7 Basic Tips to Success for Online Students

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Many students misunderstand the concept of online studies. Because online studies allows you to study at your own pace, many students interpret this a license to become lackadaisical and just work when they just feel like doing so. However, on the contrary, one of the aims of online studies is to teach students how to practice good time management and becoming independent. Students must take steps to ensure that they remain proactive during their online studies and to become a successful online student. These steps include:

1. Be prepared:

Online studying requires you to have some basic tools to make your studies successful. To begin with, students must read their schools website to find out the computer software and hardware required for the successful transmission of study material. Then they should have access to a computer with these basic requirements such as Microsoft Word, PDF reader and an internet access. Some schools also require peripherals such as a printer, webcam, mike and speakers for web conferencing.

2. Create study area:

It is important that you have good organization to be a successful online student. Set aside an area for study. This area should have all your books and your computer. Even if you are studying from work or a public area, organize your study material in a backpack that you can easily move around with. The point is to have your course work material organized.

3. Avoid Plagiarism:

The internet is one big open library. As a result, many students think that their answer to writing reports is to Google their research topic and just change the author’s name and present it as their own. One must remember that there are hundreds of applications that can be used to detect plagiarism on the internet. Once plagiarism is detected, students will automatically be given a zero grade if they are found guilty of plagiarism. Hence, plagiarism should be avoided at all cost.

4. Participate in Online Class Forums:

Participating in live online chat sessions with your professor and other students helps you to understand exactly what is expected of you during the course. It also helps you to socialize and meet other students in your class thus removing the feeling of being isolated during your studies.

5. Availability:

This one factor has discouraged many prospective online students to Online Degrees. Before beginning the online study course, students, especially working students, should carefully analyze their time to make sure that it can include a study program.

6. Prevent Online Distractions:

Online studies require you to spend a significant amount of time online. If you are members of social networking groups such as Yahoo or MSN Messenger etc. your status will show that you are online. A good idea is to change your status to invisible. This will significantly reduce the distractions and you can concentrate on your studies in much better way.

7. Financial Support:

Like in any other study program, to be successful, students must ensure they gave all the necessary financial support to last the entire program.

Besides all these steps there is nothing like your own dedication towards studies, that I believe is the single most important factor to success.
Good Luck Friends !

Tags: Online Students, Online Studies
Posted in Online Students | 2 Comments »

Unbeatable Job Hunting Tips for Online Students

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Right now the job hunting may be tight, because there are many online student lions and not many plump gazelles. Unemployment is hovering at about 10 percent; those hunting for jobs need to be on their toes when hunting for career opportunities. We all know about stories of people who found amazing jobs in unlikely places. How can you benefit from this underground pipeline?

Do Not Rely Solely On the Internet

Although internet is an outstanding resource for online students it should not be your only means of job hunting. Most jobs are not advertised at all either online or in print. And for those there is fierce competition. Getting the Human Resources Manager to notice your resume out of hundred let only thousands would require the use of to exact keywords that particular manger has in mind. Unless you are clairvoyant this could be difficult. Put yourself in the mangers’ position, you have hundreds of resumes to sift through & also referrals from an old employee, co worker, recruiter & friends for one job opening, but which one would you call and why?

Where to Start

So where to start is clear; friends, former co-workers/employers, college classmates and relatives can come in handy. Email, call and visit everyone that you can think of that fit this profile, get at least one lead from each contact. Make sure you have plenty of up to date professional resumes on hand.

Online is An Unbeatable Resource

In short span of time social networking sites have created a strong niche in almost every industry. Online Students can also increase their job chances with targeted communities related to their area of studies and interest. Get yourself a LinkedIn account and post your profile and resume. Log on to Facebook and look up former co-workers, alumni, associates and long lost friend there are bound to be leads somewhere out there on the cloud.

