Читать книгу Online Learning For Dummies - Susan Manning - Страница 64

One of the first areas you need to assess is the quality of your self-discipline. Some of us have more discipline than others. Ask yourself the following questions to assess your level:

 Are you a self-starter? When it comes to completing a task, whether or not you think you’ll enjoy it, are you one who starts without a lot of prompting? If you are, you’re more likely to succeed online. When you receive assignments from your instructor, you will have to establish a personal schedule for getting those assignments completed. The first step is starting! Procrastinators don’t do well in online education.

 Are you persistent? What if your computer crashes and you can’t complete an assignment as instructed? What if it’s supposed to be done on a word processor and you break four fingers? How likely are you to give up when tasks are challenging or things don’t go as planned? There are times when technology fails, group members disappear, and documents get lost. Persistence and addressing problems creatively and expediently can carry an online student through these challenges. Just be sure to communicate with the instructor early in the problem stage. Let them know what you’re prepared to do to remedy your calamity. (By the way, in the case of broken fingers, ask whether you can record assignments in an audio file.)

 Do you manage your time well? What tools and strategies do you use to manage your time? Do you utilize a personal calendar? Do you schedule times or routine activities? Managing your time online will make you a successful student. You will need to dedicate study time and follow through with regular logins. You may also be juggling work and family. Online education requires effective time management skills.

 Can you work alone? Even though a lot of online work is done in groups or collaboratively with other students, the majority of your time online is independent. Can you follow through with tasks by yourself? Or do you need others to be present? To succeed in an online course, you need the ability to work alone and to think independently. For example: When a problem has you stumped, it’s important to try to find answers independently before asking the instructor. It shows that you have an independent spirit that solves problems without whining — no one likes a whiner! It also shows a great deal of initiative — a quality that’s always valued.