For lifelong learners or working professionals who want to earn a degree, a traditional education may not be an option. Norwich’s online learning platform provides the value of a traditional Norwich University education with the flexibility of a virtual classroom that can be accessed 24/7. A quick glimpse at Norwich’s Online Classroom, and Norwich’s other virtual offerings, can show that earning a bachelor’s or master’s degree while continuing to work is achievable.
Online Classroom (Moodle) vs. Virtual Campus
As a student, learning the difference between the Norwich Online Classroom and the Norwich Virtual Campus is the first step to navigating the online learning system. Both platforms can be accessed at online.norwich.edu/current-students.
The Norwich Virtual Campus holds the resources outside of the classroom that can assist students throughout their education with Norwich. To ease the process of achieving a degree easier for students, some resources of the Norwich Virtual Campus include:
- Staff Directory
- Financial Planning
- Textbooks
- Tuition and Bill Payment
- Course Catalog
- University Policy information
- Blog Articles of upcoming news and letters from Dean William Clements
- Public Announcements
- Alumni Community information
In addition to the Norwich Virtual Campus, the Norwich Online Classroom is a student’s virtual notebook and desk. Students use the Norwich Online Classroom to communicate with classmates and instructors, hand in course assignments, locate required readings, and access of variety of writing resources.
Course Assignments and Communicating with Professors
The Norwich Online Classroom is where students will spend a majority of their time throughout their experience with Norwich. The online classroom, which students can log into at any time, is how professors communicate with students as a whole – professors will assign weekly readings, lectures, papers, and quizzes. Students will upload all of these requirements in the online classroom environment, and students can keep track of how close they are to completing their courses and what their grades are. Professors also provide the syllabus in the online learning environment and can give feedback to students on assignments.
Outside of email, students can also ask questions to professors via a forum-type style in Moodle that allows them to upload attachments, as well as students have access to a general chatbox to communicate with professors. Students often have weekly class discussions in the Norwich Online Classroom in which professors and fellow classmates will communicate on a subject. Students can also send emails to other students via the online classroom.
Resources in the Online Classroom
For students who may have not written a formal paper in years, or for those who may need a little preparation before uploading an assignment, the Norwich Online Classroom also includes grammar and writing resources. Located under the Help tab, some resources include:
- Grammarly
- Tutor.com
- Graduate Writing Center
- Citing Your Sources and Writing Resources: guides students with how to cite and write based on a particular format
- Library: library staff is available to help students locate resources
- Moodle Student Handbook: provides assistance with how to use the online classroom
Grammarly
A tremendous resource for Norwich students that not all institutions offer is Grammarly. Grammarly is a writing support tool that not only scans writing for grammar and spelling errors, but it also provides suggestions for improving sentence structure and checks for plagiarism. Norwich University provides students with access to the premium academic version of Grammarly (Grammarly@EDU) for free.
Tutor.com
Tutor.com can help students who may want another person to review and revise their work. Students can log into Tutor.com to find a real person who will provide assistance with editing writing assignments through video chat. Similar to Grammarly, Tutor.com is free to bachelor’s students of Norwich University.
Graduate Writing Center
Norwich’s recent initiative, the Graduate Writing Center provides Norwich’s online graduate students with access to writing fellows and a variety of resources to improve writing, such as modules to assist with each specific steps of the writing process, writing tips specific to individual courses and instructors, chat forums for students to discuss courses and assignments.
How to Succeed in the Online Classroom
The final step of learning how to use the online classroom is determining a method to succeed in the online environment. The five key factors to succeed with Norwich’s online learning platform include to plan the degree around possible setbacks, communicate with professors and enrollment advisors when life events arise, proper time management and making coursework a priority, pace courses based on learning style and personal schedules, and find support within classmates. Students who successfully learn how to use the many resources in the online classroom get the most out of their degree.
Find out More Information about Norwich’s Online Classroom
If you have questions about Norwich’s Online Classroom and the resources provided, please contact Norwich at learn@norwich.edu or 1 (866) 684-7237.
