You probably checked out this post because you about to take online classes, enrolled in them right now, or debating whether or not to take them. In each case, you’re in the right place! Today, we are going to talk all-things online classes. By the end of this post, I hope you will understand online classes a bit more, know how to succeed in them, and so much more. So, let’s get into it, shall we?!
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Online Classes: An Overview
Online classes are college or technical courses that are taught by a professor or teacher on a web platform. The majority of the work revolves around reading the textbook, reading through online materials (such as PowerPoints or articles), and working on assignments that are turned in online. You will most likely also be required to participate in “discussion boards,” or forums where you will write up a response to a question and reply to your classmates. The difficulty of the class and how much work is required depends on the class and professor.
Related: The Ultimate Back to School Guide for College Students
What type of Online Classes are there?
There are many types of online classes. Probably too many to talk about, but let’s touch on a few of the main ones…
- Web-Based Classes: This is the most popular type of online class. This is where 100% of your class work is facilitated online. You can complete the work from anywhere with internet access. This is the type of class we are going to focus on today.
- Hybrid Classes: These courses are usually taught both in a classroom setting and online. You might meet with your class once or twice a week and complete the rest of your work online. Most classes these days have an online component, but hybrid classes usually have a bit more online work than normal.
- Flipped Classes: This is where your professor records the lecture and allows you to view it before attending the in-person class. Then, while in class, you will work through practice problems and other related material, instead of going through a lecture.
Today, we are going to focus on Web-Based Classes. However, you can take all of these tips and tricks and apply them to any online portions of your classes.
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Why Should You Take Online Classes?
There are times when it is necessary to take an online class in order to complete your degree. For instance, you may be completing an online degree, or your university only offers one of your class requirements via online. There are other times you might want to take an online class due to the various benefits. These benefits include the fact that online classes (sometimes) can allow you to:
- Save money
- Get ahead in your degree (especially when taken during summer)
- Boost your GPA (perhaps if you retake a class you failed)
- Be more flexible with your daily schedule
Tip: Online classes are great to take in the summer! Plus, if you take them from a community college then transfer them to your home university, you can save a ton of money.
Relate: The Ultimate College Freshman Survival Guide
What you Need to Know Before you Begin Online Classes:
Next, there are a few bits of information that can be incredibly useful to know before your online classes begin. They may even help you decide whether or not to take them. Over the years, I have taken a few online classes and here are the things I wish I had known before beginning.
- Choosing a Professor: In most instances, you will be able to choose who your online professors are. Ask around and see who the best professors for the online sections are. Remember that if a professor is good during an in-class version, that doesn’t mean they will be a good online professor. Also use RateMyProfessors to help, but be sure to look at the comments to see if anyone has mentioned online classes.
- You’ll Probably Need to Buy (and actually read) the Textbook: Because there are usually no lectures with your online classes, many professors rely heavily on the textbook readings. So, there is a good chance you’ll need to invest in the latest version of the textbook, and actually plan out time to read it. However, wait until you hear from your professors before you make the purchase, but the likeliness is extremely high.
- Many Online Classes Require a Time Commitment: How much time should you plan on spending on each class per day? That completely depends on your professor. I’ll give you an example. Last summer, I took two online classes, both worth three semester credits. For one of the classes, I spent about 30 minutes per day and easily received an A, while for the other I spent nearly 4-5 hours per day and just barely got an A. So, on average, perhaps plan on 1-2 hours per day, per class and see where it goes.
- Discussion Boards are Key: The main classroom component you’ll be missing in online classes are discussions, so professors often use “Discussion Boards” in order to combat this issue. These are online forums where you write out a short, essay-style response to a question or topic, then reply to other similar posts from your classmates. One discussion per week with two responses is pretty typical.
- Prior Approval Might Be Required: If you are planning on taking an online class from a community college (perhaps over the summer) then transfer it to your home university (which will save you a ton of money), then prior approval from your home university’s registrar may be required before you begin your class. For my university, this involved going to the registrar’s office and filling out a 1-page form and waiting on a response. Pretty easy!
Related: How to Prepare for a Successful College Semester
Top Supplies for Online Class Success
One key part to succeeding in your online classes is to treat them just like every other class you’ve taken before. What does this mean? Taking your notes by hand, using flashcards to study, etc. In order to do this, you’ll need some supplies to keep you going. Here are some of my favorites that have helped me:
- Flashcards: I go through about 500 flashcards a semester, maybe more. But my major requires quite a bit of memorization. These are such a great deal!
- Free Study Printable: This is a free study printable planner that is incredibly useful in organizing your study tasks. I use one of these per exam!
- Student Planner: Speaking of a study printable, here is my favorite student planner to use throughout school. It is perfect to use any time of year and includes a ton of worksheets that will help you study along the way!
