One of the biggest challenges students face while studying online is managing their time and other commitments. Falling behind when juggling other work, family and childcare can often take its toll on your academic success.

According to a 2013 study of online college students by Marie Fetzner, these were the top three reasons students felt they did not succeed in their online courses:

1. I got behind and it was too hard to catch up.
2. I had personal problems—health, jobs, childcare.
3. I couldn't handle studying plus work or family responsibilities.

Don’t let this happen to you! Use these tips to write your own success story!

Communicating in an online course is typically different than in a face-to-face course. You must keep your tone in mind because you cannot make changes once you hit send.

Here is a list of the 7 Cs of Effective Communication in an Online Course, based on an article by Melissa Veneable. Before you get to the 7Cs, you need to remember to proofread everything you write before you press submit! Proofreading and grammar/spell-checking can really improve your success when communicating in your online course.

Clarity

You want your messages to be clear so that fellow students and your professor can understand the point you are trying to make. Proofreading your material or even letting someone else read it prior to posting can also be useful as they may show you problem areas (i.e. areas that are difficult to understand) that you are not aware of.

Completeness

You want to ensure you are answering any prompt or assignment completely. For instance, a prompt may have multiple parts you need to address. Even after writing your response, look back at the prompt to make sure you are addressing all of the necessary components.

Conciseness

I am sure many of you have heard the phrase, “short and sweet” to refer to the ideal length of time you should speak (e.g. in a presentation). Short and sweet is the key here. You want to communicate your point completely and effectively but remember less can be more. Most professors would prefer a shorter post that hits all of the key points than a long post that repeats the same points or goes on and on.

Correctness

Make sure that the message you are sending is correct containing accurate information. Utilize reliable sources when gathering research for your message. When providing this information for others, be sure your grammar, spelling and punctuation is correct as well.

Concreteness

Emphasizing your main points are important. This may come by sharing images, tables, or charts. However, you could also accomplish this by making sure you have a structure that makes sense to the reader (i.e. clear thesis sentence and clear concluding sentence).

Courtesy

Respecting others when communicating in your online courses is vital... re-read your post or even have someone else read it prior to sharing it with the class. This will allow you to assess that you are coming across as respectful and professional as possible.

Consideration

Who are you communicating to? You should keep in mind the recipient of your post and/or message. If you are writing a post for your class, you want to ensure you are using complete sentences. If you are texting a friend, then the same sentence conventions may not apply.

For some students, taking an online test will be a new experience.

The reality is that the first steps to getting ready for an online test are very similar to an in-person test. Regardless of the format, you need to study and be prepared. But then, there are a few other things to do.

In their book E-Learning Companion: A Student’s Guide to Online Success, Fourth Edition, Ryan Watkins and Michael Corry provide several recommended steps that students can take in order to succeed on online tests.

Below we have some tips for managing test anxiety from our counselling team. 

Leading up to the test:

• Reduce the demands in your life as much as possible around the time of your test. What are some of the things in your life that you can put off until after your test is finished?
• Get organized and ensure you are allowing enough time to study and review. What mechanism do you use (i.e.: calendar, reminders, etc.) to ensure your study time is part of your schedule?
• Consider studying with a peer — discussion of topics with another person will often improve memory recall.
• Get enough sleep — your memory works better when you are well rested.

Just before the test:

• Engage in positive self-talk, or visualize yourself being successful on the test. You’ve put a lot of work into getting ready, now trust yourself. This helps to facilitate better focus and confidence and decrease anxiety. Recall the last time you did well on a test and thrive on that success.
• Refrain from last minute cramming — this serves to increase anxiety which makes it more difficult to focus. Instead, consider doing something relaxing like talking with a friend, going for a walk, focusing on deep breathing exercises, etc.
• Prepare everything you need for the test (e.g.: your notes, scrap paper and writing utensils, ensure you have connection to your Wi-Fi, water, snacks, etc.).
• Ensure you have a quiet spot to complete your test. Consider letting others know within your household that you are doing a test and would appreciate quiet and no interruptions.

Consider trying a free guided relaxation session on YouTube that fits your needs and complete it in your own time.

During the test:

• It is normal to experience some anxiety or nervousness as you take a test.
• Take deep breaths to ensure you are calm and focused. If you feel anxiety or worry welling up, focus on taking a few more deep breaths.
• Ground yourself by taking a few seconds to feel your feet on the floor, your hands on your desk — this can help you focus.
• Remind yourself of past successes — you’ve done tests before and have done well many times!
• Take your time reading and re-reading the questions to ensure that you understand what is being asked.
• Consider finding an easy question to begin with — this helps to facilitate flow and confidence.
• If anxiety begins to take over, take a few seconds to close your eyes, breath in to the count of 7 and breath out to the count of 7.  Continue this until you feel yourself beginning to relax.
• Remind yourself that you do not have to be perfect, but rather you are doing the best you can.

