1. Read How to be a Successful Online Student
2. Many students believe online classes are easier or take less time than a face to face class. Both beliefs are wrong. Because online classes have the same requirements as traditional classes, the amount and time spent on the class should be the same, or may in fact take longer (from Pierce College)
3. Each unit of lecture is equal to 18 hours of “seat time” in a normal classroom. Each unit of lecture should be accompanied by an additional 2 hours of study time. If a 3 unit lecture class is taught in 18 weeks, it would require 3 hours per week of “seat time.” If that same class were taken during a 5-week Summer or Winter term, it would require 10.4 hours per week plus the additional 21 hours of study time or a total of 31.4 hours per week, or 4 hours per day per week. These are good rules for scheduling yourself to work on classes you take online. (from LA Trade Tech)
4. You are expected to read everything on the class home page and follow the links and directions on it.
5. You are expected to drop any online class you do not want to complete. Do not rely upon the instructor dropping you for lack of participation or attendance. You are expected to log into the virtual classroom each week as needed to read new announcements from the instructor, read assignments, and submit work on time. In classes that are short-term, you should log in daily. In the event you have technical problems, you are expected to locate another computer to continue logging into the virtual classroom. If work is lost on a home computer, you need to contact the instructor to discuss the issue. Thus, a printed copy of the course syllabus and other pertinent information should be kept for emergency situations when technical difficulties develop.
6. You can expect to have your instructor respond to your email questions and phone calls within a couple of days. If you do not get a response, try again. When leaving a phone message, speak slowly and give your name, class and phone number twice at the beginning of your phone call. If you can’t reach your instructor within 3 days, you can contact Prof. J, the Director of the Paralegal Studies Program at (cell) 818-415-2015 or email: abogado@pacbell.net
7. Don’t assume your first email or phone call reached your instructor and was read by him or her. If you don’t get a response, contact your instructor again and politely ask for assistance. Give at least 24-48 hours for your instructor to respond. He/she will probably be receiving hundreds of emails and calls each week. He/she is trying to help everyone, but sometimes that task is impossible. Therefore, be understanding and continue to try to reach him/her in multiple ways to get the help you need. (from LA Trade Tech)
The best way to learn depends on a person. Recognizing and understanding one's learning style can help improve the quality of learning. Several studies have developed different categories of learning styles. Below is a learning style model developed and used by North Carolina State University. The model assesses four dimensions (active/ reflective, sensing/ intuitive, visual/ verbal, and sequential/ global) of learning styles.
LEARNING
STYLES
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CHARACTERISTICS
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STRATEGIES
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Active Learners
vs.
Reflective Learners
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Active Learners
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Reflective Learners
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Sensing Learners
vs.
Intuitive Learners
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Sensing Learners
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Intuitive Learners
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Visual Learners
vs.
Verbal Learners
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Visual Learners
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Verbal Learners
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Sequential Learners
vs.
Global Learners
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Sequential Learners
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Global Learners
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To find out if online learning is a good fit for your learning style, please take a few minutes to complete the student skills and technical skills quizzes below. These short quizzes will provide you with valuable feedback on whether online learning is right for you!
Online Learning Success - See Lessons (from Valley) - http://www.lavc.edu/virtualvalley/ols/Welcome_Main_Menu.html - note: disregard any reference to Etudes course platform. We use the Moodle Course platform in our Paralegal Studies Program at Mission