Maintaining engagement in an online class can be much more challenging than campus classes. The challenges with maintaining your attention are much more prevalent then when in a controlled environment, such as a classroom. The first step to being engaged in the class is being prepared. Having the materials and supplies you will need will help to avoid the distraction and stopping and starting involved with retrieving things. Materials for an online class would be your book for the class, your computer, and a pen and paper for writing notes or other important information. Gathering these materials all together before starting assignments will help you to be more focused on the assignment, and will limit the opportunity for distractions.
The next step to being engaged is to avoid outside distractions. It is easy to allow yourself to do your homework in the room with the tv or radio on. Even if you consider yourself good at multitasking, these distractions lower your ability to absorb the information you are trying to learn and will lower your retention of the information when test time comes around. Finding a calm quiet place away from electronic distractions will help with your focus and will make your homework time less stressful and more relaxing. It is also advisable to put your phone on silent and setting it away from you, to avoid the ever present temptation to see how facebook is doing.
The final step to maintaining your focus and being engaged is active participation in class. As many of my professors have noted in their syllabus, the minimal required work will result in the minimal grade. Being willing to be active in your online classroom will show in your overall grade. Being diligent in your assigned reading and assignments will make studying for exams and the eventual final easier and less stressful. With online classes as opposed to campus classes, our forums and blogs are there to replace classroom discussions. Putting forth serious effort in these areas will have an overall positive effect on your enjoyment of and learning potential from your classes.
Sonney, great pictures! They nicely complement the cogent content of your post.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to work on my procrastinating. In online courses assignments being due every two days or by the end of the week, makes people think they have plenty of time to get things done, but people have to be organized, always checking emails and asking questions.
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