Today, the online courses are booming all around. From learning the software skills of the new gadget you just bought, to the fashion concepts and terminologies; it is all out there on the internet. They are a convenient method to learn whatever course you are aiming for.
But there are a few ways to get it right, or else you will land up in nothing. Online courses can be done from home and you need not to go to a college every day for it. It provides sessions regularly to learn the skills. But to enroll in an online course, one should have self-discipline, willpower and strong motivation. Many people fail to achieve good results from an online course as they take the course too lightly and do not learn much from the sessions. This happens because of the easy access to the education there. You will be just sitting at home and the knowledge will flow out to you. Thinking of this, people do not practice the given things regularly.
Thus online can courses can be a good thing to learn from, but one must be self-disciplined to achieve the desired results out of it. In this article, some of the key techniques and suggestions are shared to keep going on the right track. Following these, you’re surely going to get good results out of your online course.
- Understand the online learning practices and requirements
An online course is not easy. It’s just quite easy to access. You don’t need to rush every day to your college, take down lessons and perform experiments in the lab or so. But in exchange for it if you are willing to take up an online course, you must be self-disciplined and a master of time management. You should not cheat on the time you spend on the course or sessions online and practice the given exercises thoroughly. One should give a full commitment to the course, only then the results will make you shine brightly.
An online course will require you to have the following qualities:-
- Give a full commitment to the given sessions
- Participate properly in the virtual classroom
- Be a tech-savvy, or at least attempt to become one
- Be efficient in time management
- Be self-disciplined
- Complete your given task on time
- Have access to a reliable internet connection
And the internet will be your oxygen here! You just can’t do anything without it. Have a good connection that is steady and does not cut off anytime due to any reason. Have a good wifi connection or a net package that you can work well with. Also, it may happen that you are working late at night and, the connection goes off!
What do you do then?
To tackle such a problem, it is suggested that you keep saving your work time to time, either in Cloud, Dropbox or Google documents. Or keep a separate hard disk and save all your learning tutorials, study materials and notes in it. This makes it easier for you to refer them whenever you need them.
- Have a dedicated study space
Build a small working space in your house, preferably in your room. Keep a clean study table with your study materials, or things that you need for work. Keep all those gadgets, clothes, shoes or anything that can distract you away from it. Also, it is important to ensure that this place should be quiet and away from the noises from the rest of the world. When you work there, you should not get any kind of distraction, so that you can focus better. The focus is an important part of learning, especially required for online learning since you are all on your own for it.
- Request others to respect your online timings
During the hours that you will be working things online during your course, it is also required that the people around you should cooperate with you. Let them know your timings which you have fixed for it, and request them not to disturb during those hours. If they respect you ‘work mode’, it will be easier for you to concentrate. Also, switch off your phone and log out of all the social networks while studying. No distractions.
- Identify the goals and plan well for them
To achieve any goal in life, a plan is required. Same goes for the online learning course too. You will have all the information in front of you, all the knowledge right there and you can access to it anytime. Yet, a proper schedule and a good plan are required to function systematically.
Decide your lessons prior to starting working on them. Read your online learning requirements carefully. Write noted that are close to your learning objective. These will serve as a guideline to your learning process, which in return will keep you on the right track.
Also, it is always better to start with the most difficult task first. Yes, it sounds tough and boring, but it is efficient too. After all, the easier ones you can do in lesser time. So give more focus and attention to the mind-boggling ones.
- Have plans well ahead of time
Do not plan just a minute ahead. It will just kill you at the middle of the assignment when you don’t know what next to do. As told earlier, one has to be a master of time management for online learning. And planning is the thing where it plays the most vital role. So have your lessons scheduled well and stick to your plan.
- Have an effective calendar system
Online learning requires a good structure. You should know all your dates of assignments submission, exams and other deadlines. Failing which, it can get really tough for you to go further ahead. Hence, make a wall planner and keep it in front of you at your workplace. Also, save a calendar planner with all the dates highlighted in your computer too.
- Set a realistic time limit
You know your best and your worst. You know when you can focus the best way. Based on this, set the time limits for your lessons and assignments. Do not go too away from the set time. Stick to it. When you think that you are no longer able to concentrate on the work, take a break. It is essential so that your brain and body can take a little easy. But hey, that rest should be little only! Or else you may forget what you just read, or get busy with some other work.
- Relax yourself during a break
It is not possible for anyone to keep working continuously. We all need rest in the middle. When you feel that you are not able to focus on your work and feel tired, take a short break. But during the break, restrain yourself from doing any activity that can make you busy in it, such as video games, Xbox, chatting or anything. When you are at work, just ditch all the gadgets.
It is suggested that you just relax, lie down for some time or eat something. The key idea is to de-stress the body by doing something light and easy, rather than involving you into something else. Also, keep a time limit on your break too. Don’t study for an hour and take a break of an hour too!
- Ask for help
If you get stuck with something or have difficulty in your lessons, contact your online instructor. Get all your doubts cleared. It is even better to stay in touch with him regularly and discuss all your lessons so that he can guide you better. If you do not ask a question, your instructor will never know that something went wrong. Also, your doubts will remain doubts; they won’t be cleared.
- The three ‘R’s- Review, Revise, Repeat
They should go hand in hand. You should keep reviewing your current work, revise the older ones and repeating this process until you are clear with everything. Reviewing helps you to make better notes and writing down the key information from all the notes.
Regular revisions should be done from time to time, so as to memorize and understand them better. Keep notes of all the things you have learned so far and take references from time to time. Also, make evaluation tests for yourself and attempt them honestly. It is a good way to know how much have you actually learned and where are your weak points on which you need to work more.
- Participate in online discussions
Share your work with your virtual classmates. Online learning does not mean that you all alone, sitting and doing your lessons alone. Connecting with your virtual classmates can improve your learning experience, as you get lots of new ideas. Such kind of discussions opens you to more ideas which may have not come to your mind.
But it is also important to be at your best manners too. Be polite even if you disagree with someone’s point of view or vice versa. Also, listen to the speaker completely before giving your own suggestions.
- Keep yourself motivated
Sometimes, you may be bored. Or you just don’t want to do it because you are not able to understand a concept. Or you are just tired. When such situations hit, what should you do? Quit?
Absolutely not.
One should always keep trying. The one who trips down in a race is not the loser; the one who did not get up after it is. Same goes in any other task in life. In online learning, one has to be self-disciplined. To keep yourself on the track and keep going, follow these suggestions.
- Decorate your space with inspirational quotes
- Never forget the reason why you enrolled in the online course
- Write down the aim you have framed for yourself about what you want to achieve from this course
- Have healthy snacks to boost your energy
- Reward yourself for a challenging task that you successfully completed
- Stay positive and never give up
Online learning is a good option today. Following these simple tricks, you can keep yourself always up for the course and learn better. All it requires is self-discipline and time management. Doing both of these will surely give the desired results.
