Strategies for Success in Online Courses

At UT High School, we provide students with the tools to be successful with online learning. Our courses and exams are designed by expert teachers and approved by NCAA and the College Board.  Students can start online courses anytime and work from anywhere. 

How to Get Started

1. Designate a quiet place to use as "school." It's best if you have a space where you can do your work without distractions like TV, pets, etc. Designate the times of day you will "be at school." Families should help keep things quiet and help the student maintain a daily schedule as much as possible to create structure.
2. Set up a calendar for completion. The first time students open a course, the syllabus and course requirements are visible. Parents, be sure to help your student, at least the first time, create a schedule for completion of each course within the 140-day deadline. This includes leaving enough time to take the proctored final exam.
3. Parents, check in each week (or more) to see how things are going for your student. There is a learning curve to self-paced, online learning so ask questions: Are you able to navigate the learning management system? Do you understand the lessons and the assignments? Do you know how to contact your instructors using the messaging center? What are you learning about in ______?
4. Discuss assignment and course grades weekly. Parents, if you have any concerns (your student does not seem to be studying enough or you want to know their grades) we recommend that you sit down with your student and have them log in to the course where you can see their progress and grades. Parents can also directly log in to Skyward to view their students grades or view the Canvas course assignment grades.
5. Students should contact edservices@austin.utexas.edu for technical course support, such as assistance logging into your course, uploading assignments, or other technical course help with your courses or viewing grades. If you have questions about your course schedule, please contact a counselor at UTHScounselor@austin.utexas.edu so that we can work together on course planning.

Tips for Success

Learn the logistics

• Refer to the handbook for school policies and procedures.
• Take course notes and keep track of course deadlines and grades using the student portal.
• Communicate with instructors using the messaging center in courses. Every course is taught by a highly qualified, Texas-certified teacher.
• Utilize the free UTHS tutoring services for math and science assistance. (Full-time diploma seeking students only)
• Monitor student progress via the Skyward Family Access Portal (Full-time diploma seeking students only)

Spend 5-7 hours per week on each course

Online courses are just as rigorous as on-site courses and require students to spend sufficient time daily to read, complete activities, and complete exams. Students should plan to spend at least one hour daily Monday through Friday working on each of their seven courses.

Re-do exams whenever possible

Similar to traditional school settings, if a student doesn't perform well on an assignment or an exam, they need to re-learn and possibly re-do it so they are certain to master the concepts, which will come up again on the final exam. Students should reach out to their teacher in the message center in their Canvas course if they score below 70 on an assignment to request guidance to re-do it. Students can and should re-do their first six week exams, second six weeks exams if they don't score at least 70% on the exam. They get one re-do and it can't hurt their grade but only help.

Student Success Series of Webinars

UTHS offers the Student Success Series of webinars for students and parents to log in to specific topics for academic support or college, career, and military readiness topics. If you miss the live lesson, you can view the recording. View the Student Success Series of webinars for the calendar dates, times, and links.