Online education is a blessing, but no student ever said that learning was easy. Whether enrolled in a flexible, self-paced learning program or an instructor-led one, enrolling in multiple courses simultaneously or balancing work, life, and study is never easy. If you are struggling with online courses, here’s what you can do to score top grades effortlessly!
Being an online class taker, I have always found online education helpful. However, I felt overwhelmed when I had to finish my assignments while working full-time as a web developer.
Initially, I did not know how to cope with the stress, but after trying multiple ways, here’s what brought me success. But hang on. Before you follow my tips as a road to success, listen to me: your road to success won't be like mine, so you'll need to adjust them a little to suit yourself.
So, let’s go!
Make a Study Plan
1. Set Up a Study Place
Start by creating a conducive study environment. Most online students fail to realize that they need a proper study environment. Since online learning doesn't have a set schedule or classroom, you need to take the initiative to maximize your learning. A conducive environment refers to a study table with all necessary materials. You can also keep snacks handy if you are a foodie like me!
2. Make a Study Schedule
Next, make a proper schedule. You can use any digital planner or create a manual one, whichever you prefer. You can use Google Calendar as a digital planner or one with your LMS. Add your assignment deadlines, allocate proper study time, and divide your time equally between multiple courses. The schedule will also take into account your work and social commitments.
3. Use the Pomodoro Technique
When creating your schedule, use the Pomodoro technique and include regular breaks to avoid burnout. The Pomodoro technique is very effective; it helps you stay on top of your work while maintaining your health and achieving all your milestones. Initially, when I started my classes, I was very excited, so I would spend a lot of time reading and taking notes. But then, gradually, I started hating it. While I thought it was because the course was boring, upon self-realization, I figured it was because I never take breaks, and my brain was hitting burnout.
Overall, to win, you must take breaks and rejuvenate your mind.
Revisit Study Materials
1. Check out the eTextbook
When starting a course, check out the course textbooks first. To do so, visit your portal and skim through the modules. You will find numerous study materials, video tutorials, and pre-solved problems. Go through them and understand the concepts. This way, you will increase your conceptual understanding, and everything will start making sense.
2. Use Practice Sets
Next, use practice sets. You will find multiple non-graded practice sets. These are goldmines to practice and test your knowledge gaps. Since no one can teach you everything word by word, you need to take the initiative.
3. Take Weekly Quiz
Next, always take weekly quizzes. These not only prepare you for the big tests but also help you practice meeting deadlines since they are always timed. Usually, we don't time ourselves when we solve problems, so when we sit for exams, we end up taking more time than needed, and as a result, we submit halfway and lose credits.
As is evident, you need to be prepared for anything that comes your way, and for that, you need to take the initiative.
Review Progress Weekly
1. Check Out Wrong Answers
Once you start working on the practice sets, you must understand why you made mistakes to avoid repeating them. This is the most essential part of learning. We often do not review our wrong answers. However, reviewing mistakes helps a lot in understanding concepts and quickly solving problems, which allows us to get better grades.
2. Understand Your Mistakes
Once your review is complete and you understand the root cause of mistakes, close your knowledge gaps. Practice the target areas and then solve similar problems to avoid making the same mistakes. This is the best way to utilize the immediate grading feature.
3. Reward/Punish Yourself
The most important thing is to celebrate and reward yourself if you get good scores. We often lack self-motivation. However, when we celebrate little wins, we get motivated for the bigger ones. Therefore, reward yourself for every little progress. Similarly, we must punish ourselves for missing grades due to silly errors. It must be both ways!
Join Study or Peer Groups
1. Join Peer Groups
You can form or join a peer group if you're stuck on a problem or need help with an online class. In traditional classrooms, we consult with friends to solve problems. Since we don't have friends sitting beside us, we need to use our networking skills.
2. Collaborate & Learn
You can even get hacks and ideas to solve problems quickly from peers. You can also join forums with friends and practice problems. Collaborations work like magic to learn complex topics.
3. Solve Questions Regularly
When you join peer groups, you not only get solutions but also get assistance with multiple questions and topics. You can also discuss and solve their problems with them, which will help you understand concepts beyond your set modules.
Seek Help When Needed
1. Get Help from Instructors
Now is the time for the ultimate weapon to ace your online courses. Most LMSs provide a portal and connectivity options to discuss with instructors. You can send the questions you are stuck with to your instructors, and they can help you understand them.
2. Get Help from Subject Experts
If you are unable to manage the demands of online classes independently, you can opt for online class help services. The subject experts not only help you meet your deadlines but also assist you in taking exams and acing your coursework. While there are multiple prejudices related to these services, you can use their services if you need urgent help.
How to Ethically Use Online Class Help Services?
You can always seek expert assistance when you need help with online class. However, you must use them as your support system. Once, I was struggling to complete my assignment and prepare for my GED exams, so I asked for their help. While they helped me structure my case study, I studied for my exams.
You, too, can use their assignments as references to make the online learning process smoother. However, if you copy and paste their answers, that will be considered academic dishonesty. Also, you will not learn anything. Therefore, in worst-case scenarios, you can seek help from subject experts.
They are affordable and available 24/7, so they helped me a lot when I reached out to them in the middle of the night. They also offer a money-back guarantee, so I felt more confident trusting them. I knew that if something went wrong, I could at least get a solution. They are extremely helpful and met the timeline they provided.
Parting Thought!
The demands of online classes often make it challenging to manage everything properly. But with little help, you can easily tackle it all and ace your coursework. If you're struggling with online courses, use these tips to ace your coursework, just as I did. You can entrust these two websites if you need help choosing the right class helpers.
Struggling with Online Courses? Here’s What You Can Do