Are you, if necessary, willing to put more time into a hybrid course than a traditional face-to-face course? Do you have the ability to manage your time well and juggle competing interests and priorities? Are you able to express your thoughts clearly via written communication?

These and other skills are essential for students wanting to succeed in a hybrid or fully online course. Surprisingly, however, some students still think technical skills are the number one priority for online success. Truth is, managing your time well and keeping up with deadlines tends to be among the most important skills because these good habits are transportable to the business world. According to a survey conducted in August and September 2012 by The Chronicle of Higher Education and American Public Media’s Marketplace, about half of 704 employers who participated in the survey said they had trouble finding recent college graduates qualified to fill positions at their company  because recently graduated students were “lacking most in written and oral communication skills, adaptability and managing multiple priorities, and making decisions and problem solving”. (New York Times 7-2013).

Many hybrid courses are beginning to utilize an instructional technique called ‘flipping the classroom‘, which is the process for organizing the lectures so that students view recordings online, respond to prompts from their teachers and their classmates online and come to class better prepared to discuss the materials from multiple perspectives in order to participate more fully in the live classroom segments. This enables students to use the resources of the Internet to participate online and in live discussion with ideas gained through multiple perspectives to form collaborative and creative in-person  learning opportunities that are both substantial and motivational. This format, when properly facilitated and grounded with a broad range of multimedia learning materials, tools and collaborative learning opportunities has a greater potential to shift the classroom from a traditional lecture-recitation format to self-directed, hands-on and peer-to-peer learning that is more dependent on a student’s active participation.

Professors at the School of Professional Studies advise the following to help students do their best in a hybrid course:

Class Behavior

Whether in a face-to-face traditional classroom or in a virtual online classroom we need to establish and maintain an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning. Please assist me in doing this. We can not tolerate any behavior that is disruptive in any manner nor undermining the instructional program.

Unacceptable behavior including but not limited to behavior that is distracting, disruptive, undermining or insulting or demeaning will not be ignored and will be reported if not halted immediately upon request from the instructor. Repeated offenses may result in removal from the class.

ONLINE Class Behavior

The above message applies to those in an online class just as well as to those in the traditional classroom setting. In the online virtual classroom repeated offenses will result in being barred from participation in the class.

Postings to Discussion Board

Please follow these “Terms of Service” or “Conditions for Use” or “Netiquette”:

• No sloppy postings, please use a spell check and then copy and paste into the discussion box
• No inflammatory messages, count to 10 before posting, No (masked) vulgarity,
• No trolling
• No spamming,
• No mentioning of pink elephants, etc
• YES, be polite
• Yes, be helpful
• Yes, copy and paste materials into your posts to support your positions
• Yes, ask questions of your classmates
• Yes, point out inconsistencies, contradictions and vagueness
• Yes, respond to those you respond to you in acceptable posting language.
• Do NOT use all CAPITAL letters. It is considered rude to do so.
• No spelling short cuts or emoticons,
• No lower case “i” in referring to oneself.No sentence fragments and sentences that begin without an upper-case letter.

Articles about Student Preparedness

• Online “Netiquette”: Being a responsible ‘net’ citizen

  March 1, 2013Alyson Vogel
    Online Netiquette This document frames a courtesy and respect policy and set of guidelines for students posting comments in their online classes and is a helpful one-page addition to your online course suitable for your course documents section. It’s entitled Online ‘Netiquette’ – Being a responsible ‘net’ citizen in a digital world. The document is campus-specific to Lehman College as seen in a few bullets, but can be adapted for your own college using resources that abide by your college’s principles of community and campus policies governing computer use and student conduct. (See link to Online Netiquette.) CUNY Acceptable Use Policy: The City University of New York Policy on Acceptable Use of Computer Resources

• More Help Preparing for an Online Class: Other CUNY’s

  November 17, 2012Maria Pagano
  LaGuardia College — Student preparedness quiz Queensborough Community College — What students need to know before taking an online class Queensborough Community College —  FAQ’s about online learning

• NYCCT Student Readiness Quiz

  July 11, 2012Karen Lundstrem
  This self-scoring quiz can help students find out if they are ready to take an online or hybrid course. It was developed by members of New York City College of Technology’s Online Learning Advisory Council (OLAC).  

• BMCC eLearning Self Assessment

  May 5, 2012Christopher Stein
  The following site at BMCC helps students to understand if they are willing and able to take a hybrid or online course. Is eLearning Right for You?