8 Study Tips and Tricks You Should Know For Online Classes
Online schooling is very rapidly becoming a norm that people are adjusting to for a variety of reasons, including the one big one that we all know of. But with this sudden and rapid transition from schooling as we know it, it can be difficult to really know how everything should work. How will you manage your classes? How will you be able to pay attention? What does testing look like? So to help you out, here are a few online study tips to help you out.
Form Study Groups
This first online study tip is great, not just for virtual learning, but learning in general when it comes to academics. Sure, it might not be the same as actual in-person groups, but having a social circle, virtual or otherwise, that can help keep you accountable for your study time outside of the classroom can be infinitely helpful like you wouldn’t believe. Try to reach out to a few respected peers that you know in your class will be good study partners and organize a schedule for all of you to meet up. This way, not only will you have a more concrete schedule for keeping on track, but you’ll also have a social event to keep track of making it less likely you’ll want to miss out.
Ask Your Professor for Help
Another super useful online study tip to keep in mind for the upcoming virtual semester is to keep in touch with your professor or your teacher’s assistant in case you need help. Many students and teachers are struggling to figure out how this semester is going to be working out and how everything will be functioning with these uncertain times. So if you are having some trouble getting things to work out, speak up. Let your professor know that you are struggling so the both of you can try to resolve it together, or you can be directed to someone that can help you.
Be on Time or Early
This study tip is more of an overall good piece of advice that you should be following in general. Not just in academics, but life overall. Being on time not only gives you a bit of a grace period to make sure that all your electronics are functioning accordingly but it also gives you a moment or two to review the topics and materials that you covered last time. Look over any of the work you might be turning in on that day for some revisions in case you need to change anything. Just overall it’s a nice idea to be present and prepared. Not to mention that it might be nice to actually talk to your peers a bit before classes start, like you normally would. Makes the day feel just a little less lonely.
Keep Your Notes Organized
Once again, not just a good online study tip, but a good life tip, in general, is to try to keep yourself organized. If you’re taking notes on your laptop in a word document, don’t just save your notes underneath the title of a few random keys mashed letters, actually give it a name that you know you will remember and can find again. Even better if you keep track of the dates as you write stuff down so when you go back to review and you may be confused you can tell people what day the information was given to you to more readily clear up any confusion.
Try to Pay Attention
This seems like such a no brainer online study tip, but it’s something to keep in mind as you start this new school year. Odds are that if you are switching to an online classroom, you’re not going to be as prepared to sit down and concentrate as you would be in school. The first few days are probably going to be the most difficult as you are going to have distractions around you that you’re not used to or prepared to deal with yet, and that’s okay. Parents that hop on zoom conference calls, little siblings that have schooling to do as well, loud noises from the streets, it’s all-new territory. Something that you can do for yourself is to take notes for the first week or so of what distracts you the most, then find ways to avoid them.
Make Sure Your Computer is Charged
There’s nothing worse nowadays than getting all comfortable in your chair, finally getting into the groove of learning, putting your mind to work, and letting everything fad away. Your head is totally in it, everything is clicking into place and makes sense. You’re absolutely nailing it and then- your computer shuts off. It’s not only one of the most annoying first world problems that we got, but it’s also just a terrible thing to happen in general, but it’s not something you want when you’re trying to do well. So for this online study tip: Remember to have your electronics charged or on a charging cord.
Don’t Cram
Even as far as an online study tip, hopefully, you should be following this advice, in general, to never cram. Not only does cramming do terrible things to your retention of the information that you’re trying to learn and integrate into your memory, but it also just doesn’t work in general. If you’re going to study and put time into something you don’t want it to be a waste. So do yourself a favor and plan for study times, either in a study group or by yourself, whatever works best for you. Just don’t cram
Try to Eliminate Distractions
Not only do you have to worry about the environment around you, but an online environment is something to take into account as well when you start your year online. Games, social media, and all sorts of online distractions are bound to come up in your online bubble. It’s just the nature of things. If you can try to limit your screentime on those sites and train yourself to stay engaged with your classes as much as you can just to make sure you don’t miss anything.
