Study skills are crucial for online courses both for faculty members and students. Indeed online classes come with some hefty advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, distance learning offers an outstanding opportunity for nontraditional students and anyone who's busy to fit higher education into their schedules. However, these classes require students to be disciplined, and not everyone is up to this task. If you're going to invest the money (as these classes can be expensive) and time (which you probably value quite a bit) into an online course, you need to develop some strong online course study skills. Here are some tips to help you make this experience a success. Time management is a struggle for all students, but nontraditional students often have especially difficult juggling acts. If you've got a full time job, a family, and/or other obligations, working in school may feel overwhelming. Some tips for the students: • Make a study schedule. At the beginning of the semester, set aside a certain number of hours each week to work on the course. Unless there is an emergency, stick to your schedule! Make sure you set aside enough hours, and -- difficult as it may be -- spend these hours working exclusively on school. • Make a study space. Most people work better if they have a comfortable work place set aside. This doesn't need to be a luxurious home office, but try to set aside at least a private corner of your home for school needs. • Avoid distractions. Home comes with lots of distractions, some of which are easier to avoid than others. If your child is sick while you're trying to study, of course this "distraction" will take precedence. However, you can avoid the TV, web surfing, and talking on the phone. If your time is at a premium, you'll have to work extra hard to avoid distractions. • Get family members on board. People don't always take online classes as seriously as traditional ones, and may not understand that you need to be left alone during your study time. Let partners and kids know, in no uncertain terms, that your studying is an important priority. Other family and friends also need to know that if you say you can't get together because you have school work, you mean it. • Avoid procrastination. Easier said than done, of course, but if you're a very busy person, you really need to get your work done efficiently and on time.