Online high school's environment is pretty different from the traditional school's environment.
Great study habits are requisites for gaining success in online school course. You need to be consistent, disciplined, self-driven and balanced throughout the course. Same goes for traditional school routine as well. You need these basic habits to pass your course with good scores. However, when you are making your transition from a traditional school to an online school, you need to keep in mind that you are stepping into a much more flexible learning environment. So, you need to shape yourself up as per the new online learning environment.
Here are the top 5 important ways to adapt to an online high school routine:
Getting used to the ideal environment required for online schooling
You shall be provided with plenty of guidance from your respective online school about what you need to get started for your school year. The common pre-requisites include computer equipment, high-speed internet connection, books, and other materials. Make some arrangements to prepare the environment that you require to peacefully carry out your coursework. Designate a suitable area that will be your study/classroom. This space should have least or no distractions. It should have proper lighting arrangements as well. Furthermore, keep this place highly organized and clean on a regular basis. Practice doing all of your study-related work here. This shall help you to get mentally programmed to do your study-related work in this place.
Talk to your family members
It is essential to talk to your family members beforehand regarding the importance of high school courses and the concentration required. While your mother and father shall understand you well, but your younger siblings might not. So, speak to them directly about your need for structure and quiet peaceful time. Be gentle and explain to them about the crucial high school stage. Tell them that they would also face the same stage some day; so they ought to maintain peace whenever around him or his room. Take help from your parents to keep them aware of your crucial stage in case they are too rowdy! Rather than having an argument later, have an open discussion about your requirements with all of your family members.
Practice self-control
You need to control your temptation when it comes to maintaining your seamless course flow. As you know, online schools provide you with a high level of flexibility. If you take it too easy and get swayed away by the trending topic on Twitter or the notifications on Instagram, then you shall be at a major loss later on. After all, the key is to remain ahead of your schedule when it comes to taking an online course. Do not let the comfort of your home take it too easy. It is true that being a human, you might have to literally struggle with discipline! But when you have a strong will-power you can overcome all of these temptations. This strong willpower can build up when you have a very strong purpose of taking online courses. If you are a person who gets out of control most times, then practice maintaining control little by little so that when the course starts, you get good at self-control!
Get into the habit of self-initiating
When you are in an online school, you need to be the initiator in most of the cases. You cannot remain passive! Remember an online high school does not have “live” teachers or students. You literally need to initiate conversing with your online teachers and even peers. You need to develop a great relationship with them so that feel a level of comfort with them to discuss your issues. When you genuinely have a good rapport with your online teachers, you shall not shy away from asking any query that might be disrupting your course flow. You can ask your queries either during class or via email or phone calls.
Enhance your time-management skills
Make the schedule such that you allocate some time for sleeping or a specific activity along with making time for your studies. This way you shall be able to avail the actual benefits of taking an online course. Leave out some time only for research work! You might research on a topic of your own interest or research or a topic that you find difficult to grasp. In-depth knowledge shall help you take a genuine interest in your subjects. This shall help you to go a through a wholesome learning experience.
Make sure to read the syllabus before starting with all the preparations. The syllabus is a critical resource for any course, especially when it is online. It shall serve you as the roadmap for the entire course. Make sure to print a copy on the first day of class. Then, do not forget to read through it twice. You can highlight the due dates and then record them for assignments and threaded discussions in your personal calendar. Furthermore, you can add reminders too. Review all the assignment related instructions, discussion topics, etc. at the starting of each week. You can consult grading guidelines and check dues dates. Once you are familiar with the instructions, you can complete assignments much faster and with a great deal of confidence too.
In certain cases, it might be that it is not possible for you to submit an assignment by the due date due to an urgent situation like illness, work etc. In that case, get in touch with your instructor as early as possible before the deadline for the assignment comes. This way your case might be considered by the instructor.
Log onto your online course at least three to four times every week. Get into the habit of refreshing checking your course consistently. If possible, do it daily. This way you can remain up-to-date with the several discussion posts, check for instructor announcements or review course materials. When you are logged on, participate in the online activities and discussions to voice your opinion.
