SURVIVAL TIPS FOR OnLine Students

  • Allow Time. Most students are not prepared for the amount of time that an on-line course takes. Remember that you are teaching the material to yourself. Therefore, each chapter must be read carefully and two times. This takes time – more time than sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture.  You should expect to spend between 6-8 hours per week on this course.
  • Stick With It! Distance Education courses require perseverance, self-discipline, self-motivation, and the ability to work independently – more so than face-to-face than on-campus classes.
  • Keep Up – Be Organized. Criminal Law  is a course that builds as it goes. Concepts learned in one chapter are combined with concepts in subsequent chapters as the course progresses
  • Meet Deadlines.Do not get behind. Have each week’s assignments completed on time.  Although, you will find that I am flexible in giving you some additional time here and there when necessary, there can come a point when you are so far behind that you cannot catch up. A grade of "Incomplete" is not an option in 99 percent of the cases.
  • Use Your Printer. Print out anything that I write. My postings are presentation notes offering additional explanations of difficult concepts, additional examples, homework assignments, and quizzes.
  •  Keep in Touch. It is very important that you keep in touch with me and with  your fellow classmates in a distance education course. They cannot help you and you cannot help them if you are not around through e-mail, at the conferences, or at the Virtual Donut Shop.
  • Keep Me and Your Cybermates Informed about changes in your e-mail address. We cannot stay in touch with you if you are not available. We cannot learn from you if you are not available.  If your email address changes, be sure to logon to Blackboard
    and edit your personal information.
  • Don’t try to "Go It Alone!". In a distance education course, you must teach yourself. And you will most likely need some help – from me and from your cybermates. So Keep in Touch.
  • Don’t Drop the Course without talking to me first. Together, we may be able to find a solution to your dilemma.