OnlineProfessor

You failed a major test or one of your classes? Just remember that going to college is not easy. If anyone else says it’s so easy, they’re usually lying or exaggerating. Sure, some classes will be tougher than others, but few people snap their fingers and make it happen effortlessly.

Feeling stupid? Stop. Keep that chin up.

Tips on bouncing back from temporary setbacks:

• Learn from it: Don’t dwell on the failure but make sure to consider what happened and how you can prevent it from happening again. Once you figure that out, you can more successfully move forward.
• Review your study techniques: Our minds grow and change as we get older, and study approaches that used to work for us earlier might not work as well now. It’s worth reviewing your study styles every couple of years, and trying new things.
• Consider a tutor: Students shy away from using tutors because there is a misconception that only “slow” students use tutors. This is absolutely untrue. Think of tutors as coaches or editors. They give you that little push. They can help you work on your weaker points and develop your skills. Smart people actively seek out additional insights.
• Ask the instructor for advice: See if your instructor can give you tips on how to perform better for the next assignment or for the next class.

It doesn’t feel good to perform poorly on any assignment or in any class; however, it’s not productive to make yourself feel too bad about it for too long. Disappointments and setbacks will come, but you can bounce back if you allow yourself to be fair to yourself and objective about your academic career as a whole.

Many students take courses online because their daily schedules do not accommodate attending traditional college classes. However, that doesn’t mean online classes are easier or take less time.

Here is a good gauge about whether you have enough time to invest in school online.

Too busy for school?

• Do the math. The average introductory college course is around 3 credits. That means you put in 3 class hours per week. If you take a full course load, that’s about 12 to 15 hours of class time per week. If you have a full-time job and a family, will you have enough time?
• Don’t forget homework. In addition to the time you invest in “attending” class online each week, you will have homework, exams, and projects. A good bet to estimate time needed for each class is to multiple your credit hours by three. So far, for a full course load, you have an average of about 40 hours of homework – give or take a couple hours per week.
• The end-of-term crunch. The last week of every term is a nightmare for students because of final exams and final projects due for all classes. You will likely need to take time off or have some serious help from family to get through that week. Or, you need to work far in advance and pace yourself well.
• Procrastination won’t cut it. People who manage their time poorly often end up doing quite poorly in their classes. Last-minute efforts might get you by a lot of the time, but not all the time. And on the grading scale, the slide down is a lot easier than the upward climb.

Solutions
What if your answers to the checklist above came out with daunting answers? Don’t give up on your educational goals just yet. Here are some possible tips and solutions:

• Avoid taking a full course load. It’s tempting to stack your courses as high as they can go so you can finish faster. But if you end up failing half of them every term, then you’re actually spending more money and going just as slowly as you would if you took it slower. Take two classes per term and give them your all.
• Become a time management expert. Never used a planner or a calendar? Well, now’s a good time to start. There are many free resources, like Google Calendar, that can help you get organized. Write tasks down and make a habit of sticking with you schedule.
• Put children on a schedule. If you’re a parent, getting your kids on a schedule will help you stick with your own schedule. Try not to live your life around the kids’ timeline. When everyone has boundaries, everyone wins.
• Get help. Admit that you need help and get help on a regular basis. Instead of going out every weekend and spending money on restaurants and movies, put that money aside for a part-time baby sitter or housecleaner. Then invest that time in your studies. Move closer to family to get help with daily chores. You’ll owe them big once you graduate, but it’ll be worth it.

Remember, your online instructors aren’t supposed to make allowances for you just because you’re “busy” and have a “full-time job.” The fact that you don’t have to commute to a classroom several times a week is the convenience of online education. The work itself is the same. The degree is the same. And so you must put in the work and the effort like any other school.

It won’t always be easy, but believe me, it’s worth it.

It’s easy for online students to feel a bit anonymous when they are posting in their virtual classrooms, but make no mistake that it’s definitely a smaller world out there than you think. The odds are pretty strong that you will bump into your fellow classmates and your instructor at some point in your school or professional careers.

Until you meet again:

• Instructors often teach more than one class. It is often the case that an instructor you hassled or argued with will be teaching another class you need to take before your graduate. And there will be no getting out of it. So unless you want to suffer through a very awkward and painful term, think ahead and always be professional with your instructors and classmates.
• Your classmates today will be your co-workers tomorrow. Once you start taking classes in your major, your fellow students will likely be joining you in the professional world after graduation. Good networking now could mean a better job tomorrow.
• Instructors often work in the field you’re trying to break into. Most professors currently have jobs that you aspire to, or they have contacts for companies that are hiring. If you impress them, they might give you good tips on how to get in. If you disappoint them, you’ll have one less ally to help you out.

A good rule to follow is to always take the high road and to always be a professional. While you cannot control the way others behave, you can manage your own temper and attitude. And quite often, in a tight market where everyone has strong qualifications, a good temperament could get you in the door.

