A big drawback to online or distance learning is the lack of direct interaction with other students.  One of the benefits of going to school is the feedback and ideas you get from other students, not to mention the sense of camaraderie and possible friendship.  But you have your reasons for choosing online courses and the biggest benefit is the flexibility of doing classwork when your busy schedule permits. This is what attracts students to online courses. 

Here are some tips on how to solve these problems and stay social while learning online.

Create a Facebook page for your class or major
Creating a Facebook page specific to one of your classes or even to your major’s graduating class is a great way to interact with fellow students and build lasting connections. Seek to take advantage of existing pages or create your own and spread the word among your digital classmates. If a class has a digital board, you could post the link or make an announcement.

Choose a School/Class That Requires Student Interaction
Schools often try to compensate for the lack of direct interaction between students taking online courses. Some of the methods schools employ to combat the problems include chat rooms, virtual classes, online discussion boards, project work, and even email blasts or notifications. Students are encouraged to research class offerings and find a school or program that encourages as much interaction as possible.

Mix Up Online Courses with Traditional Courses
Online courses and programs are chosen for their convenience and their ability to fit with students’ non-traditional schedules. But if you happen to be attending online classes at a school that is in your geographical area, you might want to consider occasionally fitting a traditional course into your schedule. Look for evening or weekend classes that might fit your schedule without causing undo stress on your day-to-day schedule/lifestyle. This will allow you to interact with other students, build relationships that could carry over to your online courses, and gain back some of the face-to-face benefits while still allowing you to take online courses for the majority of your class load.

Connect with other Students through Social Media
Networking is an essential part of education. With the proliferation of social media; it has never been easier. Take advantage of social media by reaching out to classmates. Facebook and Twitter are the obvious choices for social interaction but more professional sites like LinkedIn might help you avoid the awkwardness if you don't know a fellow student that well.

Be sure to take advantage of any opportunity to interact with your fellow classmates, even if you find yourself adjusting your study or learning schedule to optimize the chances of connecting with others. Online classes present some challenges in terms of social interaction but they also introduce a unique opportunity to meet students with diverse backgrounds. Some programs have students from all over the globe enrolled in their courses. Be sure to tap into their professional, cultural, and social backgrounds by interacting often.

The number of students taking online classes rises every year as students realize the benefits to online schools. You no longer need to sacrifice your family time or work a different schedule at work to take classes. With online programs, you can study whenever you have the time available and take classes from home. A few simple study tips will help you manage your time effectively.

Write Down a Schedule

When you attend traditional classes, your professor gives you a syllabus that shows you all future assignments and the due dates of those assignments. While an online professor might give you the same information, you're likely to put off those assignments until later. Create a simple schedule that shows you the amount of work that you need to do every week until the semester ends.

Study a Little Every Day

With online classes, you might think that you only need to do a little work throughout the week, and some students find themselves struggling to finish all assignments at the last minute. Most classes now ask students to post on a shared message board, respond to comments from other students, read specific books and papers for class and write papers. It's nearly impossible to get it all done in a single day, but if you take an hour every day for school, you'll get things done faster without feeling stressed.

Make a Study Space

Online students don't have a library where they can work on their coursework, which means that you need to create your own study space at home. Make sure that your family or roommates know that you need to do schoolwork and that you can't be distracted during this time. Turn off or remove any distractions from your study space, including pets, a radio or video games.

Print Out Materials

Many online schools have papers and documents that you need to read every week in addition to your textbook. Reading online can hurt your eyes, make you feel tired and even make you feel stressed. Print out every page that you need for the week, and save those materials in a binder or folder that you keep nearby. When you need that information for a paper or assignment, you can access it in seconds instead of searching through weeks of online discussions.

Communicate with Others

In a normal college, you talk to your professor and discuss things with classmates every time you have class. With online colleges, you only need to make a few posts. You might not even talk to your professor until a problem arises. Take the time to contact others in your class and your professor. You can talk about any issues that you have, learn tips from other students and share information that you might not cover in class.

Following a few simple study tips can help you focus on your assignments, delve deeper into the topic at hand and even share your knowledge with others. These tips will help you narrow down your focus and perform better in class.