Tag Archives: 8-week course

This Week at NOVA Online

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Is today the first day of your NOVA Online course? Review the Critical Enrollment Dates blog post to make sure you get off to a great start. Join us for today’s NOVA Online Orientation webinar or request a recording!

All courses beginning today are 8-week courses. Make sure you are comfortable with the pace of the course from day 1. An NOVA Online Student Blogger has shared her experiences preparing for an 8-week course to help you!

Don’t forget to sign-up for NOVA Alert.  NOVA Alert is a free alert system that allows NOVA to contact you during an emergency by sending messages to your cell phone and email.

Democracy Builders Essay Contest. Democracy depends on an informed citizenry actively participating in decisions, and that civil discourse is an essential part of the process. Up to five essays will be selected for prizes of $100 each. Essay due Friday, March 17!

Join NOVA Online’s Virtual Student Union. NOVA Online’s VSU has a new look! Are you taking online classes and looking to connect with other students outside of a classroom setting? Check out our Virtual Student Union or VSU. Join now!

E-lead Series. NOVA Online Student Life has created a virtual co-curricular opportunity to develop leadership skills for students! This program is free and does not offer academic credit, however, students who participate will receive a certificate of completion. This is also a great resume builder! Registration:   Leadership Pilot Program Registration Form.

Financial Avenue – Financial Literacy Contest – Twenty $100 NOVA bookstore gift cards towards educational costs at NOVA will be given-away throughout the 2016‐2017 academic year to randomly selected students NOVA Online who successfully complete Financial Avenue web‐based financial literacy modules! For more information visit Financial Aid’s Financial Literacy Blog. Official contest rules and registration to participate can be found here.

SmarterMeasure Assessment

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Are you ready for Online Learning at NOVA Online?SmarterMeasure Logo

SmarterMeasure is an assessment that measures learner readiness for Northern Virginia Community College’s Extended Learning Institute. SmarterMeasure is an indicator of the degree to which distance learning and/or learning in a technology rich environment will be a good fit for you.

SmarterMeasure is meant to be an interesting experience by which you may learn more about yourself, online learning, and how to succeed! Your SmarterMeasure score will not prevent you from registering for online classes. Take your time to rate yourself honestly. It is a tool that will help you assess your strengths and opportunities for growth related to online learning in 6 areas.

1. Life Factors
2. Individual Attributes – procrastination, time management, willingness to ask for help, academic attributes
3. Learning Styles – what is your predominant learning style?
4. Technical Competency, Skills, and Knowledge
5. Reading Rate and Recall
6. Typing Speed and Accuracy

You will receive a full color report immediately following the completion of all areas of SmarterMeasure. You may email this report, print it, or download and save for future reference. It also provides some remedial tools related to each area. For more information about SmarterMeasture, request a copy of the SmarterMeasure Assessment Webinar.

If you are visiting Northern Virginia Community College Extended Learning Institute and would like to determine if online learning is right for you, please email elisuccess@nvcc.edu for your user name and password.

This week at NOVA Online!

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Tomorrow, Monday, February 23rd is the start date for the 3rd 8-week courses. Do you have courses starting tomorrow? You might not see your course open until tomorrow. Any Blackboard questions? Check out Blackboard tutorial tips to learn more.

Do you have any questions for us? Call, email or chat with us!

Tuesday, February 24 from 12:00 – 2:00 pm & 6:00 – 8:00 pm – Participate in a Ask the Transfer Representative webinar. Do you have questions about transferring? Chat online with transfer representatives from any of the institutions listed below each session date. Registration is required.

Are you Ready for Online Learning? Interested in enrolling in an online class, but not sure if it is right for you? Starting a class this week and want to make sure you know and understand your strengths and challenges? Take the Smarter Measure assessment to help gage your readiness for online classes. Contact NOVA Online Success Coach, Jennifer Reed at jereed@nvcc.edu for a username and password.

Northern Virginia Community College has contracted with Tuition Management Services (TMS) to process electronic financial aid disbursements to students who are entitled to excess financial aid after all institutional charges for tuition, fees, and books have been paid. You have the ability to receive excess financial aid disbursements in as little as one to two business days, depending on your choice.

Managing Your Study Time

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jugglingBalancing college, work and life can be overwhelming! With so many responsibilities there doesn’t seem to be enough time to eat breakfast, let alone start that research paper. If your life feels like a balancing act, take control of your time and consider incorporating these time saving strategies into your study routine:

To successfully manage your course assignments, try setting assignment completion goals and record them in your planner, phone or calendar. Writing down goals will inspire and motivate you to stay on track. If you have a large research paper, consider setting daily goals to complete the paper. For example, in your planner, on Monday, March 1, record: locate 3 research articles, Tuesday, March 2: review research articles and start the works cited page. Wednesday, March 3: develop thesis for paper, and so on. Be sure to set a goal to finish 2-3 days early! Need help developing or setting goals, review this SMART Goals blog post and be sure to explore the links.

For a dynamic overview of an effective plan to organize your course workload, view our free 30 minute, online workshop focused on Time Management. The workshop will help you get on track and take control of your balancing act as you explore tips and strategies to organize your course assignments along with your personal and work responsibilities by developing a daily schedule that will put you in control. To encourage your follow through on your plans, explore their workshop titled, Overcoming Procrastination. To view these and other online workshops, click here.

Don’t let social media or interruptions get the best of your time—once you start allowing interruptions, the time you had is gone!

Stay organized by creating a binder for each course. Further organize the binder with dividers for:  Syllabus, Assignments, Lectures, Notes, etc. (just as you would do for an on-campus class).

Set up a study area that is quiet and free of distractions. A quiet ‘study zone’, will enable you to stay focused and get more accomplished in a shorter period of time. If you find them helpful, place post-it’s in key places to serve as reminders, encouragement or motivation! Remember to shut off your phone and don’t let social media interrupt you. Interruptions will cause you to wander and loose concentration which will get you off track and waste valuable time.

If you would like a planner to get started on your journey to improving your time management skills, send an email to the NOVA Online Success Coaches, elisuccess@nvcc.edu. They will be happy to mail you a NOVA planner.

Take control of your time by integrating these strategies into your study routine. Before you know it, life will no longer be a balancing act and you will be reaping the benefits of a controlled, stress free, and organized future! For a quick visual review of these strategies, click here.

Need help getting your assignments, tests and projects organized. Reach out to a NOVA Online Success Coach, elisuccess@nvcc.edu. They can help you map out your assignments and empower you to succeed.

Purchasing textbooks with Financial Aid

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Do you have an 8-week course starting Wednesday, October 15th? Are you planning to use financial aid to purchase your textbooks and other course materials? You must have undisbursed financial aid that is sufficient to cover tuition, fees and books in order to use aid to purchase books. Make sure you have all the information so you don’t miss any deadlines.474087489

Eight Week Classes starting October 15:

  • First date to purchase books/supplies using financial aid: October 1, 2014
  • Last date to purchase books/supplies using financial aid: October 24, 2014

If you have any questions, contact the Financial Aid Support Center to speak to an advisor. You will need this form to use financial aid to purchase textbooks or other course materials. Note: you may get an error if trying in Internet Explorer – try to open in Firefox or Google Chrome.

Purchase your books early so you are ready for the first day of class. If you have any questions about required course materials, check the NOVA Online Bookstore website.

It’s Not Too Late!

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Last 8 Week Session Starts March 17

Important Dates:

Start date: March 17
Last day to withdraw with refund: March 25
Last withdrawal date: April 19
End date: May 10