OnlineProfessor

Students today often try to excuse late work by saying that their computer died or caught a virus. That’s about as cliché as “my dog at my homework,” and a lot of professors will not accept this as a valid excuse.

But computer issues do occur; so how is an online student supposed to get her work submitted on time without a working computer?

Students can plan ahead to avoid missing deadlines because of computer issues. Follow these simple tips:

• Get an external hard drive or flash drive, and back up your files at least twice a week. You can get a flash drive on sale for as low as $25; however, if you are a graphics for animation major, dealing with huge media files, you might want to invest in a backup hard drive with larger memory capacity.
• Keep a current list of all the local libraries, internet cafes, and business centers that provide access to computers with internet access. Be sure to list their hours of operation as well. Did you know that even if your library is closed, you can often get a wireless internet signal from a laptop if you sit close enough to the building? Believe me, more than once, I have parked in the library lot and finished a deadline when my home internet service went down.
• Ask a few friends/family members if they can serve as backup as well. If it’s late, and the library and internet café are closed, you’ll want to have access to somebody’s computer to meet your deadlines.
• Strive to complete your work at least one full day ahead of the final deadline. Yes, this is very difficult, but something often comes up to completely mess up your school schedule – computer issues, a sick child, overtime at work, etc. But staying ahead of deadlines will actually help you stay a little calmer throughout the term/semester as a whole.

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