E-Learning - 12 Online Learning Tips for Students

1. Understand the deadlines - Follow the course outline and check it frequently - Many online courses have tight deadlines and teachers expect students to meet them for assignments, assessments and even chat sessions.

We have seen many students miss these deadlines. A big cause of confusion can be the midnight deadline if students are not careful. In this example a teacher states that the "Quiz" is due on Jan 2, 12:00am. What this means is that you really need to complete the Create Online Quiz on Jan 1, because the "Quiz" will close right when Jan 2 starts.

Pay close attention to time zones as well. If your course is hosted in a time zone other than your own, you will likely be expected to submit assignments by that time unless specified otherwise by your instructor.

2. Technology can fail, be prepared - Unfortunately, and while it is generally infrequent, technology can fail from time to time. Your computer may not boot up, the power may go out, your Internet connection may cut out briefly and many other unplanned things could transpire. So always try to do important assessments ahead of time so that you can communicate your difficulties to your instructor and make other arrangements before the deadline.

In the event you encounter a technical problem, try and document as much as you can. If you called your ISP about your internet troubles, have them send you a support ticket confirmation or if your browser stopped working, try taking a screenshot. Documenting any technical problems you have will help show your instructor that you are being academically honest.

3. Use a reliable computer and internet connection - Ensure that you have a reliable Internet connection. For example, if your using a Wi-Fi connection and it loses the signal from time to time, I wouldn't recommend writing your final exam or conducting any other major assessments using this connection. Also keep your machine clean of viruses and spyware by using up-to-date protection software.

4. Eliminate social distractions - e-Learning gives you the flexibility to study where you want but make sure you don't study anywhere where you will be distracted. This could include loud areas or in front of the T.V. But choosing a good locating to study is only half the game plan. Your computer can also be a source of many distractions. Make sure you close all instant messaging programs and not distract yourself with Facebook, Youtube and a host of other addictive sites. Trust us, a quick 5 minute break to "just check something" could side track you for an hour.

Lastly, put your cell phone on silent and try really hard not to look at it while you study. Just focus on what you're doing and you'll get more done and be back to your social life faster.

5. Reward yourself - e-Learning is just like a regular classroom experience, if you feel you have done well and achieved your e-Learning goals reward yourself go out for a movie with friends, socialize grab a coffee, or just ensure you take a break from studying when you know you earned one.

6. Save your work - When typing long essays into the e-Learning system, make sure you save as often as possible if such an option exists.

If you are typing in Microsoft word keep saving every few minutes. If you are typing into a text input box or discussion board in a learning management system ensure you try to save every few minutes as well. If such an option doesn't exist, a good strategy is to always compose all writings larger than 1 paragraph in notepad or Word and then copy and paste the content when finished. This way in case you're browser crashes or your session times out your hard work won't be lost.

Most browsers will close a session after 60-90 minutes of inactivity which may cause any submissions you have to error and consequently be lost. Clicking "Save" on a learning management system reactivates the session.

7. Feel free to communicate - If you are stuck on an assignment it is a good idea to communicate with classmates using the Wiki, email, Chat, Forum, instant messaging or whatever communication tools are available. If there is something you can't figure, out try emailing or calling the instructor. When doing so, make sure that the teacher specified this method as being appropriate to contact them.

If the instructor is fine in regards to calling him, you may want to use good judgement and not to call at an inappropriate time. If your instructor doesn't post "office hours" or specific times when they are available to be contacted with student questions, good times to call would generally be business hours 9am-5pm and not after 9pm.

Remember, even if you have a firm understanding of the subject matter, participating and communicating with others will make your learning experience more enjoyable and effective.

8. Create a schedule - Even though this is an online course, you may want to look at the syllabus and create a schedule and then set personal deadlines that you want to meet.

Putting off all of the work until the end of the course may overwhelm you and you may realize at the last minute that there is simply too much to do or your quality of work may suffer as you rush to finish everything.

