Tips, Ideas, and Strategies for Online Students

Use Email Well

Email is the primary mode of communication in an online course.  Make sure you can access your OCCC student email, have it set up on your iPhone, or your android phone.  Check it regularly and check it often - at least twice a day. Your instructor will be sending you important messages about your course work and due dates.  There are many tips and tricks for using and managing email and these can help you be successful early in your courses.

Time Management

Time management is an important part of being a successful college student, regardless of whether you take classes on campus or online. Make sure you Make Your Time Count during your busy days as a college student.

Don't Forget to Read the Syllabus

Find it

Find your course syllabus.  It is typically in the first module of your course in Moodle.

Read it

The syllabus contains important information for your class!  It contains information about your professor's expectations for you, the homework assignments you will have, the due dates for those assignments, as well as when exams are going to be.  Your syllabus contains a surprise for students!  It contains information about what is going to be on each exam.  Be sure to read it.  Highlight those dates and information so you can find them easily as you work.

Calendar it

Your syllabus has the dates of assignments and exams.  Put them on your calendar now!  Your calendar can be the calendar on your phone, a paper calendar, or the one in Moodle.  Put those dates in an important place you will see often to help you stay on track.

Keep it

Once the class is over, don't throw away your syllabus!  File it away so you will have it in the years to come.  This document will be important to you as you take other classes or transfer to other institutions.  The syllabus shows the objectives for the course and assignments that other institutions will need to see to determine if they will give you credit for the course you have taken.

Keep It Honest!

Instructors have an expectation of their students to be honest with regard to the work they submit.  Instructors expect the work you submit to be your own work that you have done.  They expect your tests to be completed without any outside assistance from others, your book, or notes.  Your honesty and integrity are things that employers value in employees as well.

For more details about your instructors' expectations about academic honesty and integrity, please read College Policy No. 4016 about the details of the College's definition of academic dishonesty and the related consequences.