Study Help - Successful Online Study

Keeping on Track

You may find trying to navigate an online unit of study a fragmenting experience. After all, each hypertext link that you click takes you instantly to another piece of information. All of the pieces fit into a big picture, and in fact provide a broader picture than you would have had access to had you received the study guide in printed form. However, the challenge is to be able to peruse the broad and diverse components of each topic while keeping track of the main thread of each topic and the unit as a whole, and also to interact with the main ideas and issues presented, so that your study is a truly educative experience, not just a means of acquiring many different pieces of information.

It will be up to you to develop your own approaches to accessing the material presented to you online that are proven by time and practice. If you are new to this means of study, then the following information may be a helpful guide.

Guide to Reading Online

Read the material on each topic as follows:

• First, preview each section from beginning to end to get the general idea of the topic and information covered. Ignore the hypertext links.

• Second, read the material, only clicking on those hypertext links that are particularly relevant and for which you need additional information. Here you begin to follow up pertinent information in greater depth, to amplify the basic information provided or examine related topics.

Finally, read the material again, following up the hypertext links as they occur.