Also keep in mind that online courses can actually have more deadlines in some instances when compared to in person classes. Some instructors make participation mandatory and will set deadlines for required forum participation, wiki postings and even assign grades for participating in a chat.

9. Use proper netiquette - Just because you are taking an online doesn't mean that you're invisible. Avoid using inappropriate or vulgar comments and statements on forums, chats, private messages and wikis.

Always conduct yourself as you would in a real face-to-face interaction and be respectful of other learners.

Before you press the "Send" button think twice and consider if what you are saying is appropriate or could be misinterpreted as offensive. With online learning, based on the permission settings, sometimes messages can not be removed once sent. So always think of what you are saying before you say it.

Remember debating is encouraged and stimulates learning. But making offensive comments to other learners would not be considered debating and may cause you to be removed from the course or penalized.

10. Log in frequently - We recommend that students login daily at the very least to check for updates. You never know when the teacher will post a change or even add a bonus assignment. Logging on keeps you updated and better able to schedule your tasks. Usually each course will have a course news or updates section where you will be able to find the latest news and changes related to the course. Some more advanced learning management systems can also email you a copy of all forum posts for the day, content update notifications and even forward your private messages. If you're on the go and have a smart phone or tablet, make sure you take advantage of these time saving features if their available.

Remember, you can be the brightest student but if you rarely login you will never know when these changes occur and it will impact you negatively in the course.

11. Don't cheat yourself - Many online courses require you to conduct your tests fully online and independently. This means you shouldn't use Google to find answers, call another person, or do anything else that would undermine the integrity of the course.

Recognize that if you are caught for such actions, you could possibly fail the course, be removed from the entire program, or face disciplinary actions for breaking the "academic dishonesty policy". Being honest and taking the time to actually learn the content will benefit you in the future by giving you new knowledge that you can use in the real world. Remember knowledge is power!

12. Understand the course type - Some students may get into the mindset that because they are taking an online course they will never have to show up to class, attend meetings or write any in person assessments. In actuality, some courses have both offline and online components. Off line components could include course labs, meetings, in person tests, and even lectures. If your course has a heavy off-line requirement in addition to a supplementary online component, this may be what is referred to as a hybrid course.

So always find out from your institution if the courses you are interested in are hybrid courses, partially offline, or fully online. You wouldn't want any surprises half-way into the course or have to drop out because of a scheduling conflict.

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4 Crucial Reasons Not To Fill In The 'Is He The Right Boyfriend' Quiz

With the advent of the internet, there are many quizzes now online that say that they can help you know where your relationship is going. They offer a way of analyzing your relationship with your boyfriend and whether he is the one for you. However, I would ask you one question, "How do they know you or your guy and what your relationship is really like?" They cannot possibly know who you are and what you are like together, and that is why there are at least 4 crucial reasons not to fill in the 'Is He the Right Boyfriend' Quiz!

They are not personal - These quizzes cannot be personal as they would have to know you and everyone else tempted to fill them in and that is just not possible. Because they cannot give you individual insight into your relationship and what your boyfriend is like, the value of filling one out would be questionable at best and at worst no value at all!

They cannot take into account the important factors - Love tests available online and offline do not take into consideration what is truly important in a relationship and what is more important what is relevant to you and your boyfriend. It cannot advise you on what you deem to be important in the person you want to spend the majority of your life with. Relying on a test or quiz to give you advice on matters where clearly they won't have all the answers is going to be a danger to your relationship.

They ignore your evaluation and intuition - One of the reasons people fill these quizzes or tests in is because they are feeling insecure about their ability to make a good choice and decisions. You may be looking for confirmation that you have made a good choice and when the test comes up with a different answer then it creates doubts and gets you to ignore what you do know in favor of an unreliable source of advice. You could then ignore your intuition and make a decision that you will regret. Nine times out of ten your intuition will be right for you.

