When you commit to taking classes online you give up on some of the benefits of more traditional schooling. You can miss out on the idea of class discussion, hearing other people’s questions and struggles and even face to face contact with a teacher or peers. However there are way to make up for these interactions. You can form a virtual study group that can give you a chance to work with other people that are learning the same information and pool together your knowledge to achieve a better understanding of the materials.
If you are going to form a virtual study group, there is going to be a little extra work on your part. But if you are taking all of the same classes with the same people it might becomes easier as you continue your schooling. Begin by letting everyone know what you are planning. You can email them or if you have a way to post messages to the class you can do that too. Let everything know that you want to be able to interact with people in class. You may end up meeting in a chat room, corresponding by instant message or even just sending emails back and forth.
When you find that classmates are interested figure out a time that will work best for everyone. This might be one of the most challenging tasks as most of you may be taking online classes because you don’t have a lot of extra time for other things. Do the best you can to set something up. You may need to download something to your computer (like add messaging software – which is usually free).
Because you are all adults you don’t necessarily need a moderator. If you were the person that put it together everyone may want you to open things up and get them started the first time. Use this to your advantage.
