This text is appropriate for online or hybrid Student Success classes, General Education courses delivered online, and as a supplemental resource across the curriculum to prepare students for effective online learning. It addresses strategies specific to the hybrid and online learning environment combined with key components, learning styles and critical thinking, from best-selling Keys to Success to help students be effective across the curriculum.
Keys to Online Learning addresses though the convenience of online education has enabled greater numbers of students’ access to degree programs, being successful in this environment requires specific skills and strategies. Every element can be fundamentally different for online students (i.e. the presentation of material, classmate and instructor interaction, assessments and activities). Students will learn how to effectively experience the online environment learning process as they decide what, how, and when course materials are accessed. Reading skills are required for print and onscreen content. Writing is the main form of communication, informally on discussion boards and formal writing skills in academic papers. Assignments require virtual collaboration, and developing peer relationships requires a different skill set than those used in face-to-face settings. Online education can make a student more anonymous, so motivation and time management is paramount. This resource will support online students to develop the aforementioned skills: reading, writing, assignments, and more, infusing learning styles and critical thinking throughout.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Logging In to Success
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as an Onlien Student
Understanding the Online Learning Environment
Facts and Fictions of Online Learning
Types of Online Courses
Feature: Online Application
Types of Assignments
Types of Learning Management Systems
Setting Yourself Up for Success: Practices of Successful Online Learners
Prepare for the Path Ahead
Structure Your Schedule
Set Priorities
Develop Discipline and Accountability
Foster Relationships
Feature: Online Outlook
Seek New Skills
Manage Your Thoughts and Emotions
Feature: Create a Quick Plan for Success
Ask for Help
Feature: Practice
Chapter 2: Managing Time and Priorities
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as a Self-Manager
Setting Goals for Success
What is a Goal?
Dealing with Conflicting Goals
Guidelines for Attainable (SMART) Goals
Feature: Create a Path to Success
Time Management Tools and Strategies
Schedules and Planners
Common Electronic Calendar Features
Managing Time in Online Courses
Manage Email
Feature: Online Application
Feature: Online Outlook
Manage Discussion Forums
Manage Course Resources
Manage Your Non-Educational Computer Time
Put Off Procrastination
Develop Good Habits
Feature: Practice
Chapter 3: Navigating Learning Strategies
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as a Self-Knowing Learner
Use Assessments to Learn about Yourself
Assess to Grow, Not to Label
Types of Assessments
Feature: Create a Character
Assess Yourself with the Multiple Intelligences with Pathways to Learning
Take the Assessment
Apply the Strategies for Online Learning
Assess Your Style of Interaction with the Personality Spectrum
Take the Assessment
Apply the Strategies for Online Learning
Feature: Online Outlook
Feature: Practice
Chapter 4: Critical Thinking: Programming
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as a Thinker
Becoming a THINKER
Take apart information
Hear other perspectives
Identify False Logic
Neutralize judgment
Keep out bias
Evaluate sources
Resolve problems
Critical Thinking in Arguments
Identifying the Conclusion
Identifying the Premises
Identifying the Supporting Evidence
Identifying the Hidden Assumptions
Critical Thinking in an Online Environment
Strategies for Using Critical Thinking in Threaded Discussions
Strategies for Searching for Information Online
Feature: Online Application
Feature: Evaluate Websites
Feature: Online Outlook
Feature: Practice
Chapter 5 Uploading Information—Online Reading, Information Literacy, and Study Skills
Feature: Rate Yourself as a Reader of Online and Text Materials
Get Ready to Read
Define Your Purpose
Be Prepared for a Challenge
Set Realistic Goals
Expand Your Vocabulary
Deal with Internal Distractions
Prepare for Online Reading
Active Reading Strategies for Critical READERS
Rapidly Skim
Evoke Memories
Apply Critical Thinking
Determine Main Ideas
Engage with Others
Review
Summarize
Online Reading Challenges
Complex Material
Eyestrain
Feature: Create a Summary
Feature: Online Application
Feature: Online Outlook
Reading Strategies for Different Learning Styles
Feature: Practice
Chapter 6 Compressing Information--Note-Taking for Online Courses
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as an Active Student
Basic Note-Taking Techniques
Deciding on What to Record
Deciding Where to Keep Notes
Feature: Create Abbreviations
Note-Taking Situations
Note-Taking While Reading
Note-Taking for Multimedia Presentations
Feature: Online Outlook
Collaborative Note-Taking
Note-Taking Formats
Outlining
T-format (Cornell System)
Think Links
Feature: Online Application
Note-Taking Strategies for Different Learning Styles
Feature: Practice
Chapter 7: Zooming in on Online Course Assignments and Tests
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as a Writer
Tackling Any Assignment
Before You Begin
Approaching Different Types of Assignments
Feature: Online Application
ANSWER the Question
Characteristics of Effective Writing
Clear Topic
Good Organization
Feature: Create a New Topic
Writer’s Voice and Material
Feature: Online Outlook
Sentence Variety
Conciseness
Correct Grammar and Punctuation
Good Design
Applying Strategies for Different Learning Styles
Feature: Practice
Chapter 8—Creating e-Portfolios
Feature: Analyze: Rate Yourself as a Self-Promoter
Developing Your e-Portfolio
Purpose of an e-Portfolio
What to Include
Feature: Create a Short Biography
Steps in Creating an e-Portfolio
Decide
Collect
Develop
Feature: Online Application
Evaluate
Share
Feature: Online Outlook
Feature: Practice
About the Author :
Kateri Drexler has been designing online applications for students for over fifteen years. As the President of Global Learning Solutions, Inc. Kateri oversees the creation of interactive and engaging online courses, labs, and simulations. Prior to venturing into the online world, she was a professor of business administration and has authored or co-authored twelve texts in the field of student success.