They may be written by someone who is not an expert in relationship matters - It is worth checking out the experience of the writer of the create online quiz before giving it any credibility. Your relationship is worth more than just taking anybody's advice on it, so check out the expertise of the originator of any test or quiz to do with relationships.

If you do need advice on your relationship, you are better off to seek a professional counselor and work with them individually so that the information you get is relevant to you and your boyfriend and if you want some tips about the kind of guy you are looking for, start with asking yourself that question, and writing down those characteristics and then watching your guy for evidence of these. Remember, though, to be aware of what kind of girl will attract the guy you are looking for, too...

These types of tests and quizzes are generic at best and may give you some food for thought if put out by someone who has genuine experience, but as far as being able to give you relevant advice about your boyfriend and relationship, they are not to be relied on.

You would gain greater insight in talking with your family and friends even though they may not be relationship experts, they will have had some experiences that they have been through.

Sometimes your family and friends looking in on your relationship can see things about your boyfriend that you cannot see and asking them about it can give you insight as to whether you should take things to the next level or not.

If you are really struggling with the question 'Is he the right boyfriend for me,' then the mere fact that you hesitate may be your answer, if you are not sure then perhaps he is not the one for you.

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Quiz Nights As Team Building Exercises

The greatest asset of any organization is its workforce and when this workforce performs its obligations by working as a team, success is guaranteed. There are many team building games that are created to help improve interpersonal relations among co-workers and lessen workplace-related conflicts. The focus of such exercise should be on the employees typically and not so much the work that has been assigned to them.

When employees realize the value of working together automatically the task gets accomplished. They cannot be forced to do so; therefore team building efforts are made by managers to inculcate in them the spirit to work as one unit. One such team building event that you as a manger can arrange for is the quiz night. Reasons as to why this game is a preferred one are:

1. This game is easy to organize as the costs entailed are very less. If you have the knack and passion for it you can easily come up with the questions. You could even buy the quiz pack from online sites for a few pounds. You can keep aside an entry fee to cover the costs for snacks and drinks if you wish to.
2. The background work for the event is not too strenuous and you could come up with a questionnaire by devoting only a couple of hours after work for a few days.
3. This is a great way of increasing familiarity amongst the workers and those who barely knew each other may end up talking and reasoning together to get their answers right.
4. Workers from different departments are often paired together to help them get to know each other. Those belonging to some other business may also be roped into the team so that they all come to know what work the other does.
5. Getting business functions closer may help to introduce transparency in the company which is very beneficial.

How to organize a quiz night:

1. Do a trial run first with your friends before doing it in a professional capacity. Look out for the problems that may surface and take suggestions on how to eliminate them.
2. Get some people to help you as you conduct the rounds of quizzing. You need more scorers and helpers when you are organizing a big create online quiz involving many teams.
3. Try to stay composed and calm when you are faced with unprecedented issues that may surface as the quiz continues.
4. Always keep some extra questions handy in case you need to arrange for tie-breakers.

Team building exercises are aplenty ranging from luxury trips sponsored by the company to adventure sports and creative workshops.

Post Source: EzineArticles

Online Quizzes

People are always eager to see what their personality profiles say about them. They always want to see how much knowledge they have on a particular subject or theme. There are lots of ways to find out how proficient they are in any subject matter. One of the most favorite techniques to gain these types of understanding is the quiz.

Online quizzes are a very convenient way to get a prompt reply and instant gratification. There are some websites that specifically make quizzes and polls for educational and other purposes. Students use such websites because it's free, fun and educational. Most of the students use this for mainly three purposes: one is to gain knowledge, second is to share the knowledge and third is for fun. Yes! Sometimes students create online quiz for fun to test themselves or their friends. You can find quizzes on everything from A to Z.

More and more people are getting involved with online quizzes. Quizzes don't always have to be educational; they can be fun or it can be a combination of both.

It is easy to create fun quizzes online because some sites have user-friendly access and you can find out what other people are saying about any topic. The scope and range of quiz options are endless and you can make it as diverse as you want it to be.

