3. No social interaction. If you’re the type of person that has to talk to someone every ten minutes or so, distance learning is not right for you. Even if you’re not that type of person, distance learning might not be right for you. Social isolation is one of the most difficult factors that must be overcome in an online environment. You will never meet any of your classmates or your professors face-to-face, and you have to be prepared for that. There are a few things you can do to minimize the impact of lack of interaction: enroll with a friend, join a meeting group with similar interests, or just make sure you have plenty of family and friends around (as long as they understand that sometimes, you have to do your school work).

4. Self-discipline is a must. It’s easy to log on to your virtual classroom, glance at all the assignments posted, and say to yourself, “I’ll do them tomorrow; I can catch up.” It’s also easy to tell yourself the same thing every day; until you reach the end of the semester and find that you have 50 projects and papers due in half an hour. Remind yourself that even though you aren’t going anywhere, your school work is a priority. There will be days when you have to make yourself sit down and participate—and there will be days when you really can say, “I’m all caught up; I’ll skip school today and catch up tomorrow.” Just make sure that when tomorrow arrives, you follow through.

5. No immediate feedback. In a traditional classroom setting, you raise your hand and ask a question, and the professor answers you. In a virtual classroom, you e-mail your professor with your question and wait until he or she has the time to reply. Most online teachers are great about responding to students, but it can sometimes take up to a day. That’s why procrastination is not an option, because if you’re deep into a project and run into a snag close to the end, by the time you get your question answered it may be too late.