| WebCT
Is Taking An Online Course
Right For Me?
To determine if you are ready for taking a college course by online
instruction you need to ask yourself some very specific questions and
answer them very honestly.
Are you the type of student who plans well when taking a college
course?
With online courses you need to be very familiar with your syllabus and
follow the course calendar closely.
Do you have time to devote to your online course?
You’ll need to set aside a specific time for your online course.
You cannot afford to procrastinate. You’ll need to follow a routine
schedule so you don’t get behind. In most cases you will have to
check postings, e-mails and announcements daily. If you don’t have
the Internet or a computer at home, can you go to the library daily to
perform these required tasks?
Do you prepare for college classes?
You must highlight and/or take notes on important information from your
text or other reading requirements assigned by your instructor. You must
carefully read all instructions for the assignments and course navigation
requirements. You must carefully prepare for all assignments and activities
just as you would in a traditional classroom setting.
Do you understand the importance of your work being original
to you and avoiding the pitfalls of plagiarism?
Your work must be original to you, unless otherwise stipulated by the
instructor. Plagiarism (assuming credit for another person’s work—either
another student’s work or an already published work) is serious
and will not be tolerated. In fact, this is considered cheating which
has serious consequences as is clearly stated in Eastern’s
academic integrity policy.
Are you a good proofreader?
With online courses, just as with traditional classroom setting courses,
you need to carefully review all work before submitting it to your instructor
to catch grammatical and/or spelling errors, as well as ambiguous content.
Use your grammar and spell checker if needed. You must be aware of your
Netiquette or proper etiquette for
the world of online communication.
Do you submit your class assignments and activities on time?
Online courses are not “self paced” courses; they have deadlines
for when assignments and course activities are due. You must meet all deadlines.
Work that is not turned in or is late will have negative consequences to your
overall grade.
Are you the type of student who will ask for help?
You must be willing to clearly communicate with your instructor when you
have a question or concern. The majority of this communication will occur
online using your WebCT e-mail for the course in which you are enrolled.
Your instructor will have office hours for phone calls and some instructors
maintain virtual office hours at which time they are available in the
chat room of WebCT. You must be willing to ask your instructor for help.
The specific way for asking for help will be clearly stated by the instructor
in the course syllabus.
 I am that student,
and I’m ready to take
an online course at
Eastern.
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