Connect with instructors early: Help is available but it takes time for instructors and/or graduate teaching assistants to answer emails or discussion posts. Questions about assignments should be brought forward early in the week so answers can be provided before the assignments are due. Also, alleviate some of the pressure for instructors by trying to find answers to course questions independently, if possible. Many general questions about the course can be answered via the course syllabus or the discussion boards. 
Create a schedule: GIS Online courses are designed using Quality Matters Program course design principles that ensure students can quickly identify the learning objectives, assignments and deliverables for each week. Be prepared to review materials early and plan out several two-to-three hour time blocks to log in and complete the weekly assignments. Creating this schedule helps students stay on track. Once a student gets behind in an online class, it is hard to get ahead again. 
Stay organized:Establish organization early and keep it up. Take time at the beginning of the semester to transfer important dates from the syllabus to a personal calendar. Use internet browser bookmarks for important sites you visit regularly (MyUWFDesktop at the very least). Set course notifications in eLearning to receive notifications of changes, updates and deadlines to a personal email account. This makes it easier to establish and maintain consistent interaction and engagement in the course as well as with peers and the instructor.
Have a consistent workspace: Online learning is well-organized by nature, since most of the necessary materials are accessible through a computer. Still, some of our classes require books, printouts, draft papers, and other loose items. Keep all of these items together, in one place. If not a desk or a file cabinet, perhaps some folders and a milk crate? Anything that helps keep the study station organized and conducive to learning. Also, be sure to have some “Plan B” locations in mind in case the normal workspace is somehow compromised or is no longer conducive to learning.
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