Advice from Students: How to Succeed in an Online Class

One of my areas of passion is online retention - so I've talked to a lot of students (both informally and through research) in trying to see why some succeed where others fail. Interestingly, when talking to students who withdrew from online courses, I've realized that reasons were rarely related to instructor issues. More often than not, the students did not fully realize what taking an online course would be like. Their advice to other students:

1. Understand that you will spend a lot of time on the computer.
2. Log in to your online course every day.
3. Expect to do a lot of reading - probably more than in a f2f course.
4. Know where to go for help, and don't hesitate to ask for it.
5. Get started on the course as soon as possible - log in on the very first day of class.
6. Don't wait until the due dates to post discussion assignments.

I use these tips, and variations of them, in both online and f2f orientations for online students. Yes, they may seem quite elementary to those of us who teach, support or otherwise breathe online learning, but now I realize that we can't overestimate how critical it is for new online students to know what to expect before their courses start.