Everyone hits a wall sometimes. Maybe online learning is turning out to be harder than you thought, or the demands of life and work just feel overwhelming. But don’t quit now. Try some of these tips to help you maintain your motivation for online learning.

Think small.
I used to be able to sit down at a desk and work for eight hours straight, but those days are long gone. Whether lack of concentration comes with age or motherhood or what, I’ve had to figure out a new way to operate. These days, I find that I work much better with small chunks of time – I actually get more accomplished when I have two hours than when I have five. And online learning capitalizes on this kind of time-block framework. When you’re learning online, you don’t have to stay focused for an entire day of rigidly scheduled classes; you might actually be able to give your brain a breather in between online study sessions.

Take breaks.
If you do have bigger blocks of time to devote to online classwork, it’s still smart to take short breaks so you don’t lose steam. To effectively recharge your batteries and keep your mind focused, stop thinking actively about the subject when you’re on break. That way, you might be able to return to your studies later with fresh insight. It can even help to remove yourself from the physical study space – walk away from the computer and even the TV to let your eyes (and your brain) take a rest.

Get energized.
To keep your motivation for online learning, you’ll need physical, mental, and emotional energy. Try these tips for taking good care of yourself and keeping your energy high: Get a good night’s sleep so you won’t be nodding off in front of the screen. Make sure your study spot has plenty of light so you can stay awake and alert. Set the room at a comfortable temperature – not too hot, not too cold. Hang up art that inspires you. Eat healthy snacks like apple slices to give you energy. Take a shower and get dressed. And make an effort to get outside or just take a walk to get some exercise, which boosts your endorphins – a surefire way to stay on task with your online classes.

Beat loneliness.
Loneliness and isolation can be some of the biggest challenges facing even the most introverted online learners. On days when you feel like you just can’t stomach another hour flying solo in front of the screen, seek out another human being to help you overcome isolation. Sometimes it just takes someone quietly reading or working next to you to help you feel like you’re not alone in the world and give you the support you need to see your online classwork through.

Reward yourself.
When you’re planning out your week, schedule in time for yourself, and make that time a priority. You’d be surprised how much a little “me time” can recharge you for a super-productive day of online learning. You can even give yourself permission to take a day off every once in a while; this is a better plan than going and going until your energy is totally zapped. It is way more difficult to get yourself started from zero than from 10 or 20.

There might be times when online learning feels like a breeze, and others when you can barely muster up the motivation to log on. But when you incorporate motivation builders into your education plan, you’ll be setting yourself up for online learning success.

-Robyn Tellefsen

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One of the biggest challenges online students face is trying to determine when you need to e-mail or call a professor to gain a better understanding of the material, especially as a big test or graded assignment is approaching.

In fact, lack of communication with an online professor can cause students to quit an online program. Philadelphia-based Drexel University found that 12 percent of students in its online Master of Science in Higher Education Program opted to leave or withdraw because of poor communication with their online instructor.

One student recently told me she learned this the hard way. She e-mailed a professor with a question and misunderstood the response e-mailed back to her, which cost her on the exam. The next time she e-mailed the professor, she took the extra step of responding back to the answer by putting the explanation in her own words to make sure she understood.

Some schools recognize that the two main ways of communicating with professors in an online course is via e-mail and phone. But effective communication is a key area where both students and instructors need guidance when learning online. Here are some tips offered by a variety of schools.

1. Be clear and concise in your e-mails.
To do your part up front. Strayer University, a for-profit institution, recommends using grammar or spellcheck when writing an e-mail to a professor, using complete sentences, and re-reading the e-mail to make sure you are clearly asking a question. Taking a few minutes to do that may save a lot of back and forth and misunderstanding with the instructor.

2. Watch your tone.
The inability to read body language or hear the tone in which the question is answered can cause you and your instructor to misinterpret questions and answers via e-mail. Experts with Drexel University recommend that instructors need to be careful about the tone in their e-mail responses so that the message is not “lost in translation,” and students should be cognizant of that as well.

3. Don’t be afraid to continue the discussion.
If you’re done that first step, then don’t hesitate to respond back to the instructor and ask further questions to clarify, Strayer recommends.

4. Look before picking up that phone.
Online instructors I’ve spoken with welcome phone calls. But Strayer and other schools recommend that online students check the syllabus first to see when they say are the best times to call, or first e-mail the professor to set up a convenient time to chat on the phone.

5. Use e-mail to discuss sensitive areas like grades and exams.
Professors recognize that you want to do your best, so if you’re looking for information about your grades or your performance in the class, leave that to e-mail instead of discussion threads the entire class can see. Private e-mails should be used to discuss individual student contributions and criticism, the University of Massachusetts advises its professors. You’ll also want to e-mail your professor privately to discuss issues unrelated to the course material, such as a need to reschedule an exam, Oregon-based Linfield College recommends.