Great study habits are requisites for gaining success in online school course. You need to be consistent, disciplined, self-driven and balanced throughout the course. Same goes for traditional school routine as well. You need these basic habits to pass your course with good scores. However, when you are making your transition from a traditional school to an online school, you need to keep in mind that you are stepping into a much more flexible learning environment. So, you need to shape yourself up as per the new online learning environment.
Here are the top 5 important ways to adapt to an online high school routine:
Getting used to the ideal environment required for online schooling
You shall be provided with plenty of guidance from your respective online school about what you need to get started for your school year. The common pre-requisites include computer equipment, high-speed internet connection, books, and other materials. Make some arrangements to prepare the environment that you require to peacefully carry out your coursework. Designate a suitable area that will be your study/classroom. This space should have least or no distractions. It should have proper lighting arrangements as well. Furthermore, keep this place highly organized and clean on a regular basis. Practice doing all of your study-related work here. This shall help you to get mentally programmed to do your study-related work in this place.
Talk to your family members
It is essential to talk to your family members beforehand regarding the importance of high school courses and the concentration required. While your mother and father shall understand you well, but your younger siblings might not. So, speak to them directly about your need for structure and quiet peaceful time. Be gentle and explain to them about the crucial high school stage. Tell them that they would also face the same stage some day; so they ought to maintain peace whenever around him or his room. Take help from your parents to keep them aware of your crucial stage in case they are too rowdy! Rather than having an argument later, have an open discussion about your requirements with all of your family members.
Practice self-control
You need to control your temptation when it comes to maintaining your seamless course flow. As you know, online schools provide you with a high level of flexibility. If you take it too easy and get swayed away by the trending topic on Twitter or the notifications on Instagram, then you shall be at a major loss later on. After all, the key is to remain ahead of your schedule when it comes to taking an online course. Do not let the comfort of your home take it too easy. It is true that being a human, you might have to literally struggle with discipline! But when you have a strong will-power you can overcome all of these temptations. This strong willpower can build up when you have a very strong purpose of taking online courses. If you are a person who gets out of control most times, then practice maintaining control little by little so that when the course starts, you get good at self-control!
Get into the habit of self-initiating
When you are in an online school, you need to be the initiator in most of the cases. You cannot remain passive! Remember an online high school does not have “live” teachers or students. You literally need to initiate conversing with your online teachers and even peers. You need to develop a great relationship with them so that feel a level of comfort with them to discuss your issues. When you genuinely have a good rapport with your online teachers, you shall not shy away from asking any query that might be disrupting your course flow. You can ask your queries either during class or via email or phone calls.
Enhance your time-management skills
Make the schedule such that you allocate some time for sleeping or a specific activity along with making time for your studies. This way you shall be able to avail the actual benefits of taking an online course. Leave out some time only for research work! You might research on a topic of your own interest or research or a topic that you find difficult to grasp. In-depth knowledge shall help you take a genuine interest in your subjects. This shall help you to go a through a wholesome learning experience.
Make sure to read the syllabus before starting with all the preparations. The syllabus is a critical resource for any course, especially when it is online. It shall serve you as the roadmap for the entire course. Make sure to print a copy on the first day of class. Then, do not forget to read through it twice. You can highlight the due dates and then record them for assignments and threaded discussions in your personal calendar. Furthermore, you can add reminders too. Review all the assignment related instructions, discussion topics, etc. at the starting of each week. You can consult grading guidelines and check dues dates. Once you are familiar with the instructions, you can complete assignments much faster and with a great deal of confidence too.
In certain cases, it might be that it is not possible for you to submit an assignment by the due date due to an urgent situation like illness, work etc. In that case, get in touch with your instructor as early as possible before the deadline for the assignment comes. This way your case might be considered by the instructor.
Log onto your online course at least three to four times every week. Get into the habit of refreshing checking your course consistently. If possible, do it daily. This way you can remain up-to-date with the several discussion posts, check for instructor announcements or review course materials. When you are logged on, participate in the online activities and discussions to voice your opinion.
