by Caitlin Coleman

We’ve come a long way from classrooms with a desk for each student and a teacher standing at a chalkboard. Some of us have only experienced this. Some of us have experience this with a little bit of technology mixed in. Now we are in an era where everyone must take that leap from the classroom to online learning platforms.

Here’s some tips for students transitioning to online learning and studying at home.

1. Pick a designated workspace.
   • Make sure this space has plenty of light and is quiet, comfortable, and clean. You want to minimize distractions as much as you can, so try to make sure you have everything put away that is not relevant to what you are immediately working on.
   • You’ve probably heard it before, but it bears repeating, don’t work in your bed. Not only can this make you sleepy while you’re working, but it can mess with your sleep cycle (sleepy while working, awake while trying to sleep).
2. Try to keep it quiet.
   • While you are at home, it will be tempting to have the TV on or have music playing, especially if you feel that you don’t work well in complete silence. Instead of binging your favorite Netflix show, try a noise machine like RainyMood or a music playlist playing quietly in the background. If you find yourself getting distracted, try something different. The goal is to keep focused.
3. Use interactive study methods.
   • There are thousands of study games online that you can use to help you remember everything you’ve learned. For vocabulary, try Quizlet.com. You can make your own flashcards and games or use some other students have already made.
4. Take a break!
   • Believe it or not, marathon study sessions will not help you remember the material any better. It’s also not great for your eyes to be staring at a computer screen for hours on end. Set a timer and make sure you are getting up and moving around at least once every half hour or so. Make sure these are short breaks though, about five minutes each. Any longer and you risk getting distracted.
5. Plan out your time.
   • When learning from home, it’s easy to get distracted or for all the assignments to get muddled together. Even though you won’t be physically going to class, pull out that planner, and plan out the time you will spend on each class. Plan out your breaks, mealtimes, everything. Keep yourself on a schedule as much as you can.
6. Avoid procrastination.
   • This is probably the hardest one for most people, even me. Remember you are still a student, and you still have work to do. You are still being graded, and your instructors will still expect you at your best. This change of scenery is difficult and can be extremely hard to adjust to, but you are not done with the semester yet! Plan out your time, and try your best to stick to it! This will help so much with procrastination.

Remember that your peers are all in the same boat, find out what’s working for them. You can do this!

Information taken from the following lessons from Foundations of English:

• 1.4 Keeping Yourself Organized
• 1.5 Managing Your Time Effectively
• 1.7 Using Effective Study Strategies