These tips can help as you strive to be the best online student possible!

-Lori Johnston

We’re no strangers to bad press about for-profit schools, covering everything from overly aggressive recruiting tactics to sky-high loan default rates. So I decided to poke my nose around the for-profits to find out how they’re faring these days.

Good News: For-Profit Campuses Reinstated
After placing Westwood College on probation in December for questionable recruiting practices and low graduation and job placement rates, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education has just reauthorized the for-profit school to operate in the state. But Colorado still has its eye on Westwood – it is requiring the career school to report any findings from its accreditors for the next three years. Also, in February, the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board lifted its ban on the for-profit school, now allowing Wisconsin students to enroll in Westwood College Online.

Not-So-Good News: For-Profit Campuses on Probation
The three Texas campuses of Westwood College (Houston South, Dallas, and Fort Worth) were placed on probation and fined $41,000 last year because of several violations, including high-pressure recruitment practices and failure to notify the Texas Workforce Commission of four pending lawsuits against the school. The Texas campuses have been operating under Conditional Certificates of Approval since December.

Bad News: No Funding for Veterans at These For-Profit Campuses
The spotlight’s not off Westwood yet. In December, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs withdrew tuition assistance from Westwood’s three Texas campuses for deceptive advertising and enrollment practices. Fall 2010 was the last semester students were eligible to use VA benefits at those campuses. The VA continues to keep an eye out for similar tactics at other for-profit schools, especially in light of the Government Accountability Office 2010 report revealing that 15 for-profit colleges have made deceptive statements about graduation rates and misrepresented graduates’ earnings potential, among other questionable practices.

Good News: More Funding for Veterans at Other For-Profit Colleges
On the other hand, a veterans’ benefits bill approved in December is throwing for-profits a bone. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010 will provide a housing stipend to veterans taking college courses on campus and to vets who are schooling online. The law also expands benefits for veterans taking job-training and non-degree programs – the bread and butter of many for-profit schools. Most of the changes in the law will take effect in August.

Mixed News: For-Profit Schools Forced to Prove Themselves
Lest you think Westwood is the only for-profit under fire, consider the case of Everest College. Everest College Phoenix has until March 21 to prove itself to its accreditor, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Everest College Phoenix, which encompasses campuses in Phoenix, Mesa, and the school’s Online Division, has been on academic probation since 2009 because of concerns that the for-profit school does not have enough control over on-campus academics and operations and autonomy from its parent company, Corinthian Colleges. This past November, the campus was given an “Order to Show Cause,” requiring Everest to demonstrate why its accreditation should not be revoked. During the Show-Cause period, Everest College Phoenix does retain its accreditation.

For-profit schools can still be a great higher education choice, of course — just be sure to check the headlines before you enroll.

-Robyn Tellefsen

If you’re stuck on an assignment or just need encouragement to get you through an online class, a virtual assistant can be the one you turn to.

Although our country is a melting pot, a study reports that people are more likely to engage with the computerized coaches who have the same gender and race, according to a new study by researchers at George Washington University and North Carolina State University. They studied 257 people who interacted with the virtual helpers.

Study co-author Lori Foster Thompson in North Carolina told The Chronicle of Higher Education that having effective helpers can make the online learning experience more social, and even help increase e-learning completion rates.

She adds: “That is one of the issues with online learning, that it can be kind of lonely. If these agents are designed well, it can be a way to mitigate that.”

When it comes to learning online, the study reveals that students are more comfortable communicating with a virtual stand-in who they admire physically.

Co-author Tara Behrend of George Washington University tells Fast Company: “There is no reason we should make attributions about a person based on their avatar’s appearance. But it’s likely that these tendencies are automatic — we tend to assume that ‘beautiful equals good,’ both in real life, and as we found, in the virtual world.”

It also found that students preferred to deal with virtual stand-ins who have the same opinions about school success, either desiring personal best or to be the best among peers, the publications reported.

You’re likely to see the companies who create the virtual avatars expanding to a wider range of choices to appeal to all types of online students. But maybe the real test is when online students are able to create the virtual helper of their own (like the Miis created when playing Wii), and we’ll see exactly how close it gets to mirroring each student’s appearance.

-Lori Johnston

Apple just introduced iPad 2, the next generation of its “magical” device touted as defining the future of all mobile media and computing devices. For the last year or so, people have been talking about how the iPad even has the potential to revolutionize the world of online education. To me, however, this all sounds like a lot of marketing hype and “gotta-have-it” techie toy obsession.