- Pilot Juice Up Pens: I’ll be honest, I go through quite a few phases of pens. I am currently obsessing over these babies! You can get them in a small pastel 6-pack or the basic 10-pack.
- Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens: These are one of the most popular pen sets around college campuses. They are felt tip and perfect for anyone looking to up their pen game!
- Zebra Mildliners: My go-to highlighters! They have two ends, a fat and skinny side, and the colors are a lot lighter (and not as harsh) than most. They are perfect for highlighting important notes, topics, textbook sections, and using in your study guides.
- Staples Better Binder: In my guide to note-taking, I talk about how I prefer a binder system and why. These binders are incredibly durable and will get you through your entire college career. I prefer the 1.5-inch binder with D-Rings (stops your papers from curling in the back).
- Avery 5-Tab Dividers: These are my favorite dividers because they allow you to use page protectors while still being able to see the tabs. They even have folders on each divider!
- Five-Star Reinforced College-Ruled Paper: This is incredibly nerdy, but I swear by this paper. Very little bleed-through, it is 8.5×11 inches (surprisingly hard to find) and has reinforced holes so you don’t tear your pages!
- Dry Erase Board: These babies make studying SO MUCH easier (and more fun too!). I prefer a larger white board, but they come in all different sizes. Be sure to grab some colorful markers too!
Related: The Ultimate Student Planner: Begin Organizing Your Life and Succeeding in Classes Today!
Top Tips for Succeeding in Online Classes
Last, but certainly not least, let’s go over my top tips to ensure you succeed in your online classes! These are the things I used for each of my online classes so far, and have seen some major success!
- Create a Comprehensive To-Do List for Each Class: Before your classes start, go through the syllabus and create a complete to-do list for each class and sort it by due date. You can even create one complete to-do list for all of your classes combined and color code them. Then, each week, you can pull out all of the tasks to complete pretty easily!
- Use a Planner to Track Deadlines and Organize To-Dos: I highly recommend you use a planner to sort out all of your tasks. HERE is my favorite student planner to use! Tip: Utilize the monthly calendar for deadlines and weekly planning pages for tasks.
- Stay Ahead of the Schedule: When creating your task lists, try to assign them one to three days ahead of the deadline. This will ensure you have some wiggle room if something comes up or an assignment takes longer than expected. Tip: Don’t get too far ahead of your schedule or you will forget the material before the exam opens up!
- Prioritize Your Time: Be sure to complete the most important tasks first, then work on the other stuff later. HERE is a great post including more time management tips!
- Write Out Your Notes on Paper: Even through this is an online class, you may find that writing out your notes on paper can be extremely helpful. Why? Two reasons. First, doing this is a great way to retain information. Second, usually the online exams are facilitated through a program that doesn’t allow you to open anything up. So, even through your allowed to use your notes on the exam, you won’t have access to them if they are on your computer. HERE is my comprehensive guide on how I take my notes, and HERE is my guide on how I maintain an organized class binder.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Taking College Notes
- Work During Your Best Time of Day: Try to schedule your classwork during the times when you are at your peak performance. Are you a morning person? A night owl? This is one of the best ways to stay motivated to study – here are more motivation tips to check out too!
- Check Announcements and Your Email Frequently: This is key to ensuring you aren’t missing any major deadline. In fact, I did this every morning. This is where your professor will notify you of any major deadlines coming up, changes to the syllabus, etc.
- Watch the Assigned Videos: If videos are assigned, start by watching them diligently and take notes by hand. However, as time goes on and you find that the videos aren’t too important to the class material, still watch them but don’t waste too much time. Perhaps find something to do at the same time, such as laundry, cleaning, cooking, working out, etc.
- Utilize the Library to Get Assigned Movies for Free: Often, professors will assign full documentaries or movies to watch as homework assignments, then write up a summary or something similar. However, they usually do not give you the movie, you must find it yourself. Before purchasing it, try to find it at your local campus or community library.
Related: Discover 63 New Study Tips that Will Have You Acing Every Class this Semester!
Further Reading
Wanting to check out some more college tips and tricks? Check out these related blog posts:
- The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Finals Week
- 10 Study Motivation Techniques that Actually Work
- 17 Ways to Avoid College Burnout
- How to Write an A+ Research Paper
- 17 Tips for Successful Planner Organization
- College Backpack Essentials: What You Can’t Forget to Bring to Campus!
- How to Prepare for a Successful College Semester
- The Ultimate College Packing List
- The College Freshman Survival Guide
And… we’re done! That wasn’t so bad, was it? Online classes can be incredibly beneficial and, when done properly, can be quite easy to pass! I hope that you have found some useful tips and tricks to use on your online class journey. I know you can pass these classes with flying colors. Happy studying!
Want to learn more study tips? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Studying for an Exam!
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