In this Post
–Tips for Taking Online Classes from Home
–Pros of Taking Online Classes from Home
In the wake of the on-going pandemic, schools, colleges, and universities all over Pakistan have either suspended or postponed in-person classes upon the directives of the authorities, thrusting students into the world of remote learning and studying at home. However, managing education from the home environment can be tough for many students, owing to the disturbances caused by different types of household activities. Such distractions during educational sessions often make students lose interest in studies, which may also affect their grades. So, if you are also taking online lectures from home these days and finding it difficult to keep up with your studies, then we’ve got you covered. In this blog, we are going to give you some useful tips on how to take online classes from home to help you bring your education back on track.
So, let’s begin!
How to Take Online Classes from Home: Effective Tips to Follow
Now we are about to list down and discuss some extremely helpful tips for taking online classes, which will make your study routine at home easier.
- Revise Everything You Have Learnt In Class
- Treat Your Online Class As A Real Class
- The Accountability Factor
- Have a Backup Internet Connection
- Have a Dedicated Study Space
- Manage Your Time
- Eliminate Distractions
Revise Everything You Have Learnt In Class
Before you start taking online classes, try going through the notes you already have about the topic you’ll be discussing and learning in an online class and make a list of necessary questions. This will help your brain to grasp information in a more effective way. You may have taken notes from your previous lectures, they may also come handy in such a situation. If you think that discussing it with your friend or classmate may help you, don’t hesitate in doing so. This is how you can make the most of your studying from home routine.
Treat Your Online Class As A Real Class
When it comes to taking online classes from home, students need to have the discipline to complete all of their assigned work before the communicated due date like they do in the case of regular classes. Though following flexible timings for working on their projects with managing other household tasks is up to them it shouldn’t cause any delays in their submissions.
Pro Tip: Killing the habit of procrastination is the online way to get real value out of your online classes and studying from home routine.
The Accountability Factor
Holding yourself accountable is one of the most helpful tips for taking online classes from home as it will make you feel more responsible and dedicated to your submissions. To do so, you can start with setting goals for each of the assigned tasks, and check in with yourself at least twice a week. Since you won’t be receiving any verbal or visual reminders of your assignment’s upcoming due date except for getting alerts from digital mediums your university uses for online sessions, this approach will help you keep a track of your progress.
However, it’s totally up to you to allow yourself enough time to complete the work, which means you are not starting an assignment the day before its submission is due. In case, you find it hard holding yourself responsible, group up with a fellow classmate, or take the help of any of your family members or a friend and ask them to act as your accountability partner. The sense of accountability makes you more organised, proactive, and self-aware.
Have a Backup Internet Connection
When studying from home with the help of online mediums, you cannot only entirely rely on your local area internet connection and expect things to run smoothly. Interruptions may occur in such connections without any warning and in that case, you should have a backup plan so that you won’t miss out on any of the lectures. For instance, there are many portable wireless internet devices available in Pakistan these days that provide you broadband connectivity on the go. If you don’t have one of these devices, you can also simply get a daily, monthly or weekly mobile data package activated on your smartphone, offered by different cellular services, starting for as low as PKR 50.
Have A Dedicated Study Space
One of the best ways to stay more focused on your studies while taking online classes from home is to find a dedicated space to carry out your educational activities. Upon repeatedly completing a task there, you’ll train your brain to feel comfortable when studying in that particular part of your home. No matter if you choose your kitchen table, living room, or bedroom as your it’s important for you to determine the type of environment that suits you the best. However, coming up with a study area in a library is considered ideal for many students. It’s just they believe that being surrounded by books in a literary environment helps them to become more attentive and focused on their education. You can try it too, it may work for you as well.
When you are setting up your studying space, make sure it is equipped with the following essentials: Have a high-speed internet connection (with backup as discussed)
- Have all the required course material including books, recorded lectures, and software/podcast devices for the course, depending on your educational requirements.
- Have headphones (the ones that support noise cancellation function) for listening to lectures or discussions, especially important in shared spaces)
- Try keeping a calendar on your study desk with all the important due dates and deadlines marked for your pending assignments. It may also prevent you from missing any submission.
Tip for Parents: If you have a school-going kid, who is studying from home these days, then here are some of the best ideas to come up with dedicated study space for your child.
Manage Your Time
One of the most important tips to take online classes from home for students talks about time management. Though it totally depends on you as an online student as to how you manage your time and set your schedule, and learning style accordingly. The liberty to create your own study schedule is usually one of the greatest appeals of taking online classes from home. But if you fail to adopt a solid time management approach that flexibility can become detrimental. Take a look at these valuable tips to improve your time management skills:
- Make note of all your major assignments and factor in priority commitments
- As discussed, create a weekly schedule to follow and set reminders for yourself to complete the assigned work.
- Try working with time-blocking techniques with the help of which you allow yourself a certain amount of time to complete each task.
- Check in periodically to find out how much time you are spending on assignments throughout the term. Are there any improvements? If not, then come up with even stricter deadlines for yourself.
Key Takeaway: All the aforementioned time management skills will easily let you avoid cramming for exams.
Eliminate Distractions
Whether periodical or regular, distractions can easily ruin your productivity as a student, so it is better for you to keep them at bay from your study space at home. In regular classes, you’re not allowed to your phones but at home, there may be no restrictions that means it now totally depends on you to stay away from distractions like scrolling through social media feeds or replying to the messages from your friends. The best thing to do in this regard is to consider turning your cellphone off. Moreover, ask your household members to limit the activities in the area of your living space where you are studying. This is how you can lessen such distractions and set aside some time in your routine to focus on your education.
Pros of Taking Online Classes from Home
Before wrapping up our post, let’s list down some of the key advantages of online education.
- The flexibility of study hours keeps you from missing out on your online lectures since they are recorded and can be listened to or watched at any time. It is one of the key benefits of online classes.
- The time you save while not travelling to/from your educational institution can be spent covering some extra topics.
- Studying online will ultimately make you more responsible and self-disciplined as you’ll be managing all your time and study schedule yourself.
These were some of the most effective tips to take online classes from home that’ll help students to effectively pursue educational goals while not being able to attend regular classes. If you have any questions or feedback related to any of the pointers and benefits of online classes mentioned above, feel free to reach out to us at blog@zameen.com. We’ll try to answer your emails as soon as possible.
On a side note, you might also be interested in reading our blogs on tips to achieve work-life balance and the pros and cons of having to work from home.
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