First off I want to say that this term has definitely been a learning experiencing for me. If you would have asked me a year ago if I would be a full time online student I would have said no. This has been my first term at OSU and I have struggled but I also have had a lot of fun. The strengths that I naturally poss for an online learner is my dedication and commitment to learning. I know learning and getting a college degree  is important in my generation and I know in order to get a degree I will have to be very committed. Something else that has been a strength this term for me and in my life in general is I am good at asking for help or speaking up when I need to. I am learning from the other side of the country and I found that communicating with my fellow classmates and my professors is very important as a online learner. I have been put out of my comfort zone a little bit this term with communicating. Why I have been put out of my comfort level is because I have had to talk to so many people that  have actually never met before. At first this was hard for me, but after a week or two I found that it was’t so bad at all. What I ant to improve on as a online learner and as a student in general is that I don’t want to procrastinate and i want all my assignments to be on time. This class has helped me with procrastination and I know now how I can help myself or people or groups I can contact that can help me too. I also want to improve my time management in my school work. I work two jobs and have a bunch of things constantly going on in the week and I want to make sure I set the right amount of time aside to get my work done. The tools that I will use to help me is looking back at the work I have done in this class and my other class. I think this can be a great reminder of things for me. Some tips that I will use as a online learner is reaching out when I need to, knowing how to look up academic journals and research papers, and knowing where to find things on the Oregon state website. A resource that I found that will help me with communication is the Academic Success Group. I have not yet got involved but I plan on it throughout the summer. I am really glad I found this resource that can help me with some issues I may have or just having someone to talk to if I get overwhelmed with school stuff. I can not even begin to describe my goal for next term in the fall. I am glad I know how to use Canvas now so I think that should help me a lot and save me time and stress. I also know what it is like using a bunch of different discussion boards and I am very confident in my postings and communicating with my peers. A step I really took this term to help me in the next term is looking towards the future. I looked in advance at the term next year and i found there was a few things that were stopping me form being the best learner I can be. I think this goes back to the procrastination and not using my time the best that I can. I really have learned from the mistakes I have made this term and I am looking forward to the future to show I can improve the things i struggle with. I am really glad I took this class and it really has taught me a lot. I hope everyone had a great term not only in this class, but in all your other ones as well.

This is my first term here at OSU so it has been a roller coaster for me in many different ways. This is also my first term in college where I am taking all online classes. From transitioning from a in class student to an online learner has been pretty challenging for me. I can honestly say that I kind of had the mentality that doing online classes would be easier for me. There are many pros to doing online classes, but it is still very time consuming and difficult to do. A struggle that I had for most of the semester was managing my time and knowing when I can do assignments and when not too. I have struggled and still struggle with having the tendency to procrastinate and the farther the semester went the more I realize how destructive it can be to my grades. I think that this transition for me from in class student to online learner has been good for me too. By becoming a online learner and taking this class I have realized that I have strengths as a student.

This class has made me realize and identify the strengths that I have as a student and strengths I have as a online learner. One thing that this class has made me remember about myself is that I am a very driven and hard working person. I was raised that way and I try and apply this to be a college student as well. Some of the work in the classes I have this semester has been very hard and frustrating for me. If it wasn’t for the hard work that I put into my work I could honestly say that I would be failing right now. Something else that I realized this term is that I am not afraid to speak up and ask for help when I need it. Taking college course in Ohio from Oregon is a bit distant and requires me to contact different people in order to get help. I am glad that this class has made me realize that this is a good thing to do. Just this week I had a problem with a professor and I emailed him and contacted my adviser so I could get other opinions form people. Overall I’m glad this class has made me realize and identify the strengths we have as students. I hope everyone got something out of this class the way that I did.

-Joey Cramer

Hello everyone, this is my first blog in this class and my first blog ever. Going into full time online learning has been a little bit harder than I thought it would be. One of the strengths for me when it comes to doing online classes is that I get the freedom of doing my work wherever and whenever I feel like. This has been very nice for me because I have such a busy schedule. This may be my favorite thing about online learning, and it has been very nice compared to doing things in a class room.

A big surprise that has been shown to me by being at school here at OSU is the amount of work that each class has. I have gone to two other colleges and OSU has the most challenging academics that I have seen so far. This is a good thing I think because even though I am surprised about the level of academics I am learning, it is good for me to broaden my knowledge of the things I learn. I think no matter what you do in college or any level of school there will always be surprises in the things you learn or experience. My personal view is that these things are what make up learning. I think realizing that learning is full of surprises can make the learner use this as a strength.

My strengths of online school for me are a few different things. The first thing that is a strength for me personally is I am good with computers and typing and online learning seems to have a lot to do with those two things so far. Another strength that i have been shown through online learning in the past three weeks is that being flexible with your hours is okay in school too. I am always on the go and I have two jobs, so being able to use my crazy schedule with my school work really helps me. The last strength that I have noticed I have with online learning is that being a outgoing and talkative person can really benefit you. I am naturally a outspoken person and not actually being able to be with your professors makes it harder sometimes to get help when you need it. I have seen that all my professors are every willing to help me as long as I reach out to them through an email or something else. This has really helped me when things get confusing or become very tough.

My biggest struggle relates to some things that i said earlier in this blog which is the amount of work that i have. It goes hand in hand with a surprise for me as well as stated earlier. In all honesty the first week and a half of school was pretty overwhelming for me. I kind of got freaked out and I just felt lost with all my work and all my classes. After persevering through it for the past two weeks has made me realize that I can do my work I just have to be very organized and structured. If I procrastinate or get behind on my work, I have seen that it is super hard to catch up. So a goal for me personally throughout this semester is to minimize procrastinating and to make sure that i am always doing my work. I hope the past three weeks have been good for all of you guys.

-Joey Cramer