Successful Virtual Learner

Virtual learning is not for every student. Students who have a successful, satisfying experience learning virtually tend to share the following characteristics:

• Effective Time Management: The student creates and maintains a consistent study schedule throughout the semester and is able to do so without significant prodding from a teacher.

• Effective Communication: The student knows when and how to ask for help and is able to clearly describe by way of email, texting, and/or the telephone any problems she/he is having with the learning materials. This includes seeking help from the virtual instructor, a mentor, or even other students in the virtual course.

• Independent Study Habits: The student studies and completes assignments without direct supervision and maintains the self-discipline to stick to a schedule.

• Self-Motivation: The student has a strong desire to learn skills, acquire knowledge, and fulfill assignments because of an educational goal and can maintain focus on that goal.

• Academic Readiness: The student has the basic reading, writing, math, and computer literacy skills to succeed in the class.

• Digital Readiness: The student knows how to open, create, and/or save a document using word processing applications such as Microsoft, Google, and other cloud-based tools; use various technology tools such as the dictionary, thesaurus, grammar checker, and calculator; and identify, download, and convert various file formats such as doc, xls, pdf, and jpg.