The editorial staff of The State News, the Michigan State University student newspaper, offer some tips and tricks for making the summer count!

The focus of their timely piece is on wisely using the time to get ahead academically via online courses.

…Online classes aren’t for everyone, even if you might need the extra credits. They come with a deceptive flexibility that teaches students something about their conscientiousness.

Although they can be convenient for freeing up schedules for busy students, such as athletes or job-jugglers, taking a class without actually attending a lecture requires much more responsibility on the students’ part.

For some, taking on the responsibility of planning out homework and assigned readings without an in-class lecture isn’t a problem. For the rest of us, however, even keeping up with meticulously-planned lecture classes is a challenge.

In some ways, they’re more work than a simple lecture class despite the entire course taking place on one web page, in drop-down menus and online quizzes. Planning out and motivating yourself to actually sit down, close Facebook and Twitter and knock out all the work you have to do in order to understand the material takes a certain kind of person — but hey, maybe taking an online class can help make you into that kind of person.

Taking on the responsibility of an online class can help form better planning and study habits — granted, these skills might not emerge until after several weeks of slacking off and frantically trying to catch up on assignments.

So, when signing up for online classes, know your strengths and weaknesses. Online courses are mostly made up of self-taught material, and even if you get lucky with a professor who cares and will post additional resources, many students learn better watching someone else work through a problem.

Mathematics, for example, can be especially difficult for some to learn entirely on their own. Examples and one-on-one instruction are often extremely helpful when trying to figure out those annoyingly complicated formulas and mind-numbing algorithms. It’s like learning how to drive — you can read all the books on the planet about driving, but you won’t get the hang of it until you start the engine.

Hybrid classes, which meet in the middle to offer an interesting mix between online and lecture classes, are another option for students who want more flexibility in addition to access to professors.

..[D]uring summer sessions, many students use online courses to catch up or get ahead on credits while they’re at home, and those resources won’t be available to them.

In these situations, then, it’s mostly up to the student to teach themselves the material, so choose classes that you would be comfortable teaching yourself.