5 Keys to Online Student Success

While technology has been driving education online for the last number of years, the surge since COVID-19 has been extraordinary, and students across the globe are adapting. There are numerous benefits to attending classes in your cozy pjs, being closer to family (mostly a great thing) and cutting out commute time. But online learning comes with an array of challenges, and opportunities to master the skills necessary to succeed. In case you’re still looking to improve your game, and your grades, as you navigate a new world of cyber learning, a second career, private colleges in Ontario, or college courses in Toronto, here are your …

5 Keys to Online Student Success

1. Finetuning Focus

With infinite flexibility comes great responsibility … to finetune our focus. Without the watchful eye of an instructor in a classroom, with the added distraction of family to care for, and a personal schedule to attend to, study time can slip away. One minute you’re checking social media and the next an hour has passed. Even though your search on Google begins with the topic for school, without a commitment to staying on task and catching yourself before you head down that rabbit hole, you can lose precious time. Successful students prioritize their studies and restrict worktime online to focusing on what needs to be completed first. This is not always easy but with practice and Keys 2 – 5, you’ll get there.

2. Planning and Time Managing

A clear schedule, planning out projects and tasks for the year, month and day and setting them to a timeframe, helps keep you on track. Procrastination can plague us all, but it is overcome by blocking out specific times for classes, learning and projects and mastering study tips. To Do Lists for each week, for larger tasks, and for each day, to make sure you’re hitting your goals, is a fantastic way for you to recognize how you’re progressing. And checking each one off as you complete it, creates a mini surge of accomplishment that keeps you going.

3. Cultivating Communication Skills

Without the benefit of being face-to-face, we cut out some major tools we use for communicating effectively and, shifting all of our communications online, means a need to take our communication abilities up a notch. First, successful students take the time to read through instructions on how to communicate with their instructors and fellow students and then they take the time to master them. They are careful in their written communications, ensuring they err on the side of respect, and think critically before crafting responses or questions. They make an effort to connect with others in the class, engage on video in classes, and participate so that they’re a part of the conversations and community even though they’re not in person. Online learning can feel isolating at times, but it doesn’t have to. And students who succeed know that asking questions and getting clarification not only makes their learning more efficient but their experience more in keeping with a community of learners, helping and empowering one another.

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4. Setting the Stage for Success

Without a school to attend, a classroom to sit in with other students, and a place that we recognize as a specific environment for learning, it can feel like just another ordinary day at home. We need to set the stage for feeling like we’re at “school”, even when in our house. I know it’s more convenient to roll out of bed and begin but getting showered and dressed can trigger a feeling that the workday has begun. Review your plan and work it. Pick a place of quiet. Work at a desk (ergonomic setup is best), just like you would at school. Turn off your phone. Stay on task. And take designated breaks, not random trips to the fridge. If you set your space up for study, you’re more apt to study. And at the end of the day when you ‘clock out’, you’ll feel a sense of success and deserving of a well-earned break.

5. Perpetual Persistence

Oh, online learning takes persistence indeed. From overcoming technical glitches and dealing with student after student forgetting to mute (or unmute) during online class, to times when you feel unmotivated and alone, or stuck, you have to find your way to forge ahead anyway. Those on the pathway to thriving, ask for help, connect, take breaks when needed, but leap back in and try, try and begin again. When you’re working that dream job and living the life you imagined, your future self will thank you for giving it your all!

Mastering these 5 Keys, can empower you to take the leap toward your dream career, as you begin your studies online. To find a ‘college near me’ and a match between your goals and one of Anderson College’s 30+ leading-edge programs, contact an Admissions Advisor and book your express appointment today.

Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!

We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:

• Study Tips
• Second Career Anderson College Page
• Anderson general Programs Page