Student Resources

Active Participation

Create a lively learning community. The online learning environment comes to life as a result of your active participation, whether in the discussion forum, through email, or with other communication media.
Stay connected. By participating, you’ll feel less isolated and more a part of the online learning community, or iCampus.
Enlarge your horizon. By actively contributing to discussion forums, you’ll exchange perspectives with your fellow students. This free exchange simulates the Campus experience.

Initiate communication. Feel free to contact learning partners, such as peers and instructors, whenever you have a question, comment, or contribution to take the discussion further. Even if you are the first to post in a new discussion thread, go ahead and post your contribution.
Keep the participation loop going. Respond to others' questions or take a discussion further with your perspective or additional facts to keep the interaction working. For example, if your peers have discussed poverty from a social perspective, make comments on the issue using a global view.
Ask questions. When stuck, recognize your need for help and pose clarifying questions to your instructor, peer learners, or others. For example, contact the group in the discussion forum, or your instructor privately through email, when you want to discuss the reliability of a Web resource for your term paper.
Have fun. Interaction with peer learners guarantees fun in learning and deepens its value.
Follow communication netiquette. Without non-verbal cues, it’s even more important in the online learning environment to follow "netiquette", such as avoiding "flaming" and not being sarcastic your contributions.