Listed below are some important study habits and personality traits of successful online students.

Independent Learners: Online students must feel comfortable in a learning environment that places emphasis on individuals taking responsibility for their learning process. While the online classroom includes interactions between the student and instructor, they are not immediate as in a traditional face-to-face classroom.

Goal-Oriented: Successful online students must be self-disciplined and goal-oriented as they work to complete their weekly assignments, post email messages, and possibly work with their classmates on their online class.

Proficient Readers & Communicators: Online classes are reading intensive; students are expected to glean information from their texts and from online materials to apply to work assigned to them.

Basic Computer Skills: The computer is an integral part of the online classroom. While mastering the lessons of your online course, you do not want to be saddled with less-than-adequate computer skills. These basic skills including proficiency in sending and receiving emails with attachments, cutting and pasting from Word, and communicating within Discussion threads.

Set a Schedule & Keep to It: Online instructors expect their students to be organized in setting a schedule that allows them to meet their deadlines. Online instructors expect successful students to log at least five hours of online work a week.

Meet Deadlines: Online students who are successful in completing their courses know how to schedule their time to meet deadlines.

Not Easily Frustrated: Students in an online class sometimes are faced with obstacles that are out of their control: computers can break, ISP servers can crash, and electric power can go out. A successful online student identifies solutions for unexpected "catastrophes" by thinking ahead about solutions to potential problems. What are your solutions to various “catastrophes”?

Remember Netiquette: Successful online students exhibit respect for the classroom environment and remember their "manners" when communicating to their fellow classmates and to their instructor. They understand that taking out their anger and/or frustration on their classmates and their instructor is not proper "netiquette" any more than it would be in a traditional classroom.

Take Responsibility for the Learning Process: Successful online students understand that their instructors are facilitators of their learning process and that the individual student must be a dedicated and goal-oriented selfstarter. Online students are motivated and goal-oriented. Do not afraid to ask questions.