5 Ways to Make Online Learning More Effective

These days most of the schools and colleges all over the world have switched to online learning due of COVID 19. School/college classes, online courses, whatever it maybe, students just get bored after some time and get distracted. This in turn affects the quality of learning of students.

So, here are a few tips to make online/virtual learning more effective.

1. LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Having a neat and tidy study environment is essential for productive learning. The couch or Bed might not be the best places to study. Find a room or a corner where it’s quiet and free of noise. Then make sure to move away all the unnecessary books, stationery etc. Also make sure to get rid of all the external distractions before starting to study. Keep all the required items so you don’t have to go get them each time. Finally, keep your study space clutter-free.

2. ELIMINATING DISTRACTIONS

So many students spend a lot of time on distractions which in turn makes them procrastinate and put off their tasks. Internet distractions include Youtube, Social media, Video Games and so on. Distraction makes us procrastinate and we end up rushing our tasks which causes poor quality learning. To learn effectively, we need to get rid of distractions from our surroundings. Getting your phone away from your study space when not required, Turning off notifications, Deleting unwanted distracting apps, are few steps to start with distraction-free learning.

3. POSITIVE MINDSET/OPTIMISM

Having a positive mindset is really important for effective learning. A positive mindset ensures that we work on improving ourselves everyday. It ensures that a single failure/setback doesn’t bring us down.

As said by George Bernard Shaw,

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

This statement just says that those people who don’t have a positive mindset just can’t make progress. Studies show that being optimistic helps with stress management and also affects many areas of our health and well being.

4. TESTING

Testing is an integral process of learning as when we test ourselves we apply the knowledge we gained through classes/courses and this tells us our weak areas and we can then work on these areas and sharpen our skills. Applying whatever we learnt through testing ourselves will let us know our mistakes and lets us rectify them. With regular testing we need to work on improving ourself and track the progress.

5. STAYING MOTIVATED

Motivation plays a key role in our learning process. While there are various steps you can take to create a routine and maintain productivity, every now and then a lack of motivation may set in and you could find it difficult to accomplish the task at hand. Find out “why” you are learning/studying, think of your final goal. Try and increase your interest in that subject. External motivation (the motivation you get after watching a motivational video or quote) always fades away quickly, therefore it is important to keep up the internal motivation (the feeling inside us that pushes us to work). Rewarding yourself, Taking regular breaks are a few methods to keep up internal motivation.

These were few tips which could help you in better learning and always remember to take regular breaks and to relax as it is also a part of the process. It’s completely fine if you cannot follow everything, as long as you are improving and progressing. Remember, SLOW progress is better then NO progress.