E-learner's handbook

E-learning skills

E-learning requires basic computer skills, motivation, time management skills, self-discipline, and a good start.

E-learning gives you an opportunity to study more flexibly – in a suitable place and at a suitable time. To be successful and study effectively in e-learning, you need technical skills as well as the skills of time management, self-management and, if necessary, asking help from the right people at the right time.

Getting familiar

Before you start learning, get familiar with the content, goals, structure, tasks, schedule, and requirements, etc. of the course. This information is available in the syllabus in the SIS and/or in the course introduction or learning instructions of an e-course. Find out how you can contact your lecturer and fellow students.
Find out what tools you need to study at the e-course. Can you use a computer at your workplace, in the library, in the computer classroom or at home? Do you need a webcam, microphone, earphones/speakers? You can do many things in a phone or tablet. Do you have a place where you can study undisturbed but where you can use electricity and fast internet, if necessary?

Time management

Take your learning in an e-course seriously. An online learning environment gives you certain freedom and flexibility, but requires self-discipline, motivation, timely performance of duties and time-planning skills.
Visit the course regularly, at least according to the course schedule or learning instructions. This way you are up to date with the due dates, discussions and other important information.
In your calendar, mark the dates when you have to submit assignments or an essay, present a project or groupwork, make a quiz or contact teaching staff. Consider that at the beginning of the course you always have more time than at the end of the course. If you lag behind, it is difficult to get back on track, and you may miss the opportunity to complete the course successfully.
Remind yourself to get up from behind the computer one in a while and take time to rest and exercise.

Asking for help

If you have technical problems or questions about the content of the course, do not hesitate to contact your lecturer, tutor or other learners. If you do not speak about problems, no one will know that something is wrong. But you will suffer.
If another learner posts a question in the forum to which you know the answer, don’t wait until the lecturer or tutor gives the answer but answer yourself. Support from fellow learners helps you keep up the necessary motivation. The lecturer is not the only source of information in the course – you can also learn from each other.

Communication

Be ready to communicate in writing. A great deal of communication in an e-course takes place in writing. Therefore, it is important for you to be able to express yourself in the written form. Social conversation in a chatroom or in a forum specifically designed for that purpose contributes to building a cohesive study group.
In addition to written communication, an e-course may include audio or video conferences (webinars and practical classes). For those you need a webcam, microphone and earphones and a quiet space. When you are not talking, please mute your microphone. Switch off the webcam when the lecturer asks you to do so – to reduce load on the internet. Because the webcam has a smaller field of view – or in the case of an audio conference – you need to be more careful and precisely follow the rules laid down by teaching staff, so that everyone could have an opportunity to speak and take turns to speak to get the desired result.
Be polite and respectful to your fellow learners.

Learning

Create a suitable learning environment where there are no distractions: be alone in the room, mute your phone, close social media apps, etc.
Read the course materials carefully when you prepare to solve certain assignments, take quizzes or participate in groupwork.
Be ready to cooperate with other learners in groupwork and projects. Don’t dump all work on your teammates!
Before you start learning, think what you already know of the topic, try to distinguish the important from the irrelevant, and think how the things learnt in one subject are connected with those learnt elsewhere. Try to immediately apply the acquired knowledge in your everyday work/life and share the gained experiences with other learners.
When you submit your homework, make sure that it includes your name and year (to protect your authorship), the name of the course (so that the lecturer would know in which course the work was written) and that the file is in the pdf format (easy to open and difficult to change). See example.
Remember that it takes more time to read text from the computer screen than on paper: your eyes will get tired more quickly and you tend to just skim the text. If you follow the links in the study materials, you may deviate from the course altogether! If possible, adjust the brightness of the screen to a more comfortable level. Don’t study in the dark, take short study breaks and do exercises (incl. for your eyes).
If video lectures are longer than 20–30 minutes, view them in parts to stay focused. Pause the video to think of what you heard, take notes or write down questions. If a video lecture contains interactive or oral tasks, make sure to complete these.

Giving feedback

Give feedback to the course teacher about the content, structure, assignments and schedule of the course and the activities of the lecturer or tutor, so they would be able to improve the course.