Communicate with your instructor. If you are struggling, make sure they know right
away so they can get you the help you need.
Set Goals
Set simple goals: log in once a day to check message boards and announcements and
start assignments the day after they are posted (not the night before they're due!).
Stick to your goals -- soon they will become part of your routine.
Participate
Be proactive! Join chat sessions, post messages in discussion boards, and attend virtual
office hours, and email your teacher or other students.
Study
Set aside time and a place where you can study uninterrupted. Expect to spend the
same amount of time studying for an online course that you would for a face-to-face
course, if not more!
You retain more of what you learned if you apply it in your real life right away -
whether that is at home or at work.
Make it real by talking to peers and supervisors about what you've learned, and use those
new skills. Pretend you have to teach someone else how to use the same material, and
you will see it in a new way!