10 Practical Tips for the Online Student __ Online Degrees & Distance Learning

Hi everyone! In today's video, I'm going to be sharing with you a 10 practical tips for the online student. And so, if you're kind of interested in distance learning or if you're already pursuing an online program, I am hoping to cover all of your questions, doubts in this video. However, before we get into that, I just want to mention that I found a bunch of really cool articles on all of these 10 points. And so, if you want to know more or go in-depth into any of these, you can just click in the description box down below. They're all from a site called distancelearningportals.com and they are the basis of my advice for you today, as well, of course, as my own personal experience. So, with that out of the way, let's get right into this. Number 1. Is distance learning for you? I personally realized that the people that are the most successful at online classes have 3 things that they kind of share in common. Number 1. They are self-motivated. Number 2. They are very disciplined. And number 3. They are studying something that they want to study and something that they like to study. To give you an example, if you want to take an online class, let's say, for cognition or perception, something that is quite difficult and you're not particularly interested in, just because you're too lazy to go to class because the class is at 7.30 in the morning, you're like, meh, I'll just take the online class version to just, you know, sleep in a little bit. Chances are you won't feel that motivated to keep up with the lectures and with the homework because you don't have that extra push from a physical, living, breathing entity to push you to do a heavy course. So, number 2. The legit talk. Is the organization or the online website offering this online course or program legit? AKA, are they accredited? Are they legitimate? Most importantly, will the class or the program you're taking be recognized where you want to practice that profession or work in that field? For example, if you want to do your MBA on an online website from the UK, but you want to practice and work in Denmark, let's say, will Denmark recognize your diploma or your certificate as the same level as what they offer their students over there? So, make sure you seriously do your research before you spend the time, energy, effort into pursuing said class or program. Number 3. Student support services. And this point, I find, is particularly overlooked and ignored by a lot of people. I cannot tell you how many times I did an online course and I had so many IT problems. Like, I couldn't access the student portal, I couldn't get the PDF to download, the recordings were off, there was no, like, hotline or guaranteed email or number to call in case you experienced some technical difficulties, or just if you needed some, like, TAing or extra help or tutoring because you found the subject too hard. So, definitely check that aspect out of your online program or of that website or university that offers the online course. How well or how nice are their support services? Moving on, the price-quality dilemma. There are a lot of implicit financial advantages to taking an online course, such as, you know, you save money on housing, on traveling, on sleep, on packing a lunch to go at the said class, but you have to be careful when going too low with online courses. I know they tend to be less expensive because oftentimes the tuition fee is just completely scratched off. You have to pay attention and be careful into going too cheap. I found a cool article to help you with this. It's called, I think, 5 ways to tell if an online degree is high quality. So, it's kind of like a checklist and make sure you check that out before you pick a course that might be too cheapy, looks kind of good, but hey, maybe it's not accredited, maybe it's not recognized, and maybe it's not the quality education and information you want to take out of it. Number five, the digital learning environment. This has a significant impact on how well you will like the course and how well you will do in a classroom. For example, I've taken online classes where you can actually see the professor in front of the screen. So, you see the professor, you kind of have that class vibe. However, there's a lot of online courses where, for example, there's no voiceover. It's just a bunch of PowerPoint slides, a bunch of PDF articles, and a book that you have to read. Which, for someone that is very visual, is not my thing. I prefer to either hear a voice explaining the slides or just have a presence, you know, like seeing a teacher and whatnot. So, judge your learning style, learning preferences before you pick a class. Number six, e-textbooks. I've read a number of articles stating that there has been a significant observable difference in students that learn via tangible textbook versus students that use electronic devices or read off a computer, etc., etc., and how both of those perform in an exam. If you don't believe me, you can do the research yourself, but basically, paper kind of rules electronics. My personal tip, if you can, is turn the e-textbooks into something tangible. That way, when you have to study for your exam, you don't have to open your computer, aka more distractions, because the internet is right there. You just have the paper notes with you. You can just sit on a couch or at your desk and just read that. A complex one is balancing work and studies. Chances are, the majority of people that take online courses or online programs is due to the fact that they don't have time to go to school. So, if you have a full-time job like me, and night classes isn't something that interests you, online courses and online programs might be a cool alternative. However, it's a bit difficult, and keep in mind that even if the classes aren't online, you still have to do the work. Actually, in my opinion, you have to do more work, because you can't just say, well, I've been to class, done. You have to kind of push yourself and fit the class and the workload in your already tight schedule, you know, without someone doing it for you. It's kind of complex to talk about, but if you want, I did a video on how to balance your life, how to find life balance, so if you want to check it out, I'm going to put it up there. The motivational trap. This one is a doozy. You know, when there's no one to set deadlines for you, or there's no one to tell you, well, each Monday you have to listen to a class, you can fall deep, deep, deep down the rabbit's hole that's called procrastination, and end up listening to all your courses and doing all your homework and all your lectures at the last minute. Don't fall into this trap. My best advice to you is to stick to a schedule, not a too detailed schedule, again, I did a video on that topic if you're interested, but stick to a schedule, and something that has helped me tremendously with online classes is give yourself earlier deadlines and respect them. In case something happens, you're safe, and also it pushes you to be more in it to win it, man. Number nine, routine building. Again, another danger of online courses or online programs is that you don't have a routine set up for you, so you don't have to go, like I said, every Monday to class, sit in a specific designated place and do that work. You have to create habits and routines by yourself. A tip that I highly, highly encourage you, something that has helped me, is dedicate a place in your house where you can associate it with that class or that program that you're doing. Number 10, workspace. This is kind of linked with my previous point, but again, it's all about creating an environment of study, which you will not have when you take online courses or engage in distance learning. You can just fabricate a classroom, close the door, and allocate a certain amount of time in a workspace, a work environment to get you into the mood and to act kind of like a study trigger. With that being said, thank you so much for watching. Please don't forget to give this video a thumbs up if you like it and subscribe to me if you like what you see, because I post videos every Thursday. Bye, guys. Good luck.