In an effort to control the spread of COVID-19, many universities are asking students not to return after spring break and will transition to online learning. For obvious reasons, this is causing a lot of stress for students who are accustomed to a different education style.
I'm a distance education student, which means I watch all my lectures online, so this is not a new experience for me. But I will admit that transitioning from campus life last summer to distance life in the fall was a challenge. So, I thought I would share some tips with those who are making a sudden transition to distance student life.
1. Lists are your best friend.
I have a big whiteboard in my office. Sometimes I use this for writing out medication information or drawings or quizzing myself, but most of the time it's a big, scary, running checklist of all the lectures I need to watch for any given exam. I note when the exam will be taken, and I'll even mark out what days I need to have certain things completed by, so that I don't fall behind. I've tried Google Calendar, I've tried a planner, but this seems to be the best method for me.
2. Don't fall behind!
Playing catch-up is the absolute worst (take my word for it), so resist the very compelling urge to say "oh, I can do that later." Future you is going to love past you if you stay on track or even ahead of the game.
3. Stick to a daily schedule.
I posted about my daily routine in the fall and while it may seem horrible, I was really proud of the fact that I got up early every day (even on the weekends!) to get stuff done. Sure, you may not be physically going to school in the morning anymore, but act as though you are. If you have the ability to watch the lectures live, do it. If you were scheduled to do five lectures on a given day, watch all five. The only thing that should change is maybe you do all of this in your pajamas!
4. Avoid distractions (and there will be MANY).
This tip should maybe be #1 because this was (and continues to be) the hardest part for me. When you're alone at home watching lectures, it can be so easy to play on your phone, take a bathroom break, play with the dog, clean your kitchen, throw in a load of laundry, refill your coffee, make a nice lunch ... see what I mean? Before you know it, it's noon and you haven't gotten much of anything done. And yes, while some of those things are productive, you're not giving your studies the same attention as you would in a classroom. So put the phone in the other room and do your laundry later. Take a lunch break just like you would at school, but then get back to it.
5. The "pause" and "rewind" buttons are your enemy.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of being able to put certain slow-talking lecturers on 1.5x speed. But that rewind button is the devil. Here's how it happens. If you didn't follow tip #4 and you text with a friend, you find that, oops, you missed whatever the lecturer was just saying. So you pause and go back 30 seconds or a minute to re-watch it. Or, alternatively, you're being an extra good student and taking extra good notes, but to do that you're pausing the video every couple of minutes.
Believe me, this time will add up in a hurry, and before you know it, a 50 minute lecture has taken you an hour and a half to watch. You wouldn't be able to pause and re-wind in real life, so don't do it now. I know y'all don't have that kind of extra time to spare, so heed my warning that this can be a big time-suck.
6. Lean on your classmates.
You're not alone during this time. Text each other. Post in your Facebook groups. Ask each other questions, keep each other accountable, remind each other about upcoming due dates ... you can still be there for each other from afar. This kind of emotional support is priceless.
Best of luck if you're a student finding yourself now having to adjust to online learning. I hope you find these tips helpful. Stay healthy, everyone!
Thanks for reading,
Olivia
P.S. Knowing that many students will be starting their summer PA programs as online students, I wrote a follow-up post with more tips about being a successful online student.
I'm a distance education student, which means I watch all my lectures online, so this is not a new experience for me. But I will admit that transitioning from campus life last summer to distance life in the fall was a challenge. So, I thought I would share some tips with those who are making a sudden transition to distance student life.
1. Lists are your best friend.
I have a big whiteboard in my office. Sometimes I use this for writing out medication information or drawings or quizzing myself, but most of the time it's a big, scary, running checklist of all the lectures I need to watch for any given exam. I note when the exam will be taken, and I'll even mark out what days I need to have certain things completed by, so that I don't fall behind. I've tried Google Calendar, I've tried a planner, but this seems to be the best method for me.
2. Don't fall behind!
Playing catch-up is the absolute worst (take my word for it), so resist the very compelling urge to say "oh, I can do that later." Future you is going to love past you if you stay on track or even ahead of the game.
3. Stick to a daily schedule.
I posted about my daily routine in the fall and while it may seem horrible, I was really proud of the fact that I got up early every day (even on the weekends!) to get stuff done. Sure, you may not be physically going to school in the morning anymore, but act as though you are. If you have the ability to watch the lectures live, do it. If you were scheduled to do five lectures on a given day, watch all five. The only thing that should change is maybe you do all of this in your pajamas!
4. Avoid distractions (and there will be MANY).
This tip should maybe be #1 because this was (and continues to be) the hardest part for me. When you're alone at home watching lectures, it can be so easy to play on your phone, take a bathroom break, play with the dog, clean your kitchen, throw in a load of laundry, refill your coffee, make a nice lunch ... see what I mean? Before you know it, it's noon and you haven't gotten much of anything done. And yes, while some of those things are productive, you're not giving your studies the same attention as you would in a classroom. So put the phone in the other room and do your laundry later. Take a lunch break just like you would at school, but then get back to it.
5. The "pause" and "rewind" buttons are your enemy.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of being able to put certain slow-talking lecturers on 1.5x speed. But that rewind button is the devil. Here's how it happens. If you didn't follow tip #4 and you text with a friend, you find that, oops, you missed whatever the lecturer was just saying. So you pause and go back 30 seconds or a minute to re-watch it. Or, alternatively, you're being an extra good student and taking extra good notes, but to do that you're pausing the video every couple of minutes.
Believe me, this time will add up in a hurry, and before you know it, a 50 minute lecture has taken you an hour and a half to watch. You wouldn't be able to pause and re-wind in real life, so don't do it now. I know y'all don't have that kind of extra time to spare, so heed my warning that this can be a big time-suck.
6. Lean on your classmates.
You're not alone during this time. Text each other. Post in your Facebook groups. Ask each other questions, keep each other accountable, remind each other about upcoming due dates ... you can still be there for each other from afar. This kind of emotional support is priceless.
Best of luck if you're a student finding yourself now having to adjust to online learning. I hope you find these tips helpful. Stay healthy, everyone!
Thanks for reading,
Olivia
P.S. Knowing that many students will be starting their summer PA programs as online students, I wrote a follow-up post with more tips about being a successful online student.
Comments
Post a Comment