As the schools and colleges are currently closed due to the ongoing pandemic situation, most students and teachers have resorted to online classes so that the students can learn and the teachers can teach at the safety of their homes. Apart from online classes, most students can also opt for online courses that can also help the students to complete the curriculum. When most students are quite accustomed to the online form of education, during the pandemic situation, there are students who are not comfortable with the online mode of education. However, they have no option but to attend online classes. As online classes are different from classes in a brick-and-mortar room, most students find it difficult to cope with online classes.
The difference is the environment, followed by other aspects are a few reasons, why certain students cannot attend their online classes effectively. As online classes are new to most people, it is quite normal for them to face troubles and that is why I am here with a few effective ways to attend online classes and get the most out of the free and paid online courses that you will come across in the future. We don’t know when the pandemic situation is going to end, and, considering the fact that the pandemic situation will continue in the next few months or a year, online education can become the new normal, and it is very important that you know the tactics so that nobody can stop you from coming out with flying colors in the examination after you study online.
In this article, let’s be started with the different tactics of attending online classes and get the most out of the online courses available on various digital education platforms.
1. Keep away all types of distraction
Addiction is the biggest bottleneck when it comes to quality education. If you are studying from books, and you are in a room secluded from all gadgets and things of fun, you can concentrate on your studies, and do a quality study. But, if a smartphone or computer is the mode of education, you might struggle to concentrate in your studies.
A smartphone or a computer is something, where you can play games, watch movies and videos, and everything else that does not go with studying. So, when it comes to online education, you should try out all the possible ways to keep away addiction.
The primary thing that you can do is, use the do not disturb mode if notifications distract you. If you think, turning off notifications isn’t helping you you can also uninstall the games and other apps from your phone or computer, to carry on studying. If you are a parent you can use some Parental Control apps to make sure that your child is not spending time doing something else, when he is supposed to study.
This is a major problem for school students who find games and videos entertaining. However, if you are a serious student you should at least know to tackle the distraction that is caused by several other mobile apps notifications and I already talked about how you can keep the distraction from notifications away.
2. Learn on the big screen
Online education is apparently easier today as we can learn from our mobile phones, which most people already have. Even if you are not having a computer, you can still learn from your mobile phone, attend online classes, and consume online courses, as most major online courses have a mobile app that is quite optimized for the students.
However, learning on a big screen is better than that on a small screen and that is not only my opinion, but most people find it easy to learn on the big screen.
Just think of it from a psychological point of view. When we learn things in a school or college, the things that are happening in front of us is like a big television, and, when we read notes, we read it on paper instead of the small screen on our mobile phones. Additionally, depending upon the internet connection that you are using, and several other aspects, like the screen resolution on your mobile, things might not be that prominent on your small mobile screen. Even if it apparently seems to be all OK, studying on a small screen for continuous intervals can have a long term impact on your vision, which is something that you shouldn’t allow.
So it is recommended that you study on a big screen, or you can also use a tablet that comes with a relatively bigger screen compared to that of a smartphone.
Most companies that offer online courses also have their app for smart TVs, and if you are having a smart TV at your home, you can also learn on your TV and that is also a great option. If you still don’t have any other option but to continue reading on your phone, use the landscape mode as that will keep away other related videos, comments, or other unnecessary elements away from the screen.
3. Collect notes while studying
When your teacher is teaching in an online class or you are consuming an and online video course you should create notes simultaneously, so that you can read them later on. You should try to understand the most important points in a lecture and write them down in notes so that it becomes easier for you to prepare for the exams.
In an online class or video lecture, the teacher teaches you the concept, and then talk about the most important points associated with the lecture. The next important step is to study them so that you can prepare yourself, and that’s when the notes that have been taken by you can be important.
Almost all online video courses will also offer you the PDF for the lecture, and you can also get the PDF for an online class conducted by your teacher. But, collecting a bunch of PDF files is not going to help you prepare for exams.
When you are having the PDF files at your disposal, there is a type of satisfaction in your mind that you already have the materials, and you can study them at any time. But the grim reality is, to most students, that time never comes.
So, the best thing is to take notes, while you are studying online and read the PDF once again to find out the points that have been missed by you or to make certain points clear, which you didn’t understand at the time of attending the class.
4. Choose the right teacher
Nobody is perfect in the world, and you cannot expect a teacher to be perfect, as well. So, you should never search for the perfect teacher, who teaches everything perfectly, and you are definitely not the one to judge a teacher.
When it comes to choosing a teacher for online courses you should try to find a teacher, who explains things that are easier for you to understand and discuss relevant points associated with the syllabus. It is not just a great qualification, but if the way of presentation is not that good, he might not be the ideal teacher for you.
An ideal teacher for you is the one who can explain things very easily so that you can understand things at ease. Additionally, when it comes to online classes most teachers and not quite comfortable delivering online lectures.
However, if you find those teachers are well to solve your problems you can follow them without thinking twice. The right teacher is all about that teacher whom you think can add more value to education, and make the subjects easier for you to deal with.
