Orienting Yourself to an Online Course

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Another step to becoming a successful online student is to orient yourself to the online course. The sooner you are comfortable accessing the online course, the sooner you can focus on the course content.

To orient yourself to an online course, you need to follow these steps:

1. Log-in to the course. Once you have received your user ID and password, ensure that you can successfully log-in to the course. Bookmark or Add the log-in page to your saved list of websites.
   
   
2. Familiarize yourself with the course navigation This is the time to click and explore.
   
   
   
   
3. Read the course outline, which could also be called the course syllabus, overview or student guide.
   
• Note assignments and record any important deadlines on a calendar that you regularly use. You can also mark dates when you plan to begin working on larger assignments.
• Make a list of any additional materials you need to get before the course begins.
• Revisit the course outline throughout the course as you work through each section.
  
  
4. Explore the course.
   
   • Skim over several sections of the course. Don't spend too much time looking at the content, just get a sense of how much reading is required, what topics are covered and what kind of activities or tests are included.
     
     
5. Look over the list of resources or references. Are the resources required or just recommended? Will you need to go through the library to get them or buy them from the bookstore, or are they available through a website?
   
   
6. Practise using any communication tools. Most instructors include a welcome message in an online discussion area. Contact the instructor within the first week and introduce yourself. Do not assume the instructor will contact you. If you have any problems or questions, contact your instructor. Silence in an online course does not tell your instructor anything about how you are doing in the course. Do not be afraid to send your instructor a message; your questions are important.
   
   
7. Explore any other course tools. An hour or two of exploration time at the beginning of the course will save you time later on. For more information on the course tools used in WebCT, click here to go to the Using WebCT module.

If you have questions or concerns about any part of the online course during your orientation, make a note and contact your instructor. Be as specific as possible and if you don't receive a reply within one or two days, try contacting the instructor again. Because there can be problems at the beginning of an online course or delays in setting up online communication channels, you might want to try contacting the instructor by phone rather than by e-mail.

Activity

If you are already enrolled in an online course or will be in the near future, follow the seven steps listed earlier to explore the course. If you are not currently enrolled in a course, click here to explore the MacEwan WebCT Learner Guide. Follow the directions to log-in and explore the course. You may want to print out or save the steps on this page before orienting yourself to an online course.