Participant Learners

Participant Learners usually do well in online courses. Because they are excited about learning and like to engage with the material, they have an automatic advantage.

The main problem that participant learners encounter is with time management. Because they often like to "go the extra mile" by completing optional work, assisting classmates, or just learning more than is required about the topic, they can burn out or become overburdened. If you are a participant learner, consider implementing time management strategies. Also consider taking a stress management, time management, or study skills class, to help you learn to prioritize and organize your energies.

Resources for Participant Learners

Here are some resources participant learners might find useful

Time Management Tutorial

Stress Management at College

Avoidant Learners

There's no getting around it -- Avoidant Learners often do poorly in online (and traditional) courses. If a learner is not interested in the course, and/or has no appreciation of how the course will benefit him/her in the future, it's hard to complete the necessary work. In fact, it's pretty easy to find other things to do instead.

Avoidant learners need to do some serious strategizing if they want to continue in the course. Meeting with a counselor and/or the instructor to discuss the meaningfulness of the course in relation to your degree and/or career goals can be helpful, as can meeting with a professional counselor to discuss other problems that might be getting in the way of your engagement with school. A study skills or time maanagement class or tutorial could also be useful.

Resources for Avoidant Learners

Here are some resources to help Avoidant learners get ready to learn.

Normandale's Counseling Department

How to Succeed as an Online Student