Kateri is dedicated to discovering what drives and enables students to learn. When a high school biology teacher challenged her to raise her own standards significantly, beyond what she thought possible, it changed the course of her future. Since then, she has studied how others can benefit from finding their own driving force and mastering learning skills by making small adjustments in habits and practices. She has traveled extensively around the world; living and working in Africa, Asia, South America and the U.S. helping thousands of students take control of the factors and forces that shape their lives.
She is a consultant with the U.S. Department of State for governmental ministries and heads of businesses in developing countries in terms of strategic development. Books include: Strategies for the Future Professional, Strategies for Building on Your Best, Icons of Business Volume I, Icons of Business Volume II, Strategies for the Future Professional, Strategies for Active Citizenship, Strategies for Technical Professionals; Pathways to Success Volumes I- III. She was the Media Director for the Keys SERIES, developed several Instructor’s Manuals, the Student Success Supersite, and media for use with Keys and other texts, online courses for Student Success. Kateri holds an MBA.
Carol Carter began college knowing she was “behind the 8-ball” in terms of her skills. What she lacked in experience, she made up for with elbow grease and persistence. The work paid off and she graduated college with honors and a desire to help other students. carol's company, LifeBound, is her classroom. each year, she works with ten to fifteen interns and graduates who help her develop ideas whic, in turn, help students in college and school districts around the country. As President of LifeBound, she teaches study, interpersonal, and career skills to middle school and high school students to help them become competitive in today’s global world and to create better prepared freshman entering college. She also trains and teaches faculty in Academic Coaching. Learn more at www.lifebound.com ot follow Carol on Twitter.
Her first book, Majoring in the Rest of Your Life, launched her writing career and opened the door to her work on the Keys to Success Series. Her blog site is www.caroljcarter.com..
Joyce Bishop has taught college students for more than twenty-two years. After struggling with a learning disability as a student, she went on to earn a PhD in psychology. Right now, she is in her dream job as a staff development coordinator at Golden West COllege, traning faculty in learning strategies and online teaching techniques while still teaching three classes. in 2008 Joyce received the Hayward Award, a state teachinga ward.
Joyce co-founded the Pathways to Independence non-profit foundation for poor young women from abusive backgrounds. While the young women have come from backgorunds as diverse as prison or extreme poverty, the program has sent 225 of them to college and 195 have graduated into gainful employment. This photo is of Joyce with one of the Pathways graducates, Valerie, who obtained her degree in nursing and is now working at a major university hospital.
Sarah Lyman Kravits lives the strategies for success she writes about. As an author and mother of three children aged 11, 9, and 5, she faces the challenges of managing time and fulfilling responsibilities (not to mention eating right and getting enough sleep). In her writing and research, she works to stay creative and keep up with technology and the growth of knowledge. In her work with colleagues all over the country, she strives for integrity, effective communication, productive teamwork, and flexibility. Finally, in her current role as a breast cancer patient, she uses goal achievement and stress management strategies every single day to get through a host of new and unexpected challenges.
Review :
“This is the best text I have seen for students which incorporated learning skills and study strategies for being successful in an online environment. I feel that the text can benefit those students taking online courses, but also those students who take any course where there are online components to the course, or any online research course requirements.”
--Diane Eisenberg, Chapman University
“The exercises and surveys in this text are far better and to the point than is the case with other texts in the field. The greatest strength is the clear and concise writing style. It is a pleasure to read this text. The chapters I read were extremely well organized and written. The text flowed naturally from one topic to another, was not too jargon-heavy and was interesting and intriguing even to someone who was one of the earliest adopters of online and multimedia technologies. Excellent manuscript. It is well written, contextualizes well and covers every topic in a thoughtful and readable manner.”
--Jeremy Dunning, Ph.D., Indiana University
“The tone is consistently accessible for the target student audience and is written in a motivating, engaging style. The greatest strength of the writing is the regular tendency to provide concrete examples and applications of the theoretical topics.”
--Mark Brasher, ITT Technical Institute, Online
“This is a book that helps students understand the challenges and develop the skills necessary to thrive in an online learning environment”
--William Shultz, Ph.D., Walden University
“It is the first text I’ve seen with a clear focus on the online learning environment and strategies for online learning success.” —Lisa Taylor-Galizia, Carteret Community College
