Advancing technologies and the preceding pandemic made online learning more common than before. Currently, you can take courses from any university and learn anything from the comfort of your home. Whether you want to save money on your general course, complete an ongoing degree while working, or advance your knowledge without moving to university premises, online learning has made education very accessible.
Unfortunately, despite these benefits, online learning presents unique challenges compared to in-person classes. Without a plan to mitigate these challenges, you can hardly succeed in your online course. Below are some tips to maximize online classes from American International University.
Come Prepared
If you seriously want to earn a degree online, you should have several valuable tools. For starters, if you don’t have a laptop or computer, you should consider investing in one. While you can download the important software to your smartphone, a laptop or computer is superior for online learning, especially when reading from your study guides or during evaluation tests.
Unlike learning using a smartphone, you won’t have to zoom in to see things better. You can also interact better with a mouse and keyboard. Secondly, you should have a fast and reliable internet connection. Other requirements are like those required in physical classes, including a notebook, calculator, and pens.
Manage Your Time and Environment
While online learning is beneficial for its unmatched freedom, you have the responsibility of scheduling your time. This is a common challenge, especially for those who work while studying. Below are a few strategies that can help manage time and the environment.
1. Create a Dedicated Study Space
If you were attending the class physically, you’d be required to sit in a classroom or lecture hall. While you shouldn’t necessarily recreate a classroom environment at home, creating a dedicated study space can help you focus on your studies and disconnect when it’s not studying time.
Be it in the bedroom, in your dining room, balcony, or living area, having a creative study space will improve your focus. While at it, be cautious to avoid creating an overly comfortable or distracting study space. Avoid sitting on your couch, bed, or gaming chairs. Create a place that signifies serious business.
2. Eliminate Distractions
Without a teacher or professor standing beside you or classmates around, you can easily get distracted by social media, video games, and other distractions instead of attending your online class. To succeed in online studies, you should make your environment productive. While some students prefer playing background music, others prefer complete silence to focus on the task at hand.
Find something that works for you and block distractions to focus on your studies. Avoid your phone, surfing the web, or answering emails unrelated to the topic at hand. Apps like Freedom come in handy in blocking digital distractions while applying the Pomodoro technique can help you focus on one assignment. You should also avoid multitasking and follow a time management plan to ensure you complete all the tasks on time.
Treat Online Classes Like In-Person Classes
While video conferencing tools and other applications have made it possible to attend live virtual classes from home, most classes are taught asynchronously. Your lecturer can post slides or lecture videos and give assignments that should be submitted after specified hours. That aside, some uploaded classes can easily pass you, especially if you have a busy work schedule.
Without regular meetings achieved by in-person classes, you can easily procrastinate or develop bad habits that will have you behind in most assignments. You should treat online classes like physical classes to avoid such problems. Even if your classmates don’t meet at a specific time every week, take some time in your calendar to attend the class. Create a study routine like you would for physical classes.
Actively Participate in the Learning Community
Learning online may seem lonely, especially since you won’t be meeting your coursemates physically. However, you can create a lively and supportive online community with other students, lecturers, professors, and work colleagues. To take advantage of this network;
- Participate in online discussions – You should contribute actively to online discussions. While the discussion may not be beneficial, participating in the discussion reinforces your coursework.
- Engage your professor – Interacting with your teachers and professors during the course is also important. It demonstrates your dedication to completing the coursework.
- Consult your peers – If your coursework appears difficult, your online and offline peers with academic and professional experience can help in many ways, such as proofreading your assignments and essays.
If you can’t assemble study partners from your online class, apps like Focusmate can be useful. Focusmate helps students find accountability partners whom they can study with virtually. Note that accountability partners shouldn’t necessarily be studying the same course. However, knowing there is a virtual company somewhere prevents students from slacking.
Ask for Help If You Are Falling Behind
Asking your lecturer for help while attending a physical class isn’t difficult. If not at class, you can follow them to their office or find them around the campus. However, online classes make it impossible to interact with your professors one-on-one, especially if there are no real-time virtual classes.
Nonetheless, this difficulty shouldn’t prevent you from seeking help. If you haven’t understood a topic or are falling behind on assignments, consult your instructor immediately. Waiting longer will only pull you back further, and you will likely perform poorly during exams.
If you feel the assistance offered by your instructor isn’t enough, you should score many other resources for help. For instance, you can find assistance from subject experts on Chegg study. Other free resources include Crash Course and Khan Academy, which provide detailed explanations of various concepts.
Prioritize Your Wellness and Emotional Well-Being
Like physical classes, you should take care of your overall wellness and emotional wellbeing amidst your busy school schedules. Below are a few tips to keep your mental health in check:
- Always smile and laugh, as it releases the feel-good chemicals, which relax the body and reduce stress
- Delegate tasks
- Get enough sleep – Sleep promotes memory and increases concentration.
- Take breaks – You shouldn’t continually engage your mind in school work. Step away for a short walk, listen to music, or try cooking something new.
Endnote
Learning online is an excellent way of acquiring knowledge in a flexible environment. Whether you are new to online learning or looking for tips to strengthen your learning approach, the measures mentioned above can help you maximize your learning experience with almost assured success.
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