5 Simple (But Important) Things To Remember When Taking an Online Course

5. Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself

You can practically learn anything on the internet now, from arts and crafts to coding and from philosophy to calculus, anything is possible.

It’s quite phenomenal if you think about it, you can learn almost any skill on the internet and most of them are free.

There are various organizations and services that provide courses both free and paid alike, including EdX and Coursera offering courses taught by leading universities in the world (i.e. Harvard, Berkeley); Khan Academy being a student favorite for their lessons on mainly Math and Science; or Skillshare, the one you see on almost any Youtube video, also offers courses more on the creative side. Chances are you’ve heard about them before and you’re not alone.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has made an impact on our daily lives and most of us have found more free time in our hands. And what better way to spend this leisure time by learning or enrolling in an online course.

There’s a high chance that a skill you desperately want to learn is currently being taught today in an online course and you can access it now because internet (duh).

But enrolling in an online course is easy, you can enroll in an online Coding class if you’re curious or a writing class to hopefully garner more views in your blog or whatever fills your boat.

However, the difficult part is committing yourself and finishing the course at all. And that’s what I’d like to talk about in this article.

Here are 5 things to remember when you’re in an online course, simple things to remember to make the most out of it in the first place and to finish it.

Figure Out Your Drive From The Start

Why do you want to learn in the first place?

Determine your drive, or the reason why you want to learn at all. And that reason is totally up to you. It must be the drive, the core of why you’re taking an online course in the first place.

It can be, because you want to be more knowledgeable in the field? Or you want to devote your time doing something more productive and valuable instead of constantly using social media? You figure that out.

Know and be sure of the reason why you started to learn in the first place and hold on to it until you finish. It can be tempting to come up with a lot of excuses to quit, but it will be much more worth it in the end considering all the knowledge and information you’ve gained.

Just stick to the reason why you did it in the first place, the reason why you started.

“The key of persistence opens all doors closed by resistance.” — John Di Lemme

Keep Yourself and Your Space Organized

Study in a space where you feel encouraged to learn or in an atmosphere conducive for learning. Find a study spot and stick to it, keep your physical space organized and prevent any further distractions.

Think of your spot as a sacred spot, once you’re in that spot, shift your mindset. Consider it as a spot dedicated to learning and keep it free from distractions.

Clean that spot often, organize and prevent clutter. Clutter not only takes physical space, it also takes mental space.

Make sure that you have your notes accessible and you keep all learning references in one place, be it a Youtube video explaining the topic, or an article about the lesson; whatever it is, store it all in a single place that is accessible to you.

Keep Things in a Single Place

A good idea is to use an online note-taking app where you can store your notes, Youtube links, articles or web bookmarks, any other learning materials.

A digital note-taking app such as Evernote or OneNote is a reliable place to store all your files and notes whilst still being accessible to you. The best thing you can do is to store all learning stuff in a single place to remove friction and just get into the zone of learning immediately.

You can still take handwritten notes then after you can just scan them and store them digitally to ensure they never get wet or accidentally lost. If you want a better learning experience, keep your stuff together.

Time Management is Key

You might often encounter the phrase that time management is crucial and maybe you’re getting sick of it. But however hackneyed this phrase may be, it’s still true to an extent.

A key aspect of learning online is to know when to learn and how you can fit learning in your daily routine. Do you learn better at morning or night? When is the most convenient and appropriate time to learn for you?

Answer these questions because time is crucial to learning, do you have enough time at all and can you commit yourself to learning without interfering with other priorities that take your time?

Knowing when to learn is a crucial part of the process for me, because you don’t want to think of learning as a hindrance or another chore because it isn’t, it’s an opportunity to learn. And if you don’t schedule or prioritize your learning opportunities, you’ll just end up quitting altogether.

Know when you’ll like to learn and constantly tweak on your learning schedule depending on what works for you, you don’t want to end up thinking that learning is just another mindless chore and I think that sucks the value out of learning.

Make sure the time you’re learning, be it night, morning, after breakfast, or dinner; make sure it’s the right one for you. Consider learning as a priority and treat it something that is valuable for your time.

Be Present and Active

Don’t just mindlessly watch your lectures, and hoping you’ll absorb all the information. Be an active participant behind your screen. Take notes consistently throughout the lecture constantly review the information.

What I also mean about being present is that be in the moment, when you’re watching the lectures make sure that you’re mind isn’t daydreaming or thinking about another thing. You’ll find yourself with less information at the end of the lecture when your mind constantly scurries off on its own. Instead be present, your mind should be focused on what you’re learning now.

1. Seek Additional Information.

When you’re finished learning about a certain topic, don’t immediately skip on to the next one. Besides doing your homework or the assigned readings, try to look for more information on the topic and connect the pieces together.

If you didn’t understand a bit about a certain idea or concept, research and try to understand it for yourself instead of letting it slide. It’s usually better to say that you’ve completely understood the topic before moving on to another one.

2. Test Yourself

So you’ve done additional research, that’s good but another problem you might encounter is you’ll eventually forget what you’ve learned in a matter of days or weeks. Our brain has a forgetting curve and unless we constantly recall that information, it will eventually disappear.

A remedy to this is testing ourselves long past the day we’ve actually learned the topic or lesson. We need to constantly recall that information to ensure that we don’t forget it.

One way of doing this is through flashcards, or making quizzes and tests for yourself. It’s a great way of recalling information to make sure they don’t get lost and so we can recall what we’ve learned from time to time.

Take Constant Breaks and Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself

Learning is meant to be fun and engaging, if you’re feeling stressed or just mentally exhausted then take a break. Don’t force yourself to learn if you genuinely can’t and don’t want to.

There is a difference between being lazy and being truly not in the proper mindset for learning.

Remember to not be so hard on yourself, while learning through an online course is definitely an insightful endeavor, it’s still about you.

Do other things for the meantime, stand outside your house and breathe fresh air and just think for a bit to get your mind off things. Or you can take a nap and rest a bit, do whatever you can do to relax.

Relax and just take a break when you need to, don’t be too harsh to yourself.

So a bit of a recap:

1. Decide Why You Want to Learn in the First Place
2. Keep Things Organized
3. Manage Your Time Carefully
4. Learn Proactively
5. Take Breaks

Remember that learning should be a process that you enjoy, it should be fun for you whilst also making sure that you’re getting valuable information and knowledge.

Just remember these simple things and apply them constantly, learning is one of the best experiences when done correctly.