5. Follow only a single or two teachers at most
As online education is quite trending now, you can find most of your friends talking about several teachers and it is very tempting to attend classes by those teachers. If you haven’t yet decided, which teacher to follow, you are always free to take suggestions from your friends and others. However, once you have taken your decision on which teacher to follow, stick to that teacher for that subject.
If you think you need more, you can attend one more teacher, but not more than two. If you find that your friends are telling you that the teacher they follow is better than the one you follow, that particular teacher can be good for your friend, but he might not be suitable for you.
If you start following all the teachers, your friends tell you, you will eventually fall behind. What you can do is, try watching a few lectures, in your leisure time and if you think that teacher is good for you, you can follow that teacher afterward. But you should never try watching the lectures of another teacher, at the time, when you should be studying. However, if you haven’t taken a decision about which teacher to follow, you should definitely watch a few lectures of a few teachers to take your final decision.
6. Attend live classes with caution
If you are attending online classes, you might already know, some classes are pre-recorded, while others are conducted live. If your school or college has decided to conduct online classes, there is no doubt, attendance is mandatory. However, if you are attending live classes on YouTube on other platforms and those are conducted by other teachers, it is your decision when it comes to, whether you should attend the classes or not, and trust me, I am telling this for a reason.
I also attended a number of online classes on YouTube and ignored the live classes, especially because, those classes are filled with teachers answering questions that are asked by most other students.
Not all the students have the same wavelength and you might see students asking questions, the answers to which you already know and the teacher takes a lot of time answering those questions, and clearing the doubts. That way, a lot of time is wasted within a very short span of time that is allotted for that live class.
So, if the teacher is discussing one subject within a span of 1 hour, the teacher will eventually spend more than 50% of the time clearing the doubts of the students. So, instead of attending those classes, you can watch the classes after they are uploaded. That way, you can easily skip unnecessary parts of the video. However, if you think you have queries in mind and the questions most students ask are helping you, you should definitely attend live classes.
7. Attend mock tests regularly
When you are learning, it is also equally important to attend tests and that’s the only way you can assess your preparation for the final exams. So, when you are attending online classes, and your mode of education has gone digital, you should not stop attempting tests. Almost all the major online courses also offer mock tests so that you can access your preparation, while you are preparing.
So, you should also appear for the tests and keep your preparation going at the same time. After you appear for a mock test, you should try finding the areas, which you are weak and then start brushing up those areas so that you are exam-ready. All major online mock test providers will also show you the strengths and weaknesses so that you can emphasize the weak points.
Besides mock tests, you should also attend small quizzes that appear after every single online class and you should attend them to find out whether you have understood the matter properly or not. If there are no quizzes, you should try to answer the questions at the end of the chapter on your standard textbook and that is yet another way to assess your understanding of the subject.
8. Ask questions and clear the doubts
As you are still at the learning phase, you will definitely face problems, and questions will come in your mind. If you are attending pre-recorded classes, there are no scopes to ask questions. However, if you are attending live classes, you can always ask questions. This might seem contradictory to what I discussed earlier that you should not always attend live classes, but you should definitely attend life classes if you have questions and the teacher clear your doubts, while classes are being conducted.
If there is no option to attend live classes, there must be some way to communicate with the teacher where you can send your questions to your teachers to answer. If you are getting an online course package, you should ensure, that the course also has a portal, where you can ask questions from the teacher so that it can be answered by them. A few of the leading online course providers can also organize video calls with teachers for virtual face-to-face communication between the teacher and student so that the student can get his doubts cleared.
9. Study systematically
A systematic study is very important to complete the syllabus within time and learn effectively. There are several chapters in different subjects, which require knowledge from other chapters, and that’s why, a systematic study is very important, and the teachers know which subject or chapter to teach first. But, when you are studying online from several websites, the systematic study might not be possible, as you do not know which one is important and which one is not.
This problem can be solved if you are using some kind of app to complete your syllabus, as most apps are designed in a way to systematically teach you things, and complete the syllabus gradually. If you are studying from YouTube or other websites, this is one problem. However, if you are following some reputed channels, the creators will handcraft the videos in the way within a playlist, so that you can study one by one, and get knowledge about the subject properly.
However, if you are just depending on online live classes that are conducted by your school or college, you are already studying systematically, and you don’t have to worry at all.
As digital education is the new normal, you should try your best to use it effectively so that it doesn’t negatively impact your overall education. Online education might not be everybody’s favorite, but in this pandemic situation, a lot of options are not in hand and online education seems to be the only solution when it comes to education. Depending upon you as an individual, there might be other ways to make online education more effective and you should definitely try to use your own strategies while learning online.
So that was my list of the different ways, you can study online effectively. Do you know any other great way to get the most out of digital education? Feel free to comment on the same below.
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Remote learning is a challenge for me. In the first month, it was like chaos. But over time I adapted.
Writing and keeping notes in a convenient format is the most important part of remote learning for me. I need to periodically reread the material I’ve learned, and it’s most effective to do so from my notes.
Thanks for these tips! I don’t think we’ll be getting back to normal soon and now we need to be productive in the online regime.