Ten Tips To Ace Online Schooling

Online schooling can be a great idea for many people, from young moms to older already working students that just do not have time to go to class. If you were the single mom, you could stay home with your child and save tons in gas and childcare. Students that already have a demanding job or family obligation, online schooling could be a great way to get a better job with a college degree.

I was in the young single mom category and I wanted to go back to school. Online was the way for me to go, it was a great way to get an education without having to juggle a toddler, school. Work and other obligations. It is great to be able to log in and go to school when my son is sleeping. I don’t have to worry about who my son is with while I am at class or driving there and back. The convenience level is extremely high.

So there are some tricks that are not just exclusive with online colleges.

1. Make a schedule. Online classes will be filled with different types of work.

· Quizzes – That are usually timed and a one shot kind of thing. With online classes they are all basically an open book, so you should not really miss any points in this category. Just make sure to get it done before Saturday night because this cannot be turned in late.

· Class Discussion- This is a category that has two different posting dates. They will usually be a few questions to answer with a paragraph or two and just make sure to have it in by Wednesday. Two secondary post will have to be made by the end of the week, basically commenting or adding on to thoughts of other classmates post. The second post should be at least a paragraph. A large amount of your points will come from class discussions, so there really is no need to lose points.

· Teamwork and Labs- These can be a headache because a lot of times assignments won’t even be turned in. So you get graded on your participation thankfully. A main post should be made by no later than Wednesday, although a I’m here quick post can be made earlier, just to let everyone know that you acknowledge the class. They ask that someone agree to be a team leader, there are no extra points to volunteer and it will entail quite a bit of extra work. So do your part and don’t bite off more than you can chew scenario.

· Individual Work- Individual work can be many things. It is usually an essay or something out of the book. These do not have to be turned in until the end of the week usually, so do these after you have finished any teamwork or class discussion assignments. Use your book and just turn it in. All essays will need to be in APA format and have a basic layout.

2. I went with a schedule of must have done by. This is an example of mine.

· Wednesday- All class discussions and team work main post are done.

· Friday- All quizzes and individual work done

· Saturday- All secondary post done and double check finished. Next week’s syllabus worked

· Sunday-School free day, not even thinking about it.

3. Learn APA format quickly. It should be in your first term, where you learn to use it. Everything you write will have to be done in this format, so take extra care to learn it. There are several online sources and your book to show you exactly what to do.

4. Always use references. Anytime you have to write individual essays, use your in-cite citations and page break to do an official reference page. You never want to risk being accused of plagiarism, so don’t ever take the risk. If you have to look it up in the book, cite it properly. Points will be taken away, so to be safe try to include two in-cite citations.

5. Print a hard copy of your syllabus for all classes at the beginning of the term. There are times that the site will be down, not often, but it is always good to have a hard copy so you can still do work when you have time.

6. Double check on Saturday. There may be times that one button isn’t clicked and your homework is not turned in. Just a quick check for all secondary posts and your drop box is full, can save you big points.

7. Take advantage of flat rate. After a term or two to make sure you can commit t he time needed, take advantage of the better rates. You can take an extra class or two and shave thousands of dollars and months off of your degree. Not all colleges do this, but there is several that will charge for a full time class load up to 20 or so credits a term.

8. Use the resources available. There will be resources like information library that is very beneficial on essays and getting correct information. There is also tutoring on most of your subjects, as well as places where you can turn in your writing and get great feedback to be able to write that A paper.

9. If you just can’t g et the work done, make sure to send a quick email to your professor before the due date. Some classes will not even accept late work without previous contact, so no chances, just send an email, it just takes a moment. But try not to fall behind, because it only builds pressure for the weeks to come and it can be easy to get overwhelmed.

10. Take a day off every week, you and your family will need it. Everyone needs a day to themselves to have fun and spend time with your loved ones. There really isn’t breaks in online schooling, usually a week between four terms, so you have to take some time out each week to avoid burn-out.