Remember that you won't have all those non-verbal cues that you get in the physical classroom and neither will your instructor. Words on the screen help the instructor *see* you much more clearly.

Also, your instructor's role will be much less that of the distributor of information, and much more that of a guide or resource for you in exploring an area of knowledge. The teaching style used in online courses may be different from the traditional college model. In fact, we encourage our online faculty to tailor their teaching styles to the more collaborative and interactive model of the web. What does this mean for you? Again, that taking a class online means you won't be sitting quietly in the classroom; participation is essential for everyone involved.

As always, effective communication is critical to success. It's even more important in the online environment because your instructor can't see your frown, or hear the question in your voice. Here, you'll be responsible for initiating more contact, for being persistent and vocal when you don't understand something. Your instructor wants to help–please write your question and send it along, express your confusion, your concern, and be direct! You will save a lot of time, and your instructor will have fewer sleepless nights. Be sure and ask about anything and everything that has to do with course content, course procedure and evaluation.