Characteristics of Successful Online Learners

Week 2, Question 2 - What are personality traits of those learners who are successful in online courses?
There have been many studies to determine what characteristics of students make them successful in online (and I suspect face-to-face) courses. In general terms, the following are common characteristics of successful online learners:
1) Independent learner – you receive a syllabus, course documents, required readings, and an instructor whose job will be to guide you through your learning experience, but you will be the responsible party for accomplishing the learning.
2) Active participant – students who do the assignments must post messages, interact in discussion boards, and communicate through e-mail and other means in order to achieve learning.
3) Good time manager – since the student is not required to be physically present in a classroom and thereby accountable, it’s very easy to let online coursework slide. In fact, it is imperative that the online student not get behind; it’s too difficult to catch up.
4) Goal-directed – one of the most important characteristics of successful online learners is their sense of direction; they have specific goals in mind which provide strong motivation.These traits were listed on the University of Denver website at: http://www.universitycollege.du.edu/program/online/onlinelearning/page6.asp, but are not unique to U of D. I teach a one-credit online class at Boise State University entitled, Introduction to E-Learning at Boise State, which provides training in using the Blackboard course management system used by BSU, plus familiarization with many web-based resources that students will need. One of their first assignments requires that students access several sites to read up on what make a good online learner, some material about learning styles, and a self-assessment to determine whether or not they will make good online learners. Many of the readings show that researchers have come to many of the same conclusions on what makes good online learners. My own experience shows that online learners who procrastinate or fail to communicate with the instructor invariably have a hard time with online coursework.