Learning and Excelling in an Online Environment: Home

Welcome to Online learning.  Whether this is something that you had planned, or this is because of outside forces, we want to help you be successful.  Please look at the resources that his guide provides and use the ones that you feel could be useful for you.  Also, please remember that the Campbell's faculty and staff are here for you if you need any assistance.

1. Create a dedicated space to work in.
2. Make your sure your technology works.
3. Create a routine.
4. Organize your time.

You need to find a dedicated space for you to do your online class work. Ideally, the only thing that you should do in this space is your classwork. Here are some things that you should have in this space

• a comfortable chair
• good lighting, natural light is great.  If you are working at night you want to make sure that the space is well lit
• a place where you can concentrate
• a place where there are no distractions
• a place where the supplies you need to do your work are convenient
• a place where you can organize your materials

Taking an online course requires that you have a computer.  Before doing anything else, make sure that your computer and home network can handle the load of streaming your classes, and uploading/downloading class assignments.  Make sure that your computers operating system is up to date,and that your anti-virus program is up to date as well.  If your system is not able to handle the workload that it is going to be put on it, upgrade as necessary.  If your internet connection is not able to handle the demands, upgrade it until it can.

Make sure that you understand how to use the software that you are going to be using.  Campbell University uses Blackboard as its course management system for both on and off campus.  Make sure that you can use Blackboard, if you have any questions you can contact the IT Helpdesk at helpdesk@campbell.edu.

During the course of your class, you will probably be having live classes using collaborate or other software such as Zoom or WebEx. Make sure that you know how to use the program to send messages, turn on and off your camera, turn on and mute you sound.  These programs have good tutorials, watch them and you shouldn't have any problems.  

You need to treat an online class the same way that you treat a class you take in person.  One of the easiest ways to get in this mindset is to create a daily routine for your online classes.  Set a time to get up, get breakfast, get a shower, get dressed, and get to the space you set up for your classes.  This will help you get in the mindset that you need when you are in class, and will help you to get your classwork and studying done.

Procrastination is one of the threats that you need to be aware of when you take any class, especially an online class.  It is also very easy to have a project to consume all of your available time.  To combat this, you need to organize your time.  Use what ever planning method you want (and there are a lot of them out there for you to choose) and block out times for your classes, your homework, meals, and time to hang out with friends and just relax.  Scheduling your day will help maintain a healthy school/life balance, and will help you to stay on top of assignments.