When you have a question related to your online classes, where is the best place to send it to the instructor? Here are some tips to help you figure that out:

Tips for Sending in Questions:

• Messages boards: If it’s a general question that might help other students, feel free to ask your instructor right on the message boards (discussion boards). Avoid using the message boards or student forums to gripe, whine, or complain. It does not reflect well on you, and the discussion areas should focus on the assigned questions. Keep personal issues or complaints out of the classroom.
• E-mail: Most of the time, it’s best to simply send your instructor an e-mail. Be sure to include your full name and the course title/number. And be detailed about your question. Also remember to phrase your questions professionally.
• Phone: If you are experiencing an emergency or are close to a deadline, you might want to give the instructor a call. Be aware of time zone differences, and prepare notes on all the things you want to cover during the conversation. If you leave a message, be clear on summarizing your question, and again, include your name and course information.

The important thing is to ask questions when you have them. It’s much better to ask for clarification before an assignment than to find out you made a simple but costly error after you’ve already submitted your work.

Many people who get laid off from their jobs begin thinking about getting their college degrees or additional degrees to help them become more marketable. Getting laid off never feels good, and it’s smart to use the downtime to help prevent future layoffs by enhancing your skills.

Here are some strong reasons why going to college online might be the ideal match for those who have recently experienced layoffs:

Reasons why online colleges make a nice fit:

• Flexibility: Since most laid-off people are still looking for work, when you land a job interview, you don’t have to schedule around your classes. Since school is online, you can take any job interview at virtually any time.
• Continuity: If you’re fortunate enough to get another job, you don’t have to leave school. You can continue working toward your degree (or second degree), and you don’t have to put your current career on hold.
• Fodder for the job interview: It’s often nice to show potential employers that you’re always out to improve yourself. And mentioning that you took the downtime to jump on your education shows initiative and a strong work ethic.
• Better than nothing: The truth is that you might be laid off for an extended period of time, and it’s always nice to feel like you’re doing something productive beyond looking for another job. As long as it takes for you to find the next gig, at least you’ll know that you used that time to make progress on other life-enriching activities.
• Timing: Many online colleges run on an accelerated timeline. That means, in fewer than ten weeks, you can complete a term (rather than the traditional 16 weeks in an on-ground school). In the average time it takes a person to find another job, it is possible to complete a full term of school.
• Incentives: Many companies that close down facilities or lay off employees have workplace resources in place to help downsized employees re-train, find grants, apply to school, and get federal loans. Examine any workforce benefits that might have come in your layoff package. And if you don’t find much there, the Unemployment Agency in town should also have some educational grant/loan resources for you to explore.

It’s definitely annoying and frustrating to get laid off, but keep in mind that there is an opportunity around every corning, if you keep your eyes open. Perhaps for you, the educational road is the best one at this time. If so, do your research, ask around, and good luck!

You ever wonder why an instructor doesn’t just give you a point to push you to the next grade? What would it hurt to give you a point that moves you from a C+ to a B-? Well, here’s why instructors often do not budge when it comes to giving away even the smallest fraction of points.

• Instructors like to keep things fair. As the saying goes, if a instructor gives you a point then, to be fair, the instructor needs to give a point to everyone. Few people are willing to do that.
• You should get what you earned. Quite often when a student asks me to “give them” a point to help them pass, I look over their assignments and find that almost always, they neglected to complete all the assignments. So if they are missing a point to pass, they should understand that they squandered that opportunity on their own earlier in the term. It’s not the instructor’s responsibility to give you points. It’s the student’s responsibility to earn every point.
• Academic institutions frown upon this practice. Honestly, instructors can get into trouble with the Deans or Academic Directors for giving points away just to help a student pass. This is an ethical issue, and it’s taken very seriously by the administration. Instructors these days need to account for every point, and they can be questioned at any time about their grading practices. So most instructors, even if they want to give you that point, will not risk damaging their reputation with the school to do so.
• Academic integrity makes your diploma mean something. If a school gains the reputation for lenient grading practices, over time, this means your diploma won’t carry as much weight. The value of getting your degree is that you survived and conquered the toils of higher education. If the school you attended becomes known for grade inflation, this tarnishes your diploma and your own reputation.

Of course, if there was a grading error, instructors will often be happy to make that correction and add the missing points. However, this is a justified point adjustment that is not deemed arbitrary by the school’s administration. So it’s a little different in that case.

The important element is to complete all your assignments, no matter how small, because you never know if you might need those points later on down the line.

Imagine this: it’s the last week of the term, and you’ve realized that you’re on the verge of failing because you skipped some of the major assignments earlier in the class. So, you ask your instructor if you could just submit them all now. The professor says no. Why?

