For those with countless hours of sun this time of year the idea of moving the clocks ahead an hour is a downer. The hour you lose is while you’re sleeping, unless you’re up finishing classwork. For those up north the hour less means an hour more of sunlight! Regardless of your geographic location, as an online student you shoudn’t have to blame the hour loss for your assignments getting turned in late.

[Setting Up Great (and Successful) Study Habits]

Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead early, or before you go to bed Saturday night. Get yourself mentally prepared for the time change. Use your time wisely working on assignments. While it may not feel like a big loss, you’ll definitely feel the pressure if you put off your discussion post to 11pm that night.

By J. Mason

Many students who decide to return to school may feel some trepidation about this new experience. For those who take American Public University System’s COLL100 course, or a similar introductory course at another online school, the initial online experience can be less scary.

[Today's Special is Education]

Welcome to the COLL100 Neighborhood!

In a lot of ways COLL100 is like an online block party. The online classroom is like the neighborhood and the students are like new homeowners, moving into a new area. COLL100 provides a foundational base for undergraduate students to build upon throughout the rest of their academic careers. Not only can students learn a bit about their new “neighborhood” (the classroom, library, and other APUS services), they can also meet some of their new “neighbors.” Like at our homes when we need to borrow an egg to finish dinner, it is a good idea to make friends with our neighbors.

Read the full story

A lot of first-time online students have a bit of anxiety and nervousness surrounding their first online classroom experience.  I wanted to compile some do’s and don’ts for those of you who may be new to this!

I did a bit of crowdsourcing for this post… thanks to the awesome folks from the AMU Facebook page for their awesome insight!

Without keeping you waiting any longer, here’s my top 10 list of online classroom fails (as shared with me by real, live online students!):

1. Cursing or ranting in a discussion post.
2. Improper use of grammar.
3. Failure to use spell check.
4. THE USE OF ALL CAPS.
5. Not citing your work, “borrowing” from classmates’ posts.
6. Failing to proof-read your post before submitting.
7. Attacking classmates and/or their opinions or beliefs.
8. Improperly using the copy/paste function from Word (resulting in a bunch of code mumbo jumbo before your actual post).
9. Scrutinizing classmates’ work instead of constructively contributing to discussion.
10. Being boisterous and presumptuous.

Want to read more? Check out the thread here!

By N. Cooper

Instead of wasting trees to jot down notes (as an online student you’re already cutting back on your eco footprint) turn your desk into a dry erase board. �

[related: It Can Be Easy Being Green]

There is this awesome paint made by Rust-Oleum, where you can turn wood, metal and other surfaces into a dry erase board; most people use this for their kids room, or their home office. The paint allows you to turn the smallest of objects, or large ones, into a canvas for those smelly markers we love to use. Be crafty by turning a paper sized part of your desk into a “sketch pad”. Or, if you have more room on your desk you’re willing to sacrifice cover a bigger portion for big sketches and mind maps for class.

The price for the paint is about a half tank of gas, maybe less, but the outcome is pretty amazing. Consider switching up how you write out your ideas or topics for class.

What DIY projects have you tried in your home office that help you focus for school? Share your ideas below.

By: J. Mason