Some developmental abilities or learned skills are helpful for students to achieve success in an online class.
Online learning environments require that students are able to successfully work independently, with little to no
prompting from an instructor, which they would receive in a traditional face-to-face course format. Additionally,
students must be able to effectively use time management skills to judge deadlines and foresee upcoming exams
and assignments. Undergraduate students may still be honing these skills, which can affect their overall
performance in an online learning environment (Keramidas, 2012).Undergraduate students are less likely to have
developed the maturity, confidence, and motivation that are more well-developed among graduate students, who
have increased self-efficacy as a result of their prior successes in a collegiate academic environment; this can
result in undergraduates’ perceptions that online classes are less effective than traditional classes, simply because
they have not developed the skills and attributes that lead to success in an online class format (Watters &
Robertson, 2009).