Almost every K-12 school and college is moving to online classes for the rest of the semester, which can be a big adjustment for people who have never taken a class online before or just learn better in a face to face environment . I’ve taken a few online classes in my college years so I wanted to share the techniques and tips that helped me get an A in each one.
Set up your work space
Odds are you’ll be spending a lot of time here. If you can, create a dedicated work space for yourself. This will help your brain get in or out of work mode based on location. If your desk is dedicates only to work you’ll find it a little bit easier to do your work and focus while you’re sitting there and get into relaxation mode when you go somewhere else (aka don’t do class in bed).
Create an online class schedule
Some classes might still be happening during their normal times, but others might just have pre-recorded video lectures, or not person to person meetings anymore in general. Work around those live classes and fill in gaps with those more flexible classes the create a schedule that works for you.
Schedule your study/assignment time
Maybe you’re able to schedule your class times every other day and the other days are for work or maybe you want to get it all out of the way and have a 3 days weekend. It’s just as important to schedule the times you’re going to be doing out of class work as it is the in class work.
Extra tip: Keep at least two “weekend” days free, even if you spread them out.
Coordinate with the people you live with
Odds are most of your household is doing work from home now. Talk to them to inform each other when you need some extra privacy and quiet space for a zoom meeting or if you’ll be plying lectures out loud, and especially when taking a timed exam. This will help prevent lots of unneeded conflicts and stress about getting things done
Make sure you have a reliable connection
You’ll likely be using a lot more bandwidth than usual and while I’m no tech expert, it’s a good idea to restart your router the night before an exam. Have a back up plan too. Spectrum is offering free WiFi to all students. If you need to, look into setting up your own network trough them to only be used for your school work, so you don’t need to kick off the rest of the people on WiFi just so you can live stream during your exam.
This is a very stressful time for many of us and a large adjustment from the lives we’re used to. The better we are at self-isolation, washing our hands and not touching our faces, the faster it will be over. Stay positive, stay healthy and stay properly informed.
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