Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The 8 Most Common Mistakes of New Online Students


If you're just starting out as an online student you may make a few mistakes but hopefully with my help you can be a little more aware of what you're jumping into. Here are the top 8 most common mistakes that new online students make.
1. Signing Up With a Non-Accredited School
This may come as a surprise to you but there are many schools out there that will rip you off! These schools are not accredited, meaning if you earned a degree from a non-accredited school your degree wouldn't be worth anything anywhere. If you make the mistake of going to a non-accredited school the credits you earn there (if any) will not transfer to a school that is accredited. Do your research!
2. Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
This is a big one. Not only will you have to budget out your class time with work and other activities you absolutely must budget in study time or you may find yourself falling behind quickly. A good rule of thumb is for every one hour of class time you have, budget two hours of study time.
3. Forgetting To Take Your Learning Style Into Account
Consider how you learn. Do you learn better with hands on activities? Do you retain more by listening to a teacher and writing notes? Or can you learn by reading? Students that need hands on activities and visuals may have a harder time learning in an online setting. If you can retain information from reading online, than you may fair better.
4. Not Matching Your Technology With The Schools
In other words, dial up internet isn't going to cut it. You have to have a good computer and a steady, fast internet connection. You don't want to be wasting your time waiting for the internet to load up any time that you have to do your homework.
5. Not Researching Your Teacher
Make sure your teacher is experienced at teaching online courses. Check out the professor before committing to the course. Teachers teaching for the first time may still be figuring things out.
6. Taking Too Many Classes At Once
Many students take on way more than they can handle. Just because a class is online does not mean that it is any easier than a traditional class. When you're first starting out try just one class at a time, until you feel like you can increase your work load.
7. Just Because It's An Online Course, Doesn't Mean You Can Plagiarize
Don't think that you can get by copying and pasting your essays. Most online schools have anti-plagiarism soft wares installed.
8. You're Not Interested In Being Part Of A Team
Most of the curriculum for online courses is having a discussion online. If you are unwilling to participate in the class discussion and work on problems and assignments as a team, you won't be able to complete most of your assignments.

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