Because of the limitation in any form of social interaction due to the present problem of the entire world: the Corona Virus, a lot of measures were done so social interactions can still be done without any personal meetings. Different people now rely on a lot of different forms of media to contact their office or schoolmates, meetings are held online and classes are now done using our electronic devices.
There’s a lot of advantages and disadvantages this new form of classes brings to the students, teachers, and faculty members. This is the first time a lot of schools have resorted to using this type of school strategy, making it harder to transition from face-to-face classes. Of course, as for our older teachers, they struggle a lot to understand how applications work which causes a hassle.
In addition to that, since online classes are now done at our own homes, it’s even harder to focus on our studies. Our beds keep calling us, begging for us to lay down. Let’s be honest, online classes are boring but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make it exciting for us.
Distractions
We’re no longer inside our classrooms where we’re used to learning new things with a teacher in front of us. Since we’re inside our homes, we are surrounded by our family members or the people we’re living with. Our attention could be divided whenever they start blasting loud music, talking too loud or whenever they purposely bother us.
Since our teachers have no complete vision of what we’re doing, it’s easy to get on our phones to scroll through our social media, or perhaps play a game. It doesn’t help if our phones ring because a notification came in. It’s easy just to mute your online classes just to watch a video on YouTube. In fact, no one is really stopping you from doing it.
Why do we indulge ourselves with distractions if it hinders our progress in learning? If education is important, shouldn’t we be more attentive on our classes rather than browsing through social media?
The answer to that is pretty simple. It’s a case of choosing between what is right or what makes you happy. At the moment you lost the motivation to learn, your happiness drops dramatically. The driving force inside you that tells you to listen to your teacher slowly fades away, causing you to become bored or to lose interest. As a remedy to that, we open different entertaining sites just to retain that lost happiness.
However, in truth, it’s all a lie. Doing what makes you happy will only provide you with a very limited source of satisfaction. The moment you stop procrastinating is the moment you start getting bored again. The moment you realize you’re wasting your time procrastinating, your source of joy has now shifted completely.
Doing what is right should be our course of action, regardless if it makes you happy or not. You should push yourself to learn from your teacher, to listen to them no matter how boring they may be. The motivation to learn something new should provide you with enough will power to ignore the boring topic in order to understand it completely. In the end, doing what is right will also provide you happiness. The satisfaction of reaching those high grades and making your parents proud will provide more satisfaction than procrastinating can ever give.
Prevention
In order to prevent any form of distraction, you should turn off your notifications. This is very effective if you still need to use your phone while on a lecture but no distractions can ever come through to mess with your focus. As much as possible, you should really put your phone away to avoid any temptations.
If you’re starting to lose interest in the topic because of your teacher, read the online lecture the school provides. Searching up related topics about it on the internet will also help a lot. You should do these things while still listening to your teacher to catch the important notes they would like to share. This not only boosts your motivation if it’s dropping, but it also stops you from ever thinking about playing with your phone.
If the people around you seem to be too noisy for your own liking, you should consider distancing yourself from them. You should really consider a specific place for you to study in. A silent place where you can easily tinker with your thoughts and easily listen carefully to your teacher.
Create a study place for yourself
Having a study place can dramatically improve your attitude and behavior towards learning. It’s a place where you’re away from any sort of distractions, a place you could learn in silence, a place you can really focus on your studies. They aren’t only limited to providing the best place for online classes, you can also use it as a place where you can create your projects, learn something online, or write essays of any form.
It doesn’t need to be highly professional. You don’t need a computer with the best display, a keyboard that can connect with different devices at a flick of a knob, a mouse with multiple additional buttons, an adjustable table, or even an office chair. As long as your equipment is enough to provide you with sufficient qualities that can help you learn, there’s nothing else you could really ask for. All those fancy things just want you can optionally do. Not owning those expensive devices won’t hinder you from learning.
Take note that your ability to learn depends not on your equipment, but of yourself.
Location
It is recommended that you should have your setup inside your own room, where you are most comfortable in. You can use your bed to study by putting a moveable table to help you but it’s not effective. The comfort your bed gives might tempt you to fall asleep quickly.
If for some reason you can’t use your room, you have no space, or etc., you should pick the most inactive part of the house. You should stay in a place where there’s as little noise as possible. This will increase your concentration and you won’t be distracted with whatever the people around you do.
Ergonomic
Since you’re going to be spending the majority of your time on your desk, working hard, there will be a time when you’d experience a lot of pain or aches in different places in your body. You might start feeling a lot of discomfort and strains. Your eyes might even strain from looking at your display for an extended period of time.
These are the things people who don’t pay attention to any form of ergonomic tricks. Ergonomics is anything that will provide you the comfort and relaxation while in a work setting. Again, doing these are optional but you should consider doing them.
- You shouldn’t be slouching while leaning on the table just to stare at your display. Doing that causes a lot of tension to start which might not give any discomfort right away, but the pain it gives moments later will be catastrophic. It is advisable that you should lean back to your chair comfortably.
