With the busy lives of adult students, the course has to be recognized as meaningful and applicable. Students may need assistance in realistically determining if the course can work with their schedule, how to make that happen, and whether they want to make it the priority it needs to be for their success. Students need to be advised of common pitfalls (such as underestimating the time commitment, over committing to too many responsibilities, overestimating their skills, and procrastinating) to be avoided prior to making their decision to enroll in an online course.
Once a student makes the decision to enroll in an online course, general guidelines and course expectations should be provided from the time of enrollment, and students should be familiarized with Arthur Chickering and Stephen Ehrmanns "7 Principles of Learning" and how they apply to both instructor and students.
