Online colleges and courses from existing brick and mortar schools have completely changed how people learn. Professionals and students alike can now take classes around their schedule instead of having to go to a classroom everyday and spend a designated amount of time. This has opened up a tremendous amount of educational opportunities for people who work full-time or just can't see themselves in a classroom everyday. Though it provides many great opportunities for people, these online classes are not for everybody. In fact, these courses are a very unique educational experience that requires special study skills to do well in.

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These classes were made for the self-starter. Unlike many other classroom situations, where the teacher will direct your learning and provide helpful reminders, in online classes you have to make sure that you are on top of everything in terms of due dates and subject material. This also means organizing your time to read, watch, and write everything on your own time. Though they provide a huge amount of wiggle room for students to schedule around their lives, this also means students have to be the ones to decide when to study and take tests. This is different from just "studying" as you would a normal class, because study time for online classes is a substitute for class time. Plan to spend at least an hour a week per credit on top of normal studying to make up for this.

Online classes are much less personal than in person classes, so if you like interacting with students and asking lots of questions, then online classes will be a bit of a struggle. Though there still is communication between students and the teacher it is usually done through email and has a delayed response time. Part of taking a class is studying the teacher and this is much more difficult when you can't get a feel for them online.

The best way to succeed is to plan as if you had a normal class. Set aside reading (or whatever class activity) time each week and stick to it. Also keep a calendar that you will use to keep track of assignments and test due dates so nothing is ever late. Finally, use the discussion boards and email the teacher often to build a rapport and get everyone involved in the class material. This will definitely help you and everyone else learn better, especially since you can't do so in person.