Expectations and Responsibilities for Online Learning

Students should expect to spend at least three (3) hours online per week, per course. Since you will be working at a distance from your instructor and classmates, you will need to be disciplined in accessing your course and completing your assignments in a timely manner. If online discussions are used, students will be expected to post responses to discussion topics and to reply to fellow classmates. It is important for students to connect to the instructor, their classmates, and the course content to eliminate feelings of distance and isolation while learning online. Students learn, not only from their instructor's teaching, but from the course material and other students in the course. Online learning is a rewarding experience!

Do You Have the Discipline to Take an Online Course?

When taking an online course, develop a routine schedule. Find a time and place where you will not be interrupted and access your course(s) to read new announcements from your instructor, new postings to discussion boards, and new assignments. Access your SCC Webmail account, too, to see if you have received new e-mail messages from your instructor or classmates. Click on the following questionnaire to help you understand if online learning is a good method of learning for you Online Learning Orientation .

Technical Requirements Necessary for Online Learning

Technologies change quickly and it's sometimes difficult to keep up with these changes. Most new computers have enough hard drive and memory needed for online learning. If you are taking a course, such as a technology course, that requires more than the average hard drive or memory requirements, you should contact the instructor(s) to make sure you have the necessary technical requirements. The following guideline will help you understand the technical requirements you will need (students are also welcome to use SCC's computer labs to access their online courses).

• An Internet connection
  • dial-up - this is fine, but realize that it is very slow at times. Students may experience frustration and error using dial-up services (AOL is not compatible with Blackboard. If you are an AOL user, do the following: access AOL, minimize AOL, then connect to Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox to access your course(s)).
  • Cable
  • DSL
  • Satellite
• Recommended Computer Specifications
  • Processor - 3.0 GHz or faster (1.6 GHz or greater if a mobile processor)
  • 1GB of RAM or greater
  • 40 GB hard drive or greater
  • CD/DVD-ROM
  • Windows XP (or Vista )
• Recommended Software
  • Microsoft Word (if using Microsoft Works or WordPerfect, save files as "Rich Text Format - .rtf")
  • Browser - Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Mozilla Firefox (Do not use AOL as a browser)
  • Check with your instructor to see if additional software or access codes are needed.

Accessing an Online Course

You are probably wondering what an online course looks like, and you are most likely questioning if it is easy to learn online. Even if you have never attempted to take an online course before, we think you will find online learning to be user friendly. This means that you do not have to be a computer genius to take an online course. Let's go to the Blackboard login page and access an online course.

• Go to http://classroom.southwesterncc.edu
• Type in the username - visitor (all lower case lettering)
• Type in the password - scc (all lower case lettering)
• Click on the title (link) Exploring Online Learning in the upper right