But maybe I’m just a frugal (OK, cheap) skeptic. So I set out on a mission to uncover what the iPad can do for online learners that a plain old laptop can’t. Here’s what I found.

Get a minute.
If I’ve got a few hours to spend at a Wi-Fi hotspot, I bring my laptop along. But most online learners (and freelancers) do not have the luxury of big blocks of time for work or study. We’ve got to get our stuff done in the in-between times. And when you’re working with fragments of time instead of chunks, the iPad is ideal. It’s eminently portable, and there’s no boot time. I love my laptop, but I can’t just break it out at a moment’s notice.

Get engaged.
The tactile nature of the iPad is another distinguishing factor in the iPad vs. laptop debate. For tactile-kinesthetic learners, an iPad can be more engaging than a laptop or desktop PC can. Utilizing a free app like Sundry Notes, for instance, you can take notes that combine drawings, text, web snapshots, and voice recordings, all in one. And with a touch-screen stylus (a graphics pen), design students can do even more. Apple is currently working on its own pressure-sensitive stylus with a built-in accelerometer (great for gamers) and squeeze buttons that can be programmed for shortcuts like changing colors or brushes (great for artists).

Get together.
Once a week I camp out at my favorite coffee shop, and I almost always share a table with someone else on a laptop. We sit across from each other and type away, hiding behind our laptop wall. The iPad has the potential to change all that. When we look up from our iPads, we’ll be face-to-face, breaking down the physical and psychological wall of laptop covers that separate us. This would add place-based interactivity back to a modality that can be physically isolating – a coup for online learning.

Get on camera.
It’s time for the bells and whistles. The next-generation iPad includes two cameras: a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime and Photo Booth, and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video. The front-facing camera facilitates interactivity, which works wonderfully for remote lectures and virtual office hours. The video-capture feature is great for prerecording lectures; these lectures can also be enhanced using real-time image mirroring, which projects images from the iPad to a larger screen. And with the addition of high-definition video editing tools, students can not only consume dynamic content, but also create it at the same time, facilitating exploratory learning and reporting. Taking all of this into account, the iPad can certainly enable broader use of online visual education than my laptop can.

I still don’t consider the iPad the messiah of online education, but it does seem that it can advance the cause. It looks pretty darn cool, too.

So who wants to buy me one?

-Robyn Tellefsen

What does this epic trilogy have in common with online education? More than you think…

The idea of learning professions like medical billing and health information systems online does not require a stretch of the imagination. These programs, which focus more on the business and organizational side of health care than on direct patient care, require minimal (if any) clinical experience.

But did you ever think that cardiovascular sonography and diagnostic medical sonography students could do their lab work online? Now they can. Through the latest learning tool – the Simpro Virtual Trainer – allied health students can gain critical information without being solely dependent on the availability of patient cases during their clinical experience. It’s a whole new way to learn.

Sanford-Brown, a leading provider of health care education, developed the training system together with New Zealand-based SIMTICS, a leader in virtual simulation technology for health care education. (Sanford-Brown is part of the Career Education Corporation network of universities, colleges, and schools.) The cutting-edge technology has been available to medical imaging students at Sanford-Brown Colleges and Institutes nationwide for the last year.

And we’re not talking about cheesy graphics marching across the screen – this is hard-core, lifelike simulation. In fact, the team that created the animation for the virtual training system is none other than the team that did the animation for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Yes, those are the films that won Oscars for Best Visual Effects three years in a row.

How It Works
The Simpro Virtual Trainer breaks down each clinical procedure into simple steps, giving students the opportunity to make decisions about what to do next. The technology combines four types of interactive media: text, video, anatomy, and clinical simulations. The text element features animation, pictures, and clickable information about the procedures. The video option offers streaming video in sync with the text so that students can follow an actual procedure. The 3-D anatomy renderings reveal layers of the anatomy, including options to rotate and zoom in on individual parts of the body. And the simulator enables students to conduct realistic patient examinations in a virtual environment, where they can answer questions, select the correct instruments, and perform sonographic procedures.

Why Do It Online?
Of course, virtual training doesn’t take the place of on-site clinical experience, and it’s not intended to. Rather, virtual simulation is designed to enhance and complement in-person education, providing an effective way for students to gain experience with key clinical procedures at any time.

Because the reality is that during on-site clinical hours, students’ training is limited to the number of incoming patients on which to practice procedures. But with cutting-edge simulations and virtual training tools available 24/7, medical imaging students get more time to practice the procedures they need to master for their career. The increased accessibility alone can improve students’ training prior to clinical practice.

I don’t know about you, but if I were considering a career in medical sonography, I would want to find out how I could learn it online – “Lord of the Rings” style, of course.

-Robyn Tellefsen