Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

38 Getting ready for online study 
QUICK TIP:There are plenty of videos on YouTube that demon-
strate the various VLE systems, so you can familiarise yourself 
with the software before you start your studies. 
Choose a good web browser 
Your computer may already have a web browser installed when 
you buy it. However, the pre-installed web browser may not be 
the most appropriate one for you. Besides, it may not be entirely 
compatible with your university systems. Also, if you accept the 
standard browser, or the one you were told to use at school, it 
suggests you are not ready to take the initiative – and that is an es-
sential requirement for a university student. In his book 
Originals
, 
Professor Adam Grant, an organisational psychologist, points out 
that when people choose their own browser, they remain in their 
jobs 15 per cent longer than those who stick with the status quo 
(Grant, 2016). Te people who chose their own browser were also 
19 per cent more likely to avoid skipping work. Te research that 
discovered this showed that it was nothing to do with technical 
skills but was about being able to take the initiative. If you stick 
with the pre-set browser on your computer or use the one you 
have always had because it’s the one Mum and Dad suggested, 
you run the risk of not doing as well as you could by taking the 
initiative. Besides, quite apart from the most popular web brows-
ers, there are others targeted at students, which include integrated 
notetaking, for example. 
Get a backup program 
Whenever I set a module assignment, I am confdent I will get 
a call from a student on the submission date saying they have 
sufered some kind of computer glitch and cannot send me their 
work. It happens every time, and I am no longer surprised. It 
seems as though students haven’t realised that their digital work is 
fragile and can disappear. You can, for example, hit the delete key 

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