.

.

.

.

.

.

Student Readiness

How do you determine if a student is ready to pursue distance learning?

1. Self-responsibility: The student is able to select a course best suited to his course plan. This learner knows what he wants from a course to achieve even if he is not certain of which course he should take. A responsible student is usually willing to look at his options and make a decision based on his self-awareness of his learning preferences. This type of learner also locates a support system when he needs some technical or subject matter assistance with the course.

2. Self-awareness: Although it is often not taught in school, a student who understands his learning preferences is usually aware of how he learns best and will be able to determine if he can adjust to an instructor's teaching style as well as figure out adaptive strategies. The advantage of online courses is that often multiple learning styles may be addressed. For instance, an audio clip may be listened to multiple times as well as the written content may be reread as much as needed.

3. Technical ability: The ability to use a computer allows the student to focus on the course and not the technical functions of the computer and access to the course.

4. Adaptability: The student has the ability to deal with uncertainties that come up when using technology or in a new online course.