Angela, Your description is exactly why we have to provide students in online classes with a lot more detail about the expectations for the course. We need to provide them with detailed outlines of assignments and due dates, detailed grading practices, where to go for help, when and how to communicate with the professor and more as well as what they should expect from the instructor in the course (such as when and how grading will be done). The more detail you can provide them up front the more you can alleviate some of their nervousness. Herbert Brown III