Use Your Network

Maybe some in your new job hunt network knows someone at a company you have applied with. Have them contact some they know on the inside to have your name mentioned in the right place. This may be just what your resume needs to standout from the rest. Maybe you could start an alumni network on one of the online social networks. Use your imagination and think creatively, in this competitive market a little persistence could pay off also. Stampede the herd and maybe that nice fat juice one maybe slow enough for you to pounce on. Happy Hunting!

Tags: Career, Jobs, Online Students
Posted in Career Guide, Online Students | No Comments »

Top 10 Internet Savvy tips for Online Learners

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Online learners are finding new and interesting ways to make online learning fun and beneficial. If you are an online student or plan to attend an online institution, here are the 10 best internet savvy tips for effective online learning.

1. E-Mail

Even though there are probably better and newer way of communicating online, e-mail will always play a part in the way we communicate with each other and a great way to pass important information on to groups of people at one time.

2. Online Flashcards

Since kindergarten, flashcards have always been an excellent tool in the classroom. Flashcards helps you to learn and memorize terms and definition with ease. There are a number of websites offering the tools necessary to make online flashcards. Make use of them!

3. Wikipedia

Wiki is used as a valuable resource for online students. As an online learner, you can find the answers to anything and everything in one place at Wikipedia.com, so take advantage of this additional resource. Keep in mind that Wikipedia in a user edited site, so it is a good idea to verify the authenticity of the information.

4. Posting Your Notes Online

Posting your notes online can be of great value to other online students who may not have the time to read an entire book about the subject. So if you are an excellent note taker and think your notes will help other students, then by all means do it.

5. Blogging

Blogging is another wonderful way to get your ideas and opinions across to others. Blogs gives an opportunity to discuss topics of interest to you and to learn other perspectives on the topic at hand. There are a few free sites such as WordPress or BlogSpot if you are interested in blogging or even participating in discussions.

6. Join or Create Discussion Groups

Joining or even creating an online discussion group on a topic of interest to you allows you to collaborate with other online classmates or other online students. Online discussion groups give you a broader picture of the topic and a chance to get a different perspective on certain issues.

7. Video Conferencing

Video conferencing is an excellent way to collaborate with two or more locations via two-way video and audio transmission simultaneously.

8. Online Interactive Platforms

This is another wonderful idea to discuss topics of interest to you and to collaborate with others who have similar interests.

9. Podcast

You can create a podcast if you have the right equipment and the skills to get this in motion. This is a wonderful way to broadcast your presentation and what you are learning to an online audience. This is also an excellent tool to help you re-learn and retain information.

10. Broadcasting Online

Broadcasting your presentation on YouTube can reach a wider audience who may find your presentation useful.

Finding savvy tips for online learners can be a wonderful idea to make your online learning experience a memorable one. These 10 best internet savvy tips for online learners will be of great value to you throughout your online learning. Give them a try!

Tags: Blogs, Online Education, Online Learners, Online Students
Posted in Online Education, Online Learning, Online Students | 1 Comment »

Google Buzz – Simplifying Education Solution

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Google has finally broken into the world of social networking. Not to say they did not have social networking sites before. Their social networking sites such as Orkut or OpenSocial were not such a hit within the online social networking community. With these sites, they were following the same mold of Facebook and Twitter who fan base started from scratch and then grew with popularity.

What Google have now done is simply a stroke of genius. They have embedded Google buzz into their Gmail service. As a result, the fan base is already existent and studies show is growing at an average 176 million visitors each month. Although Google buzz is new, its impact is huge as users of the service gave access to all the gadgets of the Gmail service including streaming of status updates, links, videos and buzzes. To fathom the impact of Google Buzz, one would have to imagine cramming Twitter, Yammer, Yelp, Facebook and Foursquare into one social network.