Here’s what such a last-minute request looks like from the instructor’s perspective:

• This student has got to be kidding. Think about this. Imagine that you’re part of a group project and you’ve done all your work on time. But some procrastinating team member waits until the last minute and creates a stressful situation for everyone else in the group. Well, that’s how it appears to the instructor. Your professor has been doing his or her part the entire term, and for a student to come along during the last week and expect the instructor to stay up late and grade several assignments at the last minute is, quite honestly, rude.
• There is too little time. Instructors get an astonishingly short period of time at the end of every term to tabulate and submit final grades. It is the worst time of the term for every instructor because the workload quadruples and the deadlines are halved. They barely have enough time to grade the timely final projects, and there is hardly time to eat.
• This isn’t fair to the other students. Most instructors keep fairness at the top of their minds. They know that if they accept one student’s late work, they should really accept the entire class’ late work, at least for that particular project. And so, if they say no to you, they’re really saying no to at least a dozen others just like you waiting in the wings.
• The late work will probably be very poor in quality. Experience shows that late work submitted by students at the last minute is usually, to be blunt, total junk. The student is rushing through many final assignments for several classes, trying desperately to get some points. And late work handed in at this stage is usually a haphazard, incomplete, disjointed mess. And such incoherent projects always take longer to grade than the polished, stronger student submissions. And so it’s a double whammy for instructors. And so, the experienced ones avoid such abuse by simply saying no.

Contrary to many students’ beliefs, instructors do not take joy in declining student requests. It’s simply a matter of limited resources. There is only one instructor and several dozen (sometimes several hundred) students. If you’re lucky, you have a graduate student helper, but that’s about it.

So, get your work done on time throughout the term, and know that you’ll get a better overall experience from it.

Almost every student has a terrible semester where everything goes wrong—you get into a car accident, you have an all-consuming project at work, your house is flooded, and your computer blows up. Assess whether you should reduce your course load for future terms, and look forward to starting fresh the next time around.

Disaster term tip list:

• Don’t quit and don’t give up. Move on. Talk to your advisor and chart a plan. Find out what you can do to salvage the current term and plan out the following term. Get your financial aid in order, and prepare to look ahead.
• Be gentle on yourself. Avoid beating yourself up for the disaster semester. It happened and there’s nothing you can do about it now. Do not waste time with regrets. Learn from the experience by perhaps adjusting your schedule for future terms, and then move on.
• Faster isn’t always better. Disaster terms sometimes happen to students who try to do too much in the first place. In the effort to finish school faster, they overload their schedules, and this leaves little room for typical setbacks like catching the flu or tending to a sick child/parent. Life is filled with unexpected challenges. Make room for them in your school schedule.

Believe it or not, instructors do not pass judgment on students for messing up one class or two. Most often, instructors are rooting for students to succeed. They will work with you to make up work when they can, but in some instances, it’s not possible. In that case, plan on meeting up with them the next term, when you can put your best foot forward. And know that they will likely regard you as a dedicated and tenacious student. A professional instructor will leave the past in the past, and so should you.

The mark of a successful student is one who can pick themselves up after falling down – and become better for it.

Life is unpredictable, and there often comes a time when a personal emergency causes a student to be absent for one or more classes. While various instructors’ policies may vary when it comes to how they’ll deal with accepting late work, there are some simple tips that help you cope with school during your emergency.

Action List for Student Emergency Absences:

• Notify your advisor and/or instructors immediately. If it’s a hectic emergency, and time is short, just call your advisor and give them a brief outline of your emergency situation. Mention that you will not likely be able to reach your instructors individually. Remember to also leave a contact number where you will receive messages. While your advisor will not likely hassle you during a personal emergency, if there is something you need to know, they’ll need a place to leave you messages.
• Get documentation. Think ahead and gather documentation of your emergency for your student file. Some instructors will need the documentation before they accept your late work.
• Once the crisis phase has passed, be sure to connect with instructors individually. Even if your advisor has notified your instructors, it’s best to take an opportune moment to communicate with instructors to begin re-integrated into the class.
• Be aware of time. Do not let more than a week go by without re-connecting with your advisor and instructors. The more time goes by, the less chance you have to catch up. You want to take notes about how you will proceed, and your instructors will want to gain a better idea of when you can be expected back in class.
• Prioritize. Sometimes a personal emergency is so devastating that it’s best to take a term/semester off to focus on the important things. It’s better to delay your graduation than to fail a number of classes. Students should not feel ashamed for taking needed time off. Sometimes, you need to focus on things one at a time, and be prepared to come back to school the following term without monumental distractions getting in the way.

Remember, if you do not keep your school informed of your situation and simply disappear, you are severely limiting your options once you return. It’s a professional courtesy to inform your work place and your school if you will not be in attendance, particularly if it’s for more than one class. They don’t need the big, long story and all the painful details, but a professional explanation of the seriousness of the situation is definitely expected.