Often, quizzes are used as a measuring tool to measure one's knowledge on a particular subject. But, like many things in the world, quizzes have taken on an evolutionary development of fun and ideas. They are not as plain and educational as once thought. Instead, today, they are diverse and used to measure anything and everything under the sun.

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Online Training Needs Assessments - How to Measure Learning Performance Effortlessly

Nowadays, most online training instructors like to evaluate what learners learnt during the learning process through traditional summative evaluation. However, this assessment approach needs to be changed, as it only considers final learning outcomes without considering the learning process of learners. Actually, learning performance can be tracked by related online assessments in the process of online training. With meaningful and periodical performance assessments, instructors would easily and efficiently measure all performances and provide valuable feedback to learners in training progress.

How to Conduct Assessments in Online Training?

1. Schedule all assessments, not just at the end

Regarding the flexibility of online assessments, instructors need to know the overall schedule of the training to grade whole learning process. With different levels, make exact schedule of assessments to examine all learners' performances. The good point is, instructors can benefit from those results of assessments as feedback, and add improvements in the learning courses of next level. For online training, the scheduled assessments could be easier to be integrated into original learning timeline. Assessments and courses can be based on feedback from previous assessments to engage learners with interactions. At the end, assessment in traditional way also makes sense with maximum efforts. In scheduled training, performance assessments are really helpful to control entire learning process.

2. Customize assessment creation, with right tools

To author online assessments with specified requirements, instructors will create and implement quizzes to test undergoing training. Types of quizzes may differ and may feature formats ranging from multiple choice answers, plain typed text responses and true/false and yes/no questions. Instructors should carefully select the assessment authoring tools, according to the usages. Create online quiz as performance assessments in online training has two categories of tools: desktop applications, or Web applications. Desktop apps such as Wondershare QuizCreator, or Web apps such as Quia Web have similar features to customize assessment creation, but the online usages. Desktop apps usually have plentiful contents and take Flash technology to Web compliance; while Web apps offer easy-to-use quizzes creation online directly but exact enhancements.

3. Track and evaluate results, under management

As feedback on performance is a critical part of a learning environment, online training instructors really need to analyze all results of performance assessments. In order to evaluate the whole learning process and know the exact data, all assessment results must be properly collected and processed in the learning system. Most LMSes (Learning Management System) such as Moodle, BlackBoard can track assessment results within the system. And the Web quiz apps Desktop quiz apps usually come with a results component, for example, Questionmark's Results Management System, QuizCreator's Quiz Management System as professional assessment management, to make all results data from performance assessments arranged as report. Whatever the systems you use, just summarize the reports in the meaningful points you need.

4. Take actions on feedback, performances focused

The best part of performance assessment in online training is not just reporting the differences of individual learning process, or scoring the final exam as performance. The results in assessment report aim to inspire instructors to keep improving the efficiency of entire online training. Just take actions on the feedback. Instructors must manage all assessment results as different reports in those assessment management systems, or deal with them using other professional statistical analysis software like Microsoft Excel or SPSS. With meaningful result of these assessments, instructors have the opportunity to maximize the value of any public or corporate training.

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Role Of Short Online Quizzes In Exam Preparation

We've heard a lot about the conventional methods - classroom learning, practice exams, simulation-based testing - that have been employed to assist students in preparing for these key exams. Long tests and practice exams are often appropriate preparation methods however sometimes they may be too broad-based or inflexible to fit a student's need to work on specific weak areas. Short, material-targeted practice quizzes have proven to be effective in helping students strengthen specific weak areas. Students who have used short quizzes in conjunction with traditional, practice exam preparation methods have reported strikingly positive results.

What makes short quizzes so effective in preparing for exams? A major factor is the ability of a short quiz to test a specific area of knowledge rather than all of the required material. For example, the SAT Critical Reading test contains two major sections of questions "reading comprehension" and "vocabulary in context" and even within these questions, different types appear. For example, a student may be very bad at summarizing a passage's main focus, which in turn results in him getting a lower score every time on a major practice test. With shorter quizzes on only the main focus questions, the student will be able to quickly see how much room he has for improvement.