Making presentations either on your own or with your team is not going away because you are studying online. So we have put together some tips that will help you create an amazing presentation and share it virtually with your class.

7 tips for giving great online presentations

• Make yourself visible. Many presenters complain that they can’t see their audience on virtual calls. But it's worse if the audience can't see you! Make sure you have proper lighting, centre yourself on camera and are close enough to the camera (typically not farther back than seeing past your midsection). 
• Start and end on time. Between connectivity and log-on issues, start times can be tricky. Make sure you have checked your internet connection and have sufficient battery on your device.
• Keep your slides simple. Slides with lots of text can be confusing and hard to read.
• Be clear and efficient. Make sure your presentation is easy to understand.
• Make your presentation entertaining. Just because the presentation has lots of factual information doesn't mean it has to be dry and dull. You can add a lot of flair without making your talk unprofessional.
• Use visuals. Make sure you add graphics that elevate your presentation and provide value.
• Leave time for questions. If you set an hour for the presentation, at least 15 minutes should be used for questions and discussion.

Remember, as a GBC student, you have free access to Office 365 programs, which include Word and PowerPoint! Canva is also a free and easy-to-use tool for presentations.

There are also presentation skills workshops throughout the semester that are run by student ambassadors, so keep an eye out for their events.

Transcript:

Tips for online students to work successfully in virtual groups

Working in groups for class assignments can sometimes be difficult, especially for the online learner. Follow these useful tips to help guide you into a more successful virtual group dynamic.

When possible, choose group members with similar schedules. Online students reside in different time zones and can have opposing work schedules.

Be proactive and begin setting the groundwork early. As online learners, your time is extremely precious. Align group roles and responsibilities with individual strengths and interests.

Organize, research, record, and analyze.

Transcript:

Identify what project activities must be accomplished, in what order and by when.

Choose a group leader who is comfortable taking on that role.

Communication is key; establish clear guidelines around when, where and how your group will communicate with each other.

Create a comfortable forum to communicate through, even if it’s not the online classroom setting. Some options are Blackboard, Microsoft teams, Zoom, or Google Hangouts.

Schedule extra conference calls close to project deadlines to address any last minute hiccups and tasks.

Transcript:

Always be honest, but respectful in a group. If either the project or a fellow group member is heading down a path you don’t agree with, speak up.

Ask your professor to implement mandatory peer evaluations. This strategy encourages equal participation by ensuring individual accountability.

Don’t be afraid to talk to your professor. Provide regular group updates, which can then be used to track progress and mediate concerns.

Source: Tips for participating in group work and projects online from Drexel University

A few extra tips...

Know your team and instructor.

• Get to know your team members. Getting a little personal with each team member can make it easier when it comes to sacrificing time to achieve a common learning goal. Also, get to know your online instructor and his or her teaching strategies. Engage him or her in an email dialogue.

Find a specific weekly time to meet.

• A team can’t function solely through email. Microsoft Teams meeting conversations often gets a point across verbally that 10 emails can’t. Plan the Microsoft Teams meetings at least once a week to keep everyone in sync.

Establish Clear Roles on the Team.

• An easy way to establish an efficient structure and avoid miscommunication later, assign yourselves separate roles based on your strengths and skills. Some roles include a facilitator to keep everyone on track, a recorder to take down notes, a checker to make sure everything is ready, and so on.
• Elect one person to be the “voice” for the final version of the written assignment. Having everyone write separately is fine for rough drafts, but taking a piecemeal approach to the final product can make it disjointed and confusing. The project comes from multiple authors, but give it one uniform voice in the final draft. Once the elected “voice” has edited together all the content, have them submit it to the group for review. Group members can then make edits or insert ideas to polish the final assignment.

Agree on the tools that you’ll use to collaborate.

• There are a lot of collaborative tools you can use like Office 365 or Google documents. Pick and agree on the collaboration and tracking methods before starting.

Handling Conflict Resolution

• Being prepared at the start of your teamwork can help with any conflicts that could arise later. You can create a team contract that states everyone’s roles, your goals, overall plan and conflict resolution strategy. Get everyone to sign the charter and abide by those rules. 
• Conflict can be natural and a good opportunity for growth. Even with a plan and effective communication skills, it’s still possible a disagreement can happen. When it does, address it as soon as possible and take the time to listen to one another in order to come to a decision that works.