Educational Telecommunications Distance Learning Resources	Tips for Success in Distance Learning Get input from former students of the course. Find out where the easy spots and the hard spots are. Ask previous learners where they thought "if only I had known that . . ." Familiarize yourself with the course design. Spend time looking at the course syllabus even before you register. Decide if you can be a successful self-directed learner in this particular study content. Be realistic. If there is insufficient time in your personal schedule to do the work of the course, you will be frustrated. You will not have to keep a class attendance schedule, but you will have to do regular academic work. Set interim goals and deadlines. Thinking about doing the whole course can be overwhelming. Accomplishing parts of it in reasonable time periods is encouraging and constructive. Organize your goals in a study schedule. Remember you should be spending at least two study hours each week for every credit you are taking. Identify study times when you are fresh and attentive and stick to those times every week. Stay in touch with your instructor. Visit or call your assigned instructor regularly. Sometimes you may think you are not even sure about how to ask a question about your work. That's when the teacher can help most! Evaluate your own progress regularly. Re-read the course objectives and standards often to see how you are progressing with them.
Top of Page	Keep aware of your materials. Distance learning courses have many different materials. Remeber you are not just watching or listening. You are learning from those various materials. Take notes. Imagine questions that might be on a test from your study guide, from your textbook, from films or audio tapes. Time your tests wisely. Be sure you have mastered the material that will be the basis for a particular test before you take that test. Don't be in too much of a rush; that can lead to sloppy and ineffective testing. Set deadlines for yourself, and stick to them. Keep a calender showing the number of weeks in the quarter and mark it off with the amount of work you need to do each week. Mark in the days when you will expect to take tests, submit projects, contact the instructor. Find some study-buddies. If you need the companionship of other learners for academic success, ask your instructor for help in identifying other students who may want to work with you. Discuss your progress. Ask your instructor at various points in the course how your progress is going. Point out areas that you think are difficult or unclear. Ask for help. You are in charge here. The instructor is your coach, but you have to execute the plays. Find your most effective motivators. What makes you perservere at a task? Do you get excited when you master a skill? Do you need a reward? Will promising yourself a pleasant diversion increase your concentration? e.g. "I'll study for two solid hours, and then I'll call my friend who's just back in town." Don't make the phone call before you study; it's too likely you'll wind up dropping the books for a good time with your friend. Remember the importance of sticking to a schedule. Pretend you really are in class when you are scheduled to do your course work.
	Center for Independent Learning | Distance Learning | Academics Copyright © 1998 College of DuPage Educational Telecommunications · Student Resource Center (SRC), Room 3035 · (630) 942-2597 slusar@cdnet.cod.edu Updated 26 Oct 98