What is Online Learning? An Orientation for Online and Web Enhanced Classroom Students
http://www.swccd.edu/4thLevel/index.asp?L3=335

Before one signs up for an online course, Southwestern College has developed an orientation program to help determine if this is the right learning method. The subjects included in this introduction are characteristics of online students, characteristics of online classes, online learning tips, what makes a successful student and part I and part II "netiquette.

English Exercises Online
http://www.smic.be/smic5022/index.htm

This website gives free access to more than 100 language resources, interactive quizzes and exercises, ready-to-use handouts, time-saving lesson plans in vocabulary, grammar and dictation, text-writing, reading comprehension and ESL links.

Maryland Faculty Online
http://www.mdfaconline.org/index.html

This website is dedicated to serving faculty and providing instructional resources needed to develop effective technology-based teaching materials. Topics include orienting students, online syllabus, communicating online, group work, online discussions, self-assessments (Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Paragon Learning Style Inventory, Learning Styles Questionnaire from North Carolina State), classroom assessment, dealing with class problems, managing time, handling email, online technology and solving technical problems.

ESL Resources, Handouts and Exercises for Students and Teachers
http://www.owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/index.html

Purdue University's "Online Writing Lab" (OWL) has many different materials for English as a Second Language (ESL) students and teachers, which include resource pages, handouts, and exercises. Also available are printer-friendly and Adobe PDF versions of these handouts and exercises in the printer-friendly handouts section.

Tempest in an e-Teapot....
http://www.hicsocial.org/Social2003Proceedings/

Online courses have now been around for a number of years and continue to proliferate. How can the instructors of these web courses design and implement robust (interesting, challenging, powerful) classroom environments? This paper looks at content delivery methods, technical issues, the characteristics of online students and the instructors, and course management issues with an eye to making web courses more dynamic and fresh.

Journal of Interactive Online Learning, Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2005
"BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors"
http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/4.2.6.pdf

While classroom teaching and management strategies are well documented, the online learning environment presents different challenges and benefits. Teaching in an online environment requires a special set of teaching skills since many of the strategies and tactics associated with best teaching practices are somewhat constrained by the primarily text-based environment. The VOCAL approach summarizes the key characteristics that a master instructor utilizes to be effective in an online environment. VOCAL is an acronym for Visible, Organized, Compassionate, Analytical and Leader-by Example. The ability of the teacher to effectively infuse these characteristics into their instructional practice - to BE VOCAL - will promote a supportive, challenging, constructive, rigorous and effective instructional environment. Instructors who practice a VOCAL approach will have more productive learning environments, fewer management problems and more positive learning experiences with their students.

What Are the Essential Characteristics of the Successful Online Teacher and Learner?
http://www.uwsa.edu/ttt/kircher.htm

This Issue-oriented Dialogue White Paper at the Virtual Pedagogy Conference, UW Oshkosh, addresses many questions about online learners, online instructors and the online environment. It examines the essential characteristics of the successful online teacher and learner and what additional skills are needed.

Retaining Your Online Students
http://www.osra.org/2003/mcewen.pdf

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of online learners, also referred to as e-learners, and to suggest strategies that might be used to reduce attrition, especially in information systems and related courses. As such, the research problem is: What is the profile of online learners and what strategies can be used to enhance their retention in the information systems courses in which they enroll?

The researchers found that understanding the characteristics of online learners is an important precursor to providing interactions and services that meet their needs, therefore enhancing retention. Who are the typical e-learners, and what can be done to retain them in our courses and programs? To answer these questions we are challenged to accurately profile elearners and find realistic strategies to keep them enrolled in the courses that they self-select.

CTE Online
http://www.cteonline.colostate.edu/onlinelg.html

The Online Learning Guide supports the Colorado Credentialing Learning System. Links provide information about technical requirements for CCLS, characteristics of successful online learners along with a quiz to rate yourself on success factors, general skills (basic word processing, information about viruses, netiquette) Web skills (browser, plug-ins, printing and searching the Web) and discussion skills (threaded discussion, chat and posted student presentations).

Characteristics of a Successful Online Student [Olympic College]
http://www.olympic.edu/Students/Learning/DistanceLearning

Olympic College has provided information about some of the important study habits and personality traits of successful online students. Also included are links to an Orientation Course (PowerPoint, Word or Text Only), Introduction to Blackboard (PowerPoint, Word or Text Only) and frequently asked questions.

EDUCAUSE Quarterly | Volume 28 Number 1 2005 "Supporting Online Students with Personal Interaction"
http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/eqm05/eqm0515.asp

Providing high levels of personal, interactive support to students proved critical to the success of Florida State's online programs. More and more colleges and universities seek to extend their reach by offering individual courses and complete degree programs online. Planners of such initiatives will find it useful to examine the different challenges and approaches already in use on various campuses, as in the mentoring program at Florida State University (FSU).

