To succeed in online education, you need to have developed some degree of skill in the following areas: reading, writing, and typing.

Before you can even consider taking an online course or degree, you should, first, know how to read rather well. In a real sense, reading is everything. You have to read nearly every step of the way. You have to read to find out what your assignments are and when they are due. You have to read your professor's instruction on how to go about doing the assignment. You have to read what your fellow online students posts online. You have to be able to read to follow the instruction as to how to find the virtual library and how to conduct research once you arrive there. Still more, you have to read the teacher's comments on your school work. And most importantly, you have to be capable of reading the e-books and other e-material that are required reading for your class. In short, to survive online education, you have to be a pretty good reader because around just about every corner you turn is, yes, one more thing to read.

Before you even consider taking an online course or degree, you also have to know to write. This is just about the only way that you can communicate in the online environment Whether you are participating in an online discussion or replying to a online post in the virtual classroom, the way you interact with your cohorts is through writing down your thoughts, ideas and replies. If you have a question to ask either one or your fellow students or of your facilitator, you have to formulate that question in writing. Last and perhaps most importantly, you have to know how to write with some degree of skill because most of your assignments will require that write a paper on a given topic. So to survive in an online course or the pursuit of an online degree, you have to know how to write with some degree of skill.

Finally, before you can even consider taking an online course or degree, you have to know how to type. I wouldn't say that you have to be a fast typist. I wasn't when I enrolled in my first online course at the University of Phoenix. Upon completing my degree, however, my typing speed had improved immensely! But back to my point: You have to know how to type unless you have someone type all of your papers for you or you have a voice- recognition program on your computer that does the typing for you when it recognize your voice. If you don't, then get ready to type, type, and type some more! Just about everything you do at university online involves typing--from the comments you post regarding other students' papers to participation in the virtual classroom to the various and to the endless assignments you complete. Just as you cannot get away from reading or writing in at online institution, likewise you can't avoid from typing.

In short, to succeed at taking an online course or a degree online, you must have ttained some degree of mastery of reading, writing, and typing.