How To Succeed as an Online Student

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I have been an online student for the last 3 years. In fact, I completed my graduate degree this past December from Boston University all online! So as the world moves to protect one another during a pandemic many students from kindergarten on up are starting their online educational careers with mandated school closures.

Moving away from the structured atmosphere of traditional schooling can be extremely difficult. While many parents are taking over homeschooling younger children the change might be even more difficult for college students. You aren’t around your friends, you are still in a weird growth stage both physically and mentally, and suddenly you are forced back home with the responsibility to complete courses so you can graduate on time.

The stress of all of this can be extremely overwhelming, how do I know? Because as I stated I’ve been an online student for 3 years now, but during my undergrad, I worked through a few online courses to achieve my education goals. So as someone who has had a lot of experience in this, I wanted to give you a few pointers on how to succeed in this overwhelming change from traditional classes to online courses.

Understand All of Your Deadlines

Read your syllabus, then set up a schedule, either in a calendar or checklist; anything that will help you remember when things are due. For myself, I put due dates into a Google calendar that goes directly to my phone as reminders, from there I set up reminders for a week and the day before. This gives me time to get started and finish any of my projects.

Take Notes from Your Textbook

Without the tradition of a set classroom, you have to rely on your textbook to fill in the blanks. While professors do their best with things like class slides and like at BU models, they can’t cover it all in a one-hour online session.

Remember you are likely going from a one hour 3 times a week course to a one-hour online session per week. This drastic change does not give the professor time to cover everything. So the majority of professors rely on the textbook as the main backup to their sessions.

So when you are reading your textbook, take notes; but take them in a way that you will understand. For myself, I rely greatly on OneNote where I can put together chapter notes that coincide with the weekly lessons. While I’m reading my textbook I have my OneNote up where I can put vocabulary, concepts, and formulas in that are extremely important for me to remember. When it comes time for a quiz or exam I have my notes in order from textbook, course notes and lecture notes to help me study based on the guide of the professor.

For example, one of my professors utilized the majority of the exam questions directly from the textbook, when another from lecture notes. Because I easily have the notes separated I can focus on these areas for primary studying.

Schedule Study Time

When you are home it can be difficult to find study time due to a million other distractions. If you are like me I get distracted by things like Netflix, making dinner, laundry and much more. Since I work a full-time job I rely greatly on my weekends to ensure study time.

By this, I usually schedule 8 hours of study and work time on both Saturday and Sunday and then a few hours throughout the week based on when certain materials or deadlines approach.

While this schedule is not the best, I do work a full-time job as well as having a part-time business that I have to compete with.

Know Your Minimal Requirements

This might sound like an easy way out for many people, but when you are in a time crunch reaching your minimal requirements might be the only thing you have available. For instance, I recently had to have major surgery that caused a few complications which resulted in me not having the time or energy to focus on my course. I resulted to my minimal requirements for the time of my recovery to get me through which resulted in my favor grade-wise. Because of knowing my minimal requirements for the course I was able to focus my time towards what I needed to do without exerting myself both physically and mentally helping me concentrate more on the topics.

Step Away from Your Computer

You will hear this on numerous different sites about working remotely, but from experience, you do need to move away from the computer and take a break. Not only for your mind but physically it is exhausting staring at a computer screen. Most of us have a bad habit of slouching while working on our computer thus causing neck and back pain overtime, but staring at a computer screen for hours can also cause headaches in some individuals. So by allowing yourself to move away from the computer for a few hours helps your body regenerate for the next round of course work.

Have a Professional Relationship with Peers and Professors

I’m not going to lie, it can be very lonesome taking courses online. A lot of the offerings you get as a student on campus are not available for online students. For example, you can’t join a sorority or fraternity, school clubs do not offer membership to online students and many of the social activities in general are just missing from your student life. But having a relationship with your professors and even peers will provide you with experience in building professional relationships anywhere in the world and level.

For this, be sure to address professors by their desired name or “Professor X” and sign all emails with your full name. Greet students in discussions with a warm greeting and appreciation even if you do not fully agree with their point of views.

By keeping a general professional image via your online communications gives you the right impression to your peers and superiors that might help you in the future with obtaining recommendations for further schooling or career moves.

Conclusion

Getting your education online has it’s pros and cons. While majority of the world has been forced into this position I’ve been living it for three years and truth be told, once you get a routine going you are likely to succeed.

Best of luck to you and if you are new to the online education lifestyle and just need someone to talk to, go ahead and reach out to us.

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The Portly Passengers provides plus size inclusive travel tips and advice for anyone who is looking to explore the world. From seat sizes on airplanes to exploring museums, restaurants, and nature Melissa & Peter have the experience and stories to help guide you through it.