Taking a class or an entire program online can be an unusual shift in learning coming out of high school or when returning to school after years away. Without face-to-face classes to keep you on your toes, it's easy to fall behind even with the best of intentions, there are less opportunities to measure your progress, quiet courses can feel isolating, and depending on materials made available to you, the learning curve may be steep. Not forgetting the fact that many online students often have enough keeping them occupied outside of class.

To survive the tougher times in the online learning journey, it helps to ramp up in time management, stick to a schedule and commence the semester on the right foot by coming prepared. The following tips will equip you with the necessary armor to get through the most demanding or poorly delivered online courses, but most are applicable to all attendance types.

it's easy to fall behind ... can feel isolating ... the learning curve may be steep

Tech check

• Ensure your computer or devices can access the course website.


• Become familiar with the course website – where to read course announcements, download videos, audio files, lecture slides, join live tutorials and post questions in the discussion forums. Having both Chrome and Firefox browsers installed may be useful when something unexpectedly stops working.


• Install plugins and software required to play video and audio files formats your institution publishes in, readers for PDFs and ebooks. The most common applications are:
   
  
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  
  
  • Adobe Digital Editions
  
  
  • Adobe Flash Player
  
  
  • VLC Media Player
  
  
• Learn how to use the online library. Check if your institution has subject guides as they generally list relevant databases, journals and ebooks by major.


• Test access to and viewing of external websites (such as Lynda).


• Check your microphone (including how to mute) and webcam in the tutorial or lecture 'rooms'.


• Read and follow your institution's online etiquette rules for how to interact and express yourself in the online environment.

Freebies & discounts

Scour your institution's website or ask student services for discounts or free software, stationery and subscriptions. Many large institutions offer Microsoft Office 365 free for the entirety of the program and have arrangements with Apple to offer students discounts greater than what you see in the Education Store (tip: call Apple directly and ask them if your institution is signed up for massive discounts).

Real world supplies

• Use a planner or schedule to lock in study sessions, lecture times and tutorials (even if you don't attend live each week), and assessment due dates.


• A notebook per course for all your notes. Handwriting notes helps retain information more than typing.


• A folder or folio for keeping printouts such as lecture slides, research articles and random loose papers.

See also...List of unique stationery stores that ship worldwide

Effective learning skills

• Discover your learning style and incorporate techniques that support it.


• If you're enrolled in a course that doesn't support your learning style, email your lecturer and ask if it would be possible to include material in other formats (e.g. sound, video, readings).


• Learn to speed read, particularly if you're studying anything in the humanities, law or psychology.

Plan ahead

• At the beginning of the semester or before if possible, thoroughly read the syllabus and topic objectives. Check your understanding of each objective throughout the course and ask for help when necessary.


• Assessments may have a rubric available which will indicate what you need to accomplish in order to achieve a certain grade. Use it as a guide when planning and editing your assignments. It may also come in handy if you disagree with a mark.


• Create a study schedule. For university courses, one to two hours per day is ideal, but depending on the subject, it could be less or much more!


• If you're having trouble sticking to a study schedule, try sticking to a daily routine. This way you'll know where the hours go and sitting down to study will become second nature, like brushing your teeth.


• Hectic workload next semester? Read ahead by purchasing the textbook early, audit a MOOC on the topic, or ask the lecturer for focus points.

See also...Time Management Issue

Use the materials

Make the most of activities and readings as they have been carefully selected to benefit you, not punish you. Attempt test quizzes, online discussions, live tutorials for getting questions answered on the spot, zero-grade assessments that provide interim feedback, and of course, all graded assessments.

In face-to-face classes, educators gauge how students are ingesting the material by interactions and facial expressions. In the online environment this is impossible, so any opportunity you have to gain feedback should be seized before it's too late to improve.

Participate and collaborate

• To decrease the isolation that accompanies online classes, create a local study group or partner up with someone who lives close. Not only will you feel more engaged, but you'll have a forum for privately whinging, hearing assessments tips noted in missed lectures and socializing, for balance.


• Follow Facebook course pages or join course groups if they exist. Certain discussion topics tend to happen exclusively in these groups, and they can also be an immense source of support.


• Join the #studyblr community for inspiration, study tips by students, or make friends studying similar programs from around the globe.


• Collaboration is a big focus in online teaching, so by becoming aware of this you can identify how that applies to you as a student. It may simply mean posting to the forum a set minimum of times, answering other students' administrative or academic questions when possible, or sharing your answer to a tutorial question.

Good luck and happy studies!