I took 3 online courses last year, and I really enjoyed this type of learning environment. You have to be very dedicated and make sure you set up a schedule and stick to it!! The time can slip away quickly if you don't!

I would totally recommend starting out with only one course, until you get the feel for the course load, readings and schedule. My suggestion is to give it a full week and examine how much reading is required, how much online time is required, how much assignment time is required. Break that into 4 sections over the week and stick to your schedule.

As an example, I always did my readings and started assignments on the weekends, did my online thread contributions by Wednesday and then did my hand in assignments by Friday. Don't be afraid to email or call your teacher or tutorial assistant. You are paying for them, so you should use them as much as possible.

I also found the textbooks quite expensive, so if you don't want to pay full price, check some online discount book websites. I usually paid 25 - 30% less for the same textbooks.

I found the independent nature of online courses very enjoyable since I usually would fall asleep during lectures in university classes!

Don't be discouraged this early on. It takes some time to adjust to this new form of learning. Like I mentioned, just give it some time since anyone would feel overwhelmed by such a new adventure!