Concorde Staff
With the wide variety of online classes available and the transition of traditionally in-person programs into hybrid or fully online courses, online learning has become an important aspect of the educational process. Online learning programs can provide you with the opportunity to learn at your own pace and within your own space to balance your studies with personal time commitments. In an online class, your schedule and location don't limit you to what programs and career paths you can pursue. As learning remotely may present challenges to traditional learners, it's important to develop good study habits for online classes.
Developing good study habits for online classes ensures that you get the most value out of your program coursework as you improve your retention while expanding your skillset and industry knowledge. Similar to studying for in-person courses, there are some effective study habits that teach you how to focus in online classes. These study habits include minimizing distractions
and dedicating time to study by practicing different methods to suit your learning style. How some online classes work compared to others can affect your learning style.
How do online classes work?
Online classes can have different instructional structures that vary from live lectures or seminars to asynchronous video recordings. With live lectures, students log onto a video streaming platform during specified class times to listen to instructors teach a lesson and communicate with classmates in group discussions. Asynchronous online classes provide recordings, learning materials, and assignments for students to access and complete at their own pace within certain timelines. Depending on your specific course format, you can develop your study habits for online classes to suit how you learn.
Understand your learning style
It's important to understand how you learn to develop the best and most effective study habits for online classes to help you succeed. Some students can easily comprehend and retain lecture information while others require physical note-taking or other practical hands-on activities to interpret and remember lesson concepts and theories. For more hands-on learners, consider creating visualizations or diagrams to represent information from your lessons for improved retention.
Set study habit goals
When conducting self-study practices, self-motivation and self-discipline are important qualities that contribute to your ability to focus and stay on track with your studies. Setting goals for
your study habits and learning progress provides you with ways to measure your performance and adapt your study habits as needed. You can set goals for how many lessons or assignments you've completed within recurring timeframes to establish a consistent pace of learning.
Create a routine
Routines make a study practice into a habit for you to ensure your learning progress. If your online class requires live lectures or discussions, you can set aside time directly before or after the class session to increase your engagement with course content. For those with flexible, asynchronous classes, dedicate a regular block of time within your schedule for your mind to get into the practice of focusing on your coursework at a certain time every day or every other day.
Establish a dedicated study space
Along with dedicating a routine period for studying, having a dedicated space to do so is just as important. These dedicated spaces can condition your mind to recognize locations and times for focusing. You can choose a quiet space within your house, a library, or another location with a sufficient internet connection for you to study.
Minimize distractions
In your study space, minimize distractions such as clutter, communications, and other factors that may reduce your focus. Outside of your designated study time, make sure to clean up your space and complete any chores that may lead you to multitask while you study. Turn your
phone notifications off or download apps designed to help you focus and stay away from things such as social media, messengers, and games.
Learn actively
Active learning includes taking notes and interacting with lesson topics through reflections or discussions with your peers. You can communicate with classmates to form study groups, increase your engagement, motivate each other, and learn from one another. Learning from your classmates allows you to understand different lesson interpretations, along with a variety of study habit styles, to help you develop your own habits for online classes.
Ask for help
When encountering challenging lesson topics in your self-study, consider asking your classmates or instructors for help. Some concepts may take further explanation for you to understand and directly asking for clarification can eliminate the potential for misunderstandings or misinformation from other sources. In an online class, you may have the opportunity to message your instructors, instructional assistants, and peers for questions you have about the course.
Take care of yourself
A healthy body and a healthy mind are important to help you retain information, focus on your courses, and maintain your routine. Make sure to eat well, get enough sleep, and take sufficient breaks to stay energized and engaged with your studies. Limit the amount of time you spend studying to three hours at a time to prevent feeling burned out.
Enrolling in online classes offers students a beneficial way to achieve their goals while accommodating other aspects of their life. Online classes establish a flexible learning environment that eliminates some limitations of in-person learning to give you the opportunity to pursue your dreams. For those interested in a health care career-focused education, Concorde offers over 20 degree and diploma programs with online learning courses, along with resources to help you succeed. Concorde Career Colleges offers a student-centered educational experience while guiding you throughout your educational career to achieve your professional career goals. You can apply now for our available online health care degree or diploma programs to get started with your career in health care. If you're unsure about what role or specialization you want to pursue within the health care industry, you can request information and speak to a Concorde representative to help you determine what options may be best for you and your interests. Along with providing information on our programs, financial aid, and scholarships, we can send you a 14-page Career Path guidebook for you to browse and help you decide whenever you're ready.
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