One of the advantages of online learning is that students can create their own schedules and fulfill their study hours whenever works best for their individual needs. Just as you were before COVID in a regular school setting, it is imperative to set aside time to study each day and you must be ready and willing to commit to a steady study schedule.
Students shouldn’t have false hopes about getting by on a few hours of classwork and studying a week; they need to be prepared to devote a big portion of their time to their studies. Sometimes, this often adds up to more study time than you would normally as you’re being asked to do a lot more on your own and therefore, things that you took for granted in a traditional school setting are no longer there to benefit you at home.
Here are some common mistakes that you should be mindful of as you enter into this new realm of online learning:
Keeping Family Out of the Loop
Upon getting your online class schedule. students should share this with the family and explain that they will need time and space to do their school work during these times.
Not Sticking to a Schedule
Online students who don’t designate specific times to do their school work – be it at night, during the morning or over the weekend – are setting themselves up for failure. Online students need structure, and a study calendar is a great way to create it,
Waiting Until the Last Minute
Waiting until the last moment to start a project or assignment is one of the biggest time management no-no’s. The same goes for reaching out to teachers. Don’t wait until after 10 p.m. at night to send your teacher an email,
Wasting Time Online
One way to maximize your time is to only keep necessary tabs open while you’re on the computer, In other words, the more time students spend on Facebook or YouTube, the less time they spend getting work done.
Not Logging into Class Often
While most schools have made it mandatory to attend all online classes, in cases where this is not a pre-requisite, it can be tempting to go days without logging in to class. Checking into class daily makes school feel less overwhelming, and it prevents students from missing key changes and important tips that may not have been shared in notes,
Keeping Quiet When Behind
As with regular face to face schooling, the odds are something will happen in your personal life that may put you behind in school. While it may be easier to cope and deal with this in the traditional setting, not having your classmates or teacher physically there to easily reach out to may do you more harm than good. Feel free to send a direct message to your teacher asking for some further clarification or talk to a classmate for them to help explain a topic you might have missed.
Failing to Maximize Extra Time
Online students balancing friends, family and school commitments should seize every moment to get ahead with their studies. Share up your free time to do some revision or review the notes you’ve made.
Working in a Distracting Environment
Online students should try to limit distractions so they can spend more time focusing on their studies. That means finding a quiet, and if possible, isolated place to do work. Technically your bedroom might seem like the least distracting place for your online classes but you mind would associate your bed with sleep so in some instances, lying on your bed while joining an online class might not be the best idea.
Not Writing Down Due Dates
One of the keys to being a successful online student is to keep a calendar with all deadlines, experts say. Utilize the tools available to you such as Google or Outlook Calendar to set reminders for due dates of assignments.
Not Having A BackUp Strategy
Plan to mitigate accidents and technical issues with strategies such as a cloud-based backup system such as Dropbox, Google Drive or One Drive. Now that you’re saving all your assignments electronically and most likely not needing to print out a hard copy, there is the chance that you might have accidentally deleted an important file or you spilled a drink on your laptop. Failing to have a proper backup strategy – such as the 3-2-1 CyberSafeTT backup strategy can put you in a difficult position.
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