Online learning is the trend these days considering the pandemic crisis that is prolonged longer than we thought it would. Rather than making online classes as a replacement for physical classes, now is the time for us to acknowledge the future of online learning that will continue to take place a few years from now. The best thing we can do is to adapt and improvise.
Hence, it’s important for students to practice these guidelines in order to excel in online learning just as much as face to face learning — and even do better.
Let’s dive into it! Here are the 5 Don’ts for Online Students;
5 Don'ts for Online Students
1. Don't take online classes lightly
What students often overlook is the reality that online classes demand a lot more of your energy; your focus, attention and dedication compared to physical classes.
That’s the thing; you might not want to take online classes seriously mostly because you are not familiar with it. You have spent most of your life attending physical classes so it’s natural to come with the mindset that online classes are just replacements. All the more reason why it can be more difficult to change that perspective of yours anytime soon.
To do this, you need to first keep in your mind that online classes are no longer temporary; they are here to stay and you will need to adapt to it as soon as you can.
Take it this way; the educational institutions are going to continue practicing online learning anyway — sooner or later looking at the technological era we currently live in, why not you utilise this opportunity and pick it up as a skill that you and your next generation will need?
2. Don't neglect the importance of time management
Time management. It’s easier said than done. Not everyone has the ability to manage their time wisely simply because it takes strong discipline and consistency.
For you to nail online classes, time management should be one of your priorities. Having to keep up with the announcement and the information online, it’s possible that you might miss out one or two important details since you are depending solely on your device.
Here’s how you can do this; have a planner, set up reminders — and most importantly, re-check with your other classmates to make sure that you are not leaving anything behind. This will help you a lot to keep on track. Submission, deadlines, quizzes and tests; put them all in your planner.
Plan your schedule and have breaks in between — make sure you leave one or two slots for your fun times as well. Don’t want to be a dull Jack now, do you?
3. Don't follow other people's learning style
Nobody has the same learning style. People would rarely consider learning style as one of the things that will affect your learning when actually it does — greatly at that.
You need to remember that as different you are as an individual, your learning style is automatically different as well depending on your needs. What works for others might not work for you, it’s the same case vice versa.
This will require you time and patience. As you should, take your time to figure out which learning style suits you best — you may learn better when you review the chapters before the class, or you may learn better when you recap the chapters after the class. You may learn better when you are discussing with your friends or you may learn better when you are learning by yourself. Or maybe you learn better with the mixture of the two. You will never know if you don’t try.
Recognizing your learning style is vital in ensuring the effectiveness of the time and energy you spent on your online classes. It will automatically help you learn better without draining you physically and mentally.
4. Don't procrastinate
We know — sounds difficult. Everyone procrastinates at times and sometimes it’s what we need, it’s the body telling us that we are not enjoying the work that we need to do.
How can you make it easier to procrastinate less? By prioritising. Practice to prioritise your work each time you have one. It’s undeniable that students have the habit of doing things at the last minute. You can give them a year and they will only touch it a week or maybe days before the end of one year.
Every time you feel like procrastinating, try doing only a small amount of the work — it can be a simple draft, or in bullet points. Just start doing it, you will know your way from there. Most of the time you will realize that the work takes you a lot less time than you thought it would.
Now you can enjoy your free time without having unfinished work at the back of your mind. Isn’t that nice?
5. Don't be too hard on yourself
This might be the hardest one yet to do because the majority of the students don’t even realize that they are being hard on themselves.
Do you try to figure everything out by yourself? Do you have difficulties asking your friends for help? Do you struggle to reach out to your lecturers? That’s it. You are being too hard on yourself.
We understand that most of the time you are capable of figuring things out by yourself and that is one of the major reasons why you don’t see the need to go to anyone. But go easy on yourself. Make full use of the lecturers and your classmates — you might end up helping other people who have similar problems too.
Take baby steps and start addressing the confusion and questions you have during the class — be it to your classmates or to your lecturer. It’s always better when you’re learning together and not by yourself. You will see how much you can actually learn from other people as well.
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Heather
I seek peace and knowledge in discovering myself.