Study skills required for online courses are the same as those needed for traditional ones, however it is probably more important for the online student to be self-disciplined and develop good time management skills:

• Plan your time and follow your plan
• Schedule 9 to 12 hours for course work each week for a 3-credit course
• Read the online syllabus and become familiar with all the contents of the course web site
• Keep track of assignments and complete them on time.
• Purchase the text early
• Create a folder on your hard drive where you can store materials downloaded from the course ELS site

Participation and Communication

• High levels of participation and interactivity are important so that a sense of community develops—the broad range of student backgrounds in online courses allows for student networks to develop that last even after the course is over.  And some of the course points are awarded for participation.
• Many of the communications between students and instructors are “asynchronous”, meaning that the interaction is not done in real time; there is a delay between when a communication is sent and when the response is made.  Allow for this delay, but make an effort to reply within an agreed-upon time.
• Use all the communications tools built in to the course site (email, threaded discussions, chats) to communicate with the instructor and fellow students.
• Students should follow proper “netiquette” in their online communications.  The course management system keeps a log of all emails, chats, and discussions.  For clarification on the accepted rules that guide online communications, refer to http://www.library.yale.edu/training/netiquette/ or http://www.emailreplies.com/. 
• Only you and the instructor can access your online grades, and only the instructor and registered students can use the course email and discussion sessions.

Course and instructor evaluation

• Feedback about how the course is going is very important any time, especially early in the course.  The instructor will appreciate your opinions.
• An official UF online course evaluation email will be sent by UF to the students directly towards the end of the semester.  It is very important that every student complete this online form, and the instructor may provide extra credit for doing so.
• The official online evaluation form is based on the traditional paper form used in face to face classes, so some questions are lacking for online courses.  There will be a supplemental online evaluation form to cover those aspects.  SFRC is interested in having the best possible online program; we value your input!

Resources

• It is possible to link to UF library e-journals to do research for course assignments; your instructor will show you how.
• Use academically credible web sites for your course work; discuss how to recognize a credible site with your instructor.
• Use the instructor and other students as support if you have difficulty with some aspect of either the online procedures or the course content.
• Technical assistance is available through the UF help desk (352 392-4357 option 2) and the ELS home page (http://lss.at.ufl.edu/).
• Check with your instructor before you use online references for purposes other than the course—they may be covered by copyright restrictions.