Doing Distance Education
http://www.distance.ncsu.edu/aboutde/doing_de_right.html

North Carolina State University provides helpful information for the first-time DE student, or the returning DE student who would like a quick review. There is a self-assessment with frequently asked questions, strategies for success, computer information and course technologies.

Illinois Online Network: Educational Resources
http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/StudentProfile.asp

Illinois Online Network is a faculty development initiative that provides comprehensive professional development opportunities in the area of online teaching and learning to faculty and staff from higher education institutions in Illinois and beyond. Included are case studies, tutorials, journal articles, what makes a successful online student, updates in technology, information on how to develop an online course plus many other issues that are critical to online instructors.

Overview of Online Courses
http://www.csus.edu/uccs/training/online/overview/objectives.htm

This course provides an introduction to online courses. Learn about the California State University technology tools used to create and maintain online courses. Explore online courses and experience a course from a student's perspective. At the end of this course you will have a better understanding of online courses.

Topics included are:

Characteristics of Successful Online Students
http://www.howardcc.edu/online/requir_courseofferings.htm

Howard Community College provides a summary of the characteristics of successful online students and the necessary computer requirements for online learning.

Howard Community College Is Distance Learning Right For You?
http://www.howardcc.edu/distance/rightfor.htm

How Do You Learn? is a self-test that can be used for distance learning. The questions focus on personal circumstances and characteristics. After completing the self-assessment there is an explanation on how to score and what the scoring means

Individual Student Characteristics: Can Any Be Predictors Of Success In Online Classes?
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer82/wojciechowski82.htm

Two researchers examined various student characteristics to determine their relationship to success in an online undergraduate business course at a community college. All students who had taken this online course during a three-year period of time were included in the study (n=179).

Given the higher dropout rates often found within on-line courses, these findings could be used to counsel students regarding their decision to take an online course. Students who are older, have better GPAs and college entrance exam scores, have few previous course withdrawals, and who agree to participate in a class orientation session, are more likely to be successful in this on-line business class. Such results could hold true for other online courses as well.

The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks - Vol6: 1 "HOW DO ONLINE STUDENTS DIFFER FROM LECTURE STUDENTS?"
http://www.aln.org/publications/jaln/v6n1/v6n1_dutton.asp

The Sloan Consortium is a consortium of institutions and organizations committed to quality online education.

Three researchers conducted this study with two primary objectives. First, they wanted to know how students who enroll in online classes differ from their peers in traditional lecture classes, and the second objective involved both exploring what factors influence performance among online students, as well as whether those factors differ for online and lecture students. They compared two large sections of a course in computer programming for which almost the only difference was that one section consisted of on-campus lectures, and the other section was online. They found that online students do differ from lecture students in a number of important characteristics. However, when examining class performance and course completion, they found factors which influence performance seem to have a stronger impact on lecture students.

Teacher Effectiveness Program - Teaching with Technology
http://tep.uoregon.edu/technology/index.html
University of Oregon offers a variety of resources for educating and assisting faculty in teaching with technology. Teachers need to understand how these new tools can make a significant difference in how their students learn. The University encourages instructors to explore the potential technology-supported learning activities have to be useful and productive for their student's learning experience.

This website will offer instructors step-by-step instructions for using some campus-wide available technologies, offer suggestions for how instructors might initiate and guide particular technology-supported learning activities, present the different roles technology might play in a classroom, promote thinking and reflection about the best uses of technology in the classroom and network with other teaching with technology programs.

Getting Started Online
http://vfc.project.mnscu.edu/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={6A604AF5-6EE5-46C7-BE23-ACAFDA2CE772}

This self-paced tutorial is designed for Minnesota college faculty members interested in learning more about teaching in an online environment. It offers a review of current literature in the field through readings on key topics, practical tips and suggestions for online teaching, and links to Internet resources for further study. The tutorial is divided into four modules, each of which also contain points to ponder, an instructional activity, and a short quiz.

In this tutorial, you'll have a chance to explore some of the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in an online environment, as noted by faculty experienced in online instruction. A variety of resources is presented that should allow you to learn more about what it's like to teach online, the instructional and technical issues that must be accounted for, and key factors that contribute to student success in this new learning environment. Hopefully, you'll be able to form your own opinion about the efficacy of online instruction and will be familiar with resources and tools that can help you get started in the development of an online course, whether it's a web-enhanced, hybrid, or completely online course.

The modules include: