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

The online student needs to make sure they have 5 areas of interest down in order to survive school. They need to know time management, how to take notes, refine their writing skills, how to conduct research effectively, and effective study habits. Here are 5 app types to facilitate the online learning process:

• Time management/Organization
  • GoTasks
  • Homework Tracker w/Reminders
• Note taking
  • Evernote
  • iAnnotate PDF
• Writing
  • Write 2 Lite
  • Papers
• Researching
  • Article Search by Foreminds
• Studying/Flashcards
  • Flashcards Pro
  • iCram Master

Check out my app picks in the podcast below!
By J. Mason
5 App Types for the Online Student by APUS

School isn’t for everyone, but how do you know if it’s not the place for you now? It may have been 4 years since you left high school, and for others as much as 20 or 30, but it’s never too late to re-consider your education options. For some of us that route could mean a community college to finish up a degree, but not all of us have that kind of time. An online education is becoming steadfastly a greater option for those people that had life come into play and had to put off their education.

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Wonder where all your time has gone? If you find you don’t have the time to get all your classwork done then maybe you need to do a little detective work to see where it’s all being spent.

Rescue Time is a great time management tool that “spies” on your activity on the computer and will report it to you. By using this tool you can re-evaluate how you’re spending your time online and adjust to be more productive with schoolwork.

Think of this tool as a way of keeping yourself online. So if you know you spend too much time on social networks, which is great for communicating with peers and gathering new information, it can start eat away at productivity in school and at home. Be your own PI and read about the benefits of this great new tool that can completely change how you use your time.

By J. Mason