Uses of Google Buzz in Education

The open source approach that Google has adopted in the development of Google Buzz has increased the excitement level in the secondary application development market. The flexibility of Google Buzz has brought with it many useful applications outside of the direct social networking world. After close examination, we have seen where Google Buzz has many ways in which it can be incorporated into the educational system. Some of these methods include:

Users of Google Buzz are able to conduct Facebook and twitter like conversations. Students can use this forum to communicate easily with their peers without having to sign into another social networking site while checking their Google mail. They can even throw open questions much like a Facebook status message but with a more interactive flavor.

Being embedded into Google Gmail service, teachers can easily conduct research on any topic without losing sight of the happenings of fellow teachers and linked students.
With Google Buzz, teachers are now able to maintain a closer relationship with their online students.Teachers can now easily with one application use their Gmail embedded Google Buzz to disseminate and collect assignments and then make immediate comments either generally or to specific students. This will certainly reduce the hard copy paper work at school, as all messages can be easily stored on request.
Unlike Twitter, with Google teachers are able to select who can see particular buzz they upload. Therefore, if they want to address only a part of the class you can do so using Google buzz without fear of general exposure.
Google buzz has brought with it an easier method of promoting ideas or items to the public. This is a great opportunity for research doctors at universities to promote their ideas. What Google has done is to give users of the Google buzz the ability to make public posts that are included into their general Google search engine. As a result, professors only have to include keywords that will attract traffic and direct this traffic to your post.

Tags: Online Education, Online Students, Social Networking
Posted in Accredited Online University, Online Education, Online Students, Social Media | 1 Comment »

8 Worst Mistakes of Online Students

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

If you are an online student or considering enrolling in an online degree program you should not hesitate, but keep in mind some of the mistakes that are found among online students so that you don’t make the same mistakes. Take a look at the 8 worst mistakes of online students listed below.

1. Choosing an Online Institution that is not Accredited

It is important to seek out an online college or university that has an accreditation from a reputable organization. Look for institutions that have been accredited by a regionally or nationally-recognized accrediting agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

2. Believing that Employers do not Accept Online Degrees

Most employers understand the need for busy professionals who want to continue working while attending a distance learning program at the same time. Employers are more concerned that the educational institution is accredited and has a good reputation rather than the method you use to obtain your degree, but this varies from one employer to the next.

3. Thinking that Online Education is Easier

Most, if not all, of the accredited online degree programs are the same as on-campus programs. You will receive the same subjects, assignments, projects and class work that on-site students receive. You will also get the same high quality education online that is found in the traditional degree programs. Studies show that distance learning is just as effective as traditional on-campus learning.

4. Online Attendance is more time Consuming than Traditional Courses

Online learning is ideal for people who would like to continue their education but do not have the time to attend the traditional classroom setting. Distance learning makes education more convenient especially for adults with families and full-time jobs. Many people choose distance learning simply out of necessity. Not everyone can enroll in traditional higher education due to work and other commitments and obligations so distance learning provides the flexibility to continue working at a current job while pursuing your educational and career goals at the same time.

5. Thinking online learning is not right for everyone and may not be for me

It really depends on your learning style. Online learning is very different from traditional, on-site learning I have to agree. However, anyone can adapt to online learning, all it takes is a little adjustment and a bit of getting used to.

6. Procrastinating

Procrastinating can be a major problem and can play a big role in the outcome of your experience, online or in-class. If you are a procrastinator, you will have to work extra hard. Set weekly goals and deadlines and try your best to stick to them.

7. Failing to use all the Online Resources and Mentoring

Educators are the best resource an online student can utilize. Getting the help from a mentor can be of great benefit. So stay connected via online discussions forums, chat rooms and e-mail.

8. Paying more than you have to

– Most online institutions offer financial aid, grants, scholarships, loans and other ways for you to pay for your education, so take advantage of every opportunity. Don’t borrow more than you need and find different ways to save money, like buying used text books instead of new books and so on.

Tags: Distance Learning, Grants, Online Degree, Online Degree Program, Online Students, Scholarships
Posted in Distance Learning, Online Degree, Online Degree Programs, Online Students | 1 Comment »

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