English Composition 1
Tips for Success
Of course, doing well in an English composition course depends a lot on how well students can write and how well they can develop their writing skills, but in an online class (as well as in a class on campus), success also depends on how well a student is engaged in the class. The page presents a few tips for doing well in this online class.
Log In to Blackboard Every Day or Two
In most cases, there is a direct correlation between how often a student logs in to Blackboard and how well a student does in the class. Students who log in to Blackboard every day or two often do well; students who regularly go for several days without logging in often do not do well.
The instructor can see a daily record of who logs in to Blackboard and who does not. Once, a student sent the instructor an e-mail note saying that she had been logging in to Blackboard regularly but logged in one day and found that several assignments were due right away. She complained that she did not have enough advance notice to complete the assignments. When the instructor checked the statistics in Blackboard, he found that the student had not logged in to Blackboard for a ten-day period. The student received zeroes on the assignments.
Make sure to log in to Blackboard every day or two.
Check Announcements in Blackboard Regularly
Most of the time, you will find at least a few new announcements posted each week in Blackboard. Announcements usually present important information, so it is a good idea to check for new announcements every time you enter Blackboard. They are easy to find: announcements appear on the right side of the screen right after you log in to Blackboard.
Log Out of Blackboard with All New Messages Read
When you log in to Blackboard and click "Discussion," you will see the number of new messages indicated next to each discussion forum. This indicates the number of messages that you have not yet looked at. You should enter the discussion forums and check all new messages each time you enter Blackboard. Then, when you exit Blackboard, there should not be any new messages left unread. If you do this regularly, whenever you enter Blackboard, all of the messages indicated as "new" will be messages that have been posted since your last visit to Blackboard.
In some cases, you might not need to read the message. For example, a message might just be the posting of another student's essay assignment. Just check such a message to confirm that it is nothing that you need to read. In other cases, you might need to read a message carefully and might need to respond to it. Once you have looked at a new message, it will no longer be indicated as "new" in Blackboard.
Do not let new (and therefore unread) messages accumulate. Something is terribly wrong if a student enters the Blackboard discussion areas and sees something like "26 New Messages" or "38 New Messages" or "93 New Messages" next to the titles of several different discussion forums. The student is missing much of the class if this is the case.
Once, a student posted an essay in Blackboard but did not have the essay saved in Rich Text Format. Within a few hours of the posting, the instructor posted a reply to the student's message asking him to repost the essay in Rich Text Format. A week went by without any response from the student, a clear indication that the student was not doing a good job of reading new messages.
Read Instructions Carefully
Most online classes do not include "lectures" in the conventional sense but instead rely heavily on the written word. This means that online classes typically involve a lot of reading for students, and it is important for students to read and reread course material carefully: this is how much of the learning takes place in the class. You might be tempted to scan through some course material quickly, but avoid this temptation. Not reading carefully is likely to cause students to miss a lot of information or not to understand well the information that they are supposed to be learning. Of course, it is especially important to read assignment instructions carefully. If you find it easier to read from printed pages than to read from the computer screen, you might consider printing some of the reading assignments.
Once, students were to post in Blackboard a topic that they had chosen for an essay on a controversial issue. The essay instructions explained that students could choose almost any topic but listed five or six topics that students should not choose. One of those topics that students were not supposed to choose was abortion. One student posted a message in Blackboard saying that she had chosen the topic of abortion. How well had this student read the instructions? And if she missed the information about not choosing abortion as a topic, what other information about the assignment was she going to miss?
Of course, it is possible to overlook or not understand information about an assignment even if you have read the instructions carefully, but not reading instructions carefully can lead to consistent problems with negative consequences.
Keep Track of Assignments and Due Dates
A major reason why some students do not do well in an online class is that they do not do a good job of keeping track of assignment and of managing their time so that they will keep up with the class.
For this class, all assignments are organized into units, with each unit typically spanning two to three weeks. Under "Assignments," you will see each unit listed, along with all of the assignments for the unit. To help you keep track of assignments and when they are due, you can print one page from Blackboard that lists all assignments in a unit and their due dates.
Just click on "Assignments" on the left side of the Blackboard screen, click the title of one of the units on the right side of the screen, and then click the word "Contents" near the upper left of the page. You will then see a page listing all of the assignments for the unit and the due date for each assignment. There is no explanation of the assignments there (you have to click on the assignment title to see the instructions for it), but you could print this page so that you have a one-page printout to help you keep track of assignments.
Schedule Your Time Well
The nature of online classes gives students a lot of freedom as to when they can complete assignments. This can be good: the flexibility of online classes often make them good choices for students with busy schedules. However, this same flexibility can lead to students procrastinating and getting behind in the course work, and there is not much distance between getting behind in a class and withdrawing from the class or earning a low grade.
Procrastination and lack of motivation are two of the major reasons that some students do not do well in online classes. Be aware of when assignments are due and try to schedule your time well so that completion of assignments by the due dates will not be a big problem.
Complete All Assignments
In any classes--traditional classes on campus or online classes--not completing assignments means a significant reduction in the course grade. It often is possible for a student not to complete one or two minor assignment and still finish the course with a decent grade, but the grade of "0" for incomplete assignments lowers course grades much more even than a grade of "F" on an assignment. And make sure to complete all essay assignments. A student who does not submit one essay assignment greatly reduces the likelihood of success in the course.
Ask Questions
Many colleges provide a checklist of characteristics of students likely to do well in online classes, and one thing that almost always is on the checklist is that students "are not afraid to ask questions." Asking questions is especially important in an online class.
In classes on campus, even if students do not say a word, their facial expressions often give the instructor a good indication of whether or not something is clear. We do not have the benefit of facial expressions online. If students in an online course do not ask questions, the instructor most likely will assume that everything is clear to students.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to post those questions in Blackboard. Not only will you receive answers to your questions, and thus learn more, but you will send a clear message to the instructor that you are serious about learning.
Seek Additional Help
If you are having trouble with assignments and are not doing well in the course, realize that there are additional resources available to help you. Extra help is available, but you have to want it and have to be motivated enough to take advantage of it. IVCC has a Writing Center staffed with English instructors and peer tutors that provide free assistance to students during any stages of any writing assignment. Other colleges have similar resources. If you live near IVCC, you can also visit your instructor during office hours for additional assistance, or you can call or e-mail the instructor with questions. Students who have the motivation to seek additional assistance can greatly benefit from it.