- Your display should be close to your normal eye level while sitting down. Looking down on your screen for an extended period of time will cause neck pain. The distance from your eyes to the screen should at least be an arm distance away.
- You should be able to comfortably reach your keyboard if you’re going to type a lot. When you’re sitting down while holding your keyboard, your arm should form a 90° angle.
- It is not possible to have your laptop reach your eye level while the keyboard is easily accessible. To remedy this situation, I use a Bluetooth keyboard so my display can still reach my eyes while I can comfortably type on my keyboard.
- If you experience eye strains, consider lowering the brightness. If it still bothers you, use dark mode as much as possible. If you have some money to spare, consider buying a blue light filter glasses. This should provide you more comfort while staring at your screen for a long duration.
I have to admit, after doing these steps, my mood and energy increased a lot. I was always eager to start writing and studying until I get tired.
Minimalistic
Your table should have as little stuff as possible. It should only contain the important things you need to easily reach when the time calls for it. It should only contain your laptop, optionally a keyboard, a mouse, and a tablet. You have the option to have a pen and paper nearby in case you need to jot down some important notes. I personally use a cheap e-writer from an online store. It really saves me from wasting a lot of money just to solve a quick equation which I might never look at again. It doesn’t cost me a piece of paper, ink, or all those annoying messes, or a whiteboard and a marker. All I need is an 8.5-inch e-writing tablet and I’m ready to go.
Take note that the cleaner and the simpler your desk is, the less irritation you’re going to face later. As a matter of fact, your mood to study can dramatically increase when you’re encouraged to sit on a chair and work on your devices.
More patience
Not everyone’s internet connection is going to be at peak the entire time. Depending on your internet service provider and you’re located, your internet connection will suffer. Understand that the problem is not always the brand of the internet, other factors play their roles in affecting your internet connection.
As mentioned above, your location might have something to do with the number of pings you receive. When there’s a storm wreaking havoc outside, the internet’s radio waves will be affected as it goes through water, hence, making your internet slower. Worst-case scenario, the electricity goes out and you no longer have access to your online class.
There will be times in the future that these will happen. How do you cope with them? How can you recover from losing a lot of progress from your lectures?
Well, to put it simply, don’t use these hindrances as an excuse to not study. Most of the time, people tend to lay comfortably on their beds until the internet connection gets better. This is wrong on a lot of levels. It drops your concentration on the lesson, you start to give in to sleepiness, and you might even play offline games on your phone.
Instead of doing those things, you should use your online copy of your lectures. You should try to at least read and understand them on your own, which will improve your independence while still boosting your concentration to learn. It’s a simple procedure but it can save you from stopping your progress. If you don’t have access to any lectures, consider revising your notes or rereading through them. Correct the wrong thoughts or misspelled words. If you can, you should even add what you know about it, further expanding your knowledge.
Take note that when you’re no longer able to return to your call, you shouldn’t use it as a reason to procrastinate. Take it as a challenge to learn by yourself.
Writing Notes
We’ve been doing it even with the face-to-face classes. We all have those different tricks to spice up our notes, whether through the use of calligraphy, organizers, and highlighters to make our notes as attractive as possible. Personally, I don’t prefer artistic notes. The designs can be too distracting to look at and takes your attention away from the notes itself.
To be completely honest, I don’t like to write on a piece of paper. Holding a pen and pulling and pushing it around for a long duration can really give my hand a strain. I don’t even have good handwriting to start with.
Instead of writing notes on a piece of paper that can be lost, burnt, or soaked in water, I use Notion; a note-taking app that can be accessible in all devices. I used to type my notes on my tablet with a BlueTooth keyboard in class but because I don’t have to bring my heavy laptop to school, I can take notes on my laptop here at home. I used to write my notes on Google Docs where I share my entire notes with my classmates through a shared Google account. Since I discovered Notion, I completely shifted my typing on that application completely. I can still share my notes and everything looks well-organized.
I have a routine for writing my notes. A complete step-by-step procedure that helps me understand my different lectures at a deeper level. It takes time and effort but it’s worth it in the end.
- First, I’d read the entire lecture without typing anything. It’s a procedure that will help you find out what the lesson is all about, it’s scope and included facts.
- I’d skim through my lectures once, typing the important major categories included in that lecture. (Digestive System, Cardiovascular System, etc.).
- One by one, I read through the entire slide while trying to understand as much of it as I can. After that, I close the entire lecture completely and write what I remember on the Notion app. This is a very important and delicate procedure that not every student knows about. You see, if you just passively write or type your notes, you’re limiting the amount of knowledge your brain is absorbing. You should engage your brain as much as possible because this helps you with easily recalling your past lectures. If I happen to miss anything, I’d look back to my lecture slide and try to understand it once more, then I’d place it in Notion.
- After I finish, I’d check to see if everything is understandable to others (keeping in mind that my classmates can also see my notes). For additional reference, I look up specific things on the internet and insert them accurately on my notes.
