The Graduate's Guide To Starting An Online University Course

Whether you're just beginning an online course, or simply exploring your options, you may be unsure about what challenges you may face when studying online. Fortunately, there are many students who have gone through online studies before and are able to offer some advice in terms of tips and tricks to get the most out of all University online courses.

From preparing a study space to taking care of yourself, let's explore some of the ways that you can make the most out of your educational journey so you can get the best score possible come assessment time.

Studying Online Presents New Challenges

There's no avoiding this - while studying online has amazing benefits in terms of flexibility and the ability to study from effectively anywhere, being an online student can have potential pitfalls. Consider this - you want to complete your qualification online, and you are several hundred kilometres away from the nearest university. Online learning empowers you to complete your studies in your chosen field but may be isolating compared to the physical environment of a lecture hall.

One of the things that you need to consider is what you can do to support your online studies. Studying remotely and often by yourself means that you really need to consider how you can be best prepared to take advantage of the freedoms of online study perhaps that's setting up a space at home so you can delineate study time from work time, or alternatively, maybe it’s just taking a moment to look out for yourself when studying. Let’s explore some of the strategies that you may want to consider when studying remotely.

Take Care of Yourself

It's important that when you study you take care of yourself. Practicing self care is important - it can help reduce stress and anxiety levels and also help get you back on track if you’re ever feeling distracted.

When you're in a university lecture, there are often mandatory or enforced breaks. Often, this is because a lecturer is unable to present for an extended period - enforcing break-taking as a part of the university experience. 

Studying at home, on recordings, it can seem less apparent that you need to take a break or stretch away from studying for a few minutes. A break may not necessarily feel as apparent; you may find yourself sitting at your computer for extended periods of time, looking through lectures. The idea of cramming in large volumes of content may seem like a great idea to cram everything at once, however, this may not be the most sensible of ideas. What's really important is that you have strategies and schemes in place so that you look after yourself when you're studying.

Methods such as the Pomodoro method and having a regular schedule are great ways to really break down effective study strategies to enforce structures where you can take a break, look after yourself and do the best that you can while also really getting the most out of your study time.

It has been well documented that excessive computer use can have negative impacts, notably having long-term audio-visual impacts particularly if you want to like listening to loud videos. Consider adopting some strategies that you can take into play that will enable you to get up, take regular breaks, have healthy snacks, and actually engage in a bit of exercise so that you don't cram yourself into a painful position during your studies.

Finally, consider the importance of snacks in the fridge. Healthy snacks are a great way to energise the mind - if you're struggling to focus, you may find that having something to grab out of the fridge and briefly snack on is a great way to give yourself that little energy kick to get you back on track.

Prepare for Success

When studying online, it's important to consider what you need to be successful. There are a range of things that you can do, but a couple of key things to keep in mind are your workspace, your technology, and your familiarity with digital platforms.

Firstly, prepare a space that you can use to complete your studies at home. This may be a study nook or a spare room. but give yourself some space where you can dedicate time to studying and don't always have to pack up things at a moment's notice. 

Secondly, get some technology in order. Generally, when you are studying online you will need access to a relatively modern laptop that can at the very minimum connect to the Internet, view PDFs, and also play video and audio.

For courses that have a high level of interactive content, you may wish to purchase a separate headset to connect to your laptop so that you can engage in breakout sessions and other collaborative activities. Overall there are many laptops that can meet the minimum requirements that are needed for online study but do some research first.

Be prepared to explore the new technology that's in play as part of your course. Depending on what you're studying, and who you're studying with, there may be a range of different writing tools that you must use such as Google Docs or Microsoft Office. There is also a wide range of different communication tools in place, such as Zoom or Teams to communicate with your peers. Get yourself familiarised with the technology in use, as it’ll allow you to get one step ahead of your peers.

Support is Available Across Many Channels

Finally, it's important to remember that while you may be studying online you are not alone in your academic endeavours. You may encounter adversity when you are studying, whether that be personal, such as dramatic life changes, the loss or change of employment, or simply the pressures that come with studying online. In these situations, it's vital that you seek help if you need it. 

Your health and welfare are just as important as your educational outcomes. At the end of the day, if you are not healthy and confident you are going to struggle to complete your coursework.

Many universities offer a range of academic support services. These may vary from introductory literacy and numeracy workshops, to job preparation drop-ins, where you can prepare a resume for when you finish a qualification, as well as qualified student councillors who may be able to sit down and help you break down difficult events that may be impacting your studies.

Overall, education can be a remarkably exciting experience. No matter what you're learning or what you want to learn, there is no doubt a rewarding online pathway for you to complete your studies.