`````````````````````````````````````````````````````A Post A Day # 26, Learning OnlineI have been doing a certain course on Coursera over the past year, which has helped me analyse my thoughts as I went through the learning process. I have never successfully completed any other course online before, so this was a huge achievement for me. It is also a certified course, so it helps me commit more to the course. I thought it would be nice to list down a few do’s and don’ts while doing a course online.
Do
- Approach with as much seriousness as you would show a regular course.
That’s why paying for a course helps. It keeps you more accountable and focused, regardless of the certification at the end.
- Factor it into your day.
I struggled to meet deadlines when I first started learning online, because I assumed that it would somehow get done. It does not. You’ll need to set aside special time to work on your lessons. Once I start planning my day including my online learning time, I was able to meet all deadlines.
- Choose courses wisely and drop them when they don’t work.
I have tried various courses and many of them just do not resonate with me. It’s either the instructor or the material, or something else. The best thing to do, in these cases, is to just stop. Your time is too precious to be wasted, especially on an online.
Now that the do’s are done, here goes…
Don’t
- Cram it all on one day!
It’s counter productive and only drains you out. Try to find a consistent learning schedule.
- Take more than course at a time!
I learned this the hard way, I would sign up for too many courses that seemed interesting and end of completing none. It’s not practically impossible to do justice to more than one class at a time, especially if you work and/or raise kids and/or keep a home.
- Download the application on your phone.
It is truly useless and you’ll only get overwhelmed with the constant buzz of notifications, which adds to your mental fatigue, leading to poor performance. Learn on any one device of your choice, preferably a laptop and leave your poor phone alone.
There, that’s it! I am truly grateful for the opportunity to learn online, opens up a lot of new doors. It’s truly the golden age, when it comes to online learning. So make the most of it, and happy learning!
Here are the links to a few useful sites, to start off your journey online :
