming. To avoid this, only plan out one week at a time if you can. Keep a schedule and stick to it. You should pick one, two, or three days a weekâ€"however many days the coursework will demandâ€"and a timeframe to complete lessons. This will act as your “class time.” Show up to your online course as you would an actual class! Communication via technology In an online course, it’s possible you may never see your professor or classmates in person. This can make communication a bit difficult. You may need to rely on e-mail or online course forums to ask your professor questions, which doesn’t always guarantee a quick response. You should keep this in mind when doing assignmentsâ€"if you have a question, ask it as soon as possible for a better chance that you’ll have an answer before the work is due. If you feel that your professor is being unreasonable with their response times, be clear about your concerns so that it doesn’t have a negative impact on your grade. Likewise, however, you need to be prompt with your responses, too. A conversation will only go smoothly if both sides are efficient. If you work better with face-to-face communication, you may be better off in a traditional course. Avoiding the struggle: Use virtual communication to your advantage! If you know any of your classmates, see if they would be interested in studying on a Skype call, or even meeting up in person if everyone is nearby. You should also try to download an email app on your phone if you don’t have one already. This way, you can read emails as soon as you receive them and reply on-the-go. If you really need to see your professor in person, you can always ask if they have on-campus office hours. Self-discipline You are responsible for how well you do in an online course. It can sometimes be difficult to find the motivation to sit through lessons and participate in classwork when there’s no professor watching over you. Catching up in an online course may seem easy enough when you’re swamped with traditional coursework, but you’ll regret procrastinating later. Don’t fall into the habit of putting your online course last! It is just as valuable as any traditional course you’re enrolled in and should be treated as such. Image via Pexels.com Avoiding the struggle: An online course will require you to  stay organized in  every  sense of the word. Keep your notes in order, stay on top of due dates, and keep up with the textbook readings. If you primarily use your laptop for these things, you should have a neat folder for your online course. It may help to have subfolders as well for homework, notes, term papers, and anything else you can think of. Stay in contact with your professors and classmates. Knowing that you aren’t alone in the course may help you maintain your motivation. If your professor has time limits for completing lessons, stick to them and set reminders for yourself to do the work. Computer issues You’ll need to know your way around a computer if you want to succeed in an online course. Contrary to popular belief, not every student is technologically savvy. The class may simply entail logging into a course website like Moodle or Blackboard, but you might come across some technical difficulties. Wi-Fi is another common problem. If your laptop is holding on for dear life, you may want to have a back-up plan, such as using a library desktop for coursework. Avoiding the struggle: Don’t get frustrated if you do run into problems. Contact your school I.T. department or the support team for your class website as soon as possible to get the issue resolved. You can also look at some troubleshooting guides online for quick fixes. Sometimes, solving the problem is not as hard as it seems! Now, taking an online course isn’t all badâ€"here is the value of taking an online course.