Pinpointing weaknesses, however, is only one part of the equation. With shorter quizzes, students can also receive customized feedback. Online practice quizzes in particular offer students the chance to receive instant feedback, which can be very helpful if a student is trying to "cram" for a big exam. Most students who take online practice quizzes agree that instant feedback is a major reason why they take the quizzes instead of simply reading preparation material or "cram sheets." Candidates for IT certification, for example, will often need to read explanations for the answers to questions as many of the questions will test each candidate's ability to analyze rather than to simply recall knowledge.

Online quizzes also offer the ability to include special media in questions that may appear on actual exams. For example, GED exams sometimes feature specialized images or pictures in order to assist the test-taker on a particular problem. Some IT or professional certification exams may even require a video demonstration of a particular problem to troubleshoot. All of this media and more can be included on the practice create online quiz, which can significantly improve the testing experience and offer a great deal of realism to the test-taker.

The shorter length of the online quizzes combined with the customized feedback makes for an incredibly personalized and flexible exam preparation experience. Students note that while these large exams are useful to take as gauges or diagnostics, short quizzes are useful to improve on a specific weakness. In response, these same students have turned to a preparation regimen that includes both full-length exams and frequent quizzing.

It's not by chance that so many students are using short, targeted online quizzes to quickly enhance their exam scores. The flexibility of these quizzes, coupled with their customizable feedback, offers to the test-taker the chance to improve on the areas that they need the most help with. In conjunction with classroom learning, everyday studying, and practice examinations, short quizzes can offer students the ability to significantly improve their performance on even the toughest exams.

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Relationship Quiz -- How to Get an A+ Every Time!

Taking a relationship quiz is generally a bit of harmless fun. Women's magazines love to print relationship quizzes as they know their readers can't resist trying out the questions on their own relationships. Online relationship sites also go in for them as they make good interactive content. But beware -- lots of relationship quizzes phrase questions in such a way they make you feel even worse about your own relationship. If you really want to take a relationship create online quiz, here are some pointers to get your relationship in tip top shape so you can ace any relationship quiz!

Your relationship is unique

Don't try and fit the relationship mould portrayed by the media. Hollywood celebrities are the last people on Earth that you should be looking to for relationship inspiration. Your life is your life. Get clear on what YOU love about your relationship and what YOU would like more of. Do the things and have the kind of relationship that makes you happy. If you go comparing yourself to others, you might trick yourself out of a good thing. There's enough wisdom in your heart to mend any relationship troubles and guide you into the fullness of Love.

The perfect relationship illusion

Your relationship doesn't have to be perfect to be perfect for you. Single people often form big long lists of requirements of their perfect partner. Unfortunately perfect people don't exist (sorry Brad and Angelina!) so it's pretty hard for anyone to measure up to your requirements. Put away the list and remember one thing: all you really need is someone you can love and who can love you back. In the end, you'll derive more satisfaction from lowering your demands and increasing your appreciation. Count your blessings in your relationships -- and in life -- and you'll end up with a lot more to be thankful for.

The secret to happy relationships

If there is only one insight I can share with you to bless you with a happy relationship, it is this: YOU are the key to your own fulfilment. Find the love within you, learn how to be happy within yourself, and all your relationships will come into perfect accord. This world and everything and everyone in it is a mirror, designed to teach you how to love. Short-cut the game by going straight to the heart and decide to feel the love there first and foremost. You don't need to change your partner first to experience a life full of love. You exercise your creative power by deciding each moment to experience and feel love. You create the internal experience of that, soak in it and then broadcast it to those around you. And when you are shining with Love, the mirror of Life in the form of all the people you interact with, will reflect that glorious Love back at you.

Post Source: EzineArticles