- By the time the teacher is about to tackle that lesson, I have all the advanced knowledge I’d need to participate in class. I can even take notes of the additional knowledge the teacher says and add it to my notes. If they draw diagrams or pictures, I’d take a screenshot and insert them on my notes as well.
- Whenever the teachers give us quizzes, I’d add the questions and answers to my notes as well, further expanding our access to more information which then makes us learn more.
I am very happy that I’d found the best application that suits my note-taking needs while still satisfying my desire to share them with my classmates. I’m satisfied whenever I become a part of their studies. In a way, I’m one of their stepping stones to success.
I really recommend you to share your notes with your classmates. Whenever you have a slight mistake on your notes, they’d be there to help you correct them. If they have some notes of their own that haven’t been included in your own, they can easily insert it to your notes without a hassle.
Preparing for Online Classes
Depending on your schedule, your classes might be early in the morning or in the afternoon. I’m definitely in favor of having a class early in the morning. Unfortunately, I ended up in an afternoon class. I’m not that used to having classes in the afternoon which often causes me to become sleepy and tired. However, just because the afternoon makes you sleepy, doesn’t mean you should. Take this as a challenge and expand your abilities.
Daily Routine
Some of us wake up at the exact time as our online classes begin. Some of us might even eat our meal or we might not even take a shower yet. We no longer need to wake up early because we’re no longer required to go through transportation just to go to school. This causes people to procrastinate and become lazy.
However, whether you’re classes are early in the morning or in the afternoon, you should wake up a few hours before your classes begin. Why? So you can prepare yourself for another day to learn. Your mind would slowly wake up. Your body will have enough strength to go through the entire day. You’d be more lively and you can interact with the others better.
Preparation
At least 45minutes before your classes begin, you should already have set up your entire equipment. If a problem arises, you’d have the time to be able to find a solution to it without costing precious class hours. Check your laptop; is your camera working? Are my needed apps already opened? Is my mouse connected?
This step might be a bother to some but it can dramatically improve your performance at your online class. Without the hindrances you might face, you’d have a complete, well-organized setup that can get you through the day.
You’d be in your class in time, prepared, and ready to learn.
Sleep Cycle
Our sleep cycle has a big effect on how we perform, just like on face-to-face classes. If you don’t have a complete night of sleep, you’d be tired all day long which will be the cause of your attention span to suffer. Without enough rest, your mind will not be ready to receive important information in classes.
You shouldn’t stay late at night as much as possible. Don’t spend time watching late-night videos or other procrastinating activities. It might be hard not to procrastinate but think about why you’re going to bed early; to have a better performance in classes.
Mind-set
Transitioning your mind-set from face-to-face classes online is going to be difficult, especially for those who lack the necessary equipment for online classes. The class interaction may not be as effective and efficient as face-to-face classes, but online classes provide us the ability to talk with our classmates and teachers.
With the advancement of technology continuing to amaze us, you should look at online classes as a way to expand your learning skills, instead of using it as an excuse to not perform better.
It might be difficult at first, but take note that the sooner you’re able to accept online classes, the sooner you’re going to be comfortable with the process. Always remember that this is only a temporary remedy. When the world becomes better, we’d be back inside our classrooms in no time.
Doing Activities
Since we’re no longer able to go in front of the class to answer questions written on the board, our teachers have provided a new intuitive way of giving us a way to still participate and do activities using the internet. As Google Drive continues to improve, it becomes more class-friendly for everyone. We can now pass our activities on that platform and submit it to our teachers.
As an added bonus, some schools even have their own online platform or website. Using that efficient platform, it becomes easier for students to pass their activities with less trouble, as long as they’ve been taught what to do.
Class Participation
There will be times when the teacher will still give a recitation. To avoid the hassle of testing each students’ microphones, some are contented with answers going through the chat system.
Now here’s where everything can be easily cheated. If a teacher asks a question for the entire class, once a student gives their answer, a lot of the rest might just copy their answer, claiming that it’s their own legitimate answer as well. Not only is this very ineffective, but it also makes the teacher think that everyone knows how to solve a problem, even though not even half can.
Just for the sake of participating in class, a lot of students do this. Yes, the teachers and the other classmates might see your answer but the question is, what if the teacher asks you something and you’re not able to answer it because you have no one to copy?
Always remember that you shouldn’t copy people’s work. Instead, you should know how the process is. You need to be used with the solving procedures. You should memorize the things you need to remember. In this way, you’re improving yourself, and you’re legitimately showing the progress of your abilities to your teachers.
Honesty
As mentioned before, teachers will no longer be able to see what you’re doing. In times of quizzes or examinations, it will be easy for you to just cheat, open a different tab for a quick web search, or even browse through your notes without anyone knowing.
Is this effective? Well, you might gain good grades because of it but you’re not improving your mental abilities. You’re making a false illusion that because of your high scores, you’re learning more. In fact, this is where you’d be able to test the limits of your discipline as a student.
How far can you be honest with yourself, and with the others?
Take note that it’s better to fail without cheating than to succeed with the highest scores with the aid of cheating.
