With circuit breaker going on, all learning is online these days. Without the hassle of commuting to school and back, you may find yourself with more time on your hands. But on the other hand, it can be harder to concentrate on schoolwork when you’re at home surrounded by distractions and other family members.
To help, we’ve rounded up 5 tips to help smoothen your online
learning experience so that you don’t find yourself caught unawares during the
next assessment. Read on:
1. Logistics
You’ve probably sat through more than one class where someone’s equipment didn’t work, or you needed an important email address and found you forgot to ask for it. Nail your logistics before any class begins – is your technology working, do you have relevant contact details, can you access the sites or drives you need to use.
Also, we recommend minimising your
reliance on the internet, as things can always go wrong with a connection.
Download course materials ahead of time if possible, and have a backup plan in
case your phone cannot display certain materials. And most importantly, keep
hard copies of your assignments and tests if possible. Many students have
failed because the page refused to load at that critical “Submit” button, don’t
join their ranks.
2. Self-care
In these times, self-care has taken on an extra level of importance, as the spread of coronavirus brings heightened levels of anxiety, fear and stress. Stuck at home and unable to meet your school kakis and go for your usual bubble tea runs, students are finding themselves without their usual stress relievers and experiencing even heavier mental loads as a result.
Don’t ignore the basics: keep yourself hydrated and well-fed, get enough sleep, do some home-based workouts.
But most importantly, schedule
breaks! As there’s no separation between the classroom and the dining room, you
can all too easily get caught up in course after course. Make sure you
disengage from your classes and stand up, walk around, maybe chat with someone
or pet the cat. Your mind needs rest to better digest what you’ve learnt.
3. Learning Strategies
One of the beautiful things about home-based learning is its flexibility, so embrace that and don’t be afraid to ask for specific learning aids. Do you need the slide deck, or a recording of the class? Maybe an extra second to screenshot the whiteboard? Let your educator know so that they can work in your requirements.
Most online learning is in the form
of a video. If it’s pre-recorded, you might want to pause and write a brief
summary after every new point. During an interactive virtual class, make sure
to get engaged, ask questions and offer opinions. These learning strategies
will help the lessons stick in your mind.
4. Community and Social Learning
Get engaged with your learning community! Another advantage of online learning is that you can network with many more people in a single class. If you’re doing an external course or picking up a skill, you’ll meet lots of others learning the same thing with you.
Maintain and grow these connections
with groups: Facebook groups, Whatsapp groups, virtual study groups on Discord
or Skype… you name it. When you settle down to an assignment together,
something like “peer pressure” occurs in a good way, as no one wants to be the
first to leave. Use this to your advantage to keep studying!
5. Time Management
It’s true that flexibility is a huge benefit of online learning, but too much freedom can also pose difficulties. It’s easy to let your mind drift away from your books at home, especially since most of us are wired to think of “school” as “a place for learning” and “home” as “a place for rest”.
Take a leaf from your school and set
aside “periods” for study, same as when you were going to class. While you
don’t need to force yourself to do assignments for half the day before
“recess”, you can work with smaller time-blocks of fifteen to thirty minutes to
finish easy tasks and set aside longer periods for in-depth research and
memorisation.
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