life preserver coming out of a laptop computer

Life-Online

An Introduction to Online Learning

START HERE: Click on Skill Set #1 below
Or use the menu items along the top of the page.

For each of the five topics, you will complete a series of Learning Activities. Do the activities and you'll automatically learn the material (and be doing some interesting things at the same time).

four people in different boxes talking to each other Skill Set #1 - Learning Styles
- How to use either Desire2Learn (D2L) or Moodle
- Learn about Learning Styles: Everyone has one. Discover yours.

outline drawing of a file folderSkill Set #2 - Computer Skills
- Learn how to organize your files and folders.
- Discover some very cool short-cut keys.
- Learn how to find things on your computer.

clock face with second handSkill Set #3 - Time Management
- Make every second count towards getting things done.
- Fight procrastination.
- Discover how to train your mind.

football player focused on intercepting a passSkill Set #4 - Get Focused
- Get focused.
- Stay focused.
- Discover the truth about multi-tasking.

Skill Set #5 - Web Tools people around a conference table applauding
- Use Google Docs to create collaborative documents.
- Learn how to build and use spreadsheets.
- Discover lots of other helpful tools available for free, online.


Here are some reflections from students who have completed the course.

About Life-Online

Introduction

Life-Online is a collaborative effort of several Minnesota colleges and universities (MnSCU) to help you fine-tune the skills you need to become a successful online learner.

Life-Online is designed to be taken as a self-paced, online course. The individual modules can also be used in conjunction with other classes, either as an on-line component or as part of a face-to-face class. For more details you can refer to the syllabus.

Course Objective

This course is designed to give you the skills you need to be successful as an online learner. The course focuses on five areas, giving you a strong start, and a successfully finish with any course you take.

Course Requirements

Life-Online was designed with the understanding that you:

  • Have regular access to a computer and a connection to the Web. The course will work on any operating system including Windows 7, Apple OS X, and Linux.

  • Have basic computer skills: typing, saving files, navigating the web pages, and using a search engine such as Google or Yahoo.

  • Have an up-to-date browser
      logos of the four popular web browsers: FireFox Chrome IE and Opera
    • Internet Explorer 10 or newer
    • FireFox 26 or newer
    • Google Chrome 32 or newer
    • Safari 6 or newer

The course has been maintained and updated on a volunteer basis since 2012 by Peter K. Johnson at Web Explorations. I would love to hear your reflections on how this course helped you or someone you know. Please send me an email: