5 Characteristics of a Successful Online Learner According to a University Zoom Instructor
Let’s face it.
Since the pandemic has sent post-secondary students from the lecture hall back to their home desks, many campus classrooms that used to grow minds are now growing nothing more than cobwebs.
I’ve been teaching on Zoom to post-secondary international students for more than 18 months now, and I have seen it all.
While some students soar high with flying colors in their online studies, others sink more definitively than the Titanic.
Interestingly, I have made the realization that I can pretty accurately predict the success of new students in the first week of the course and it has little to do with subject matter knowledge.
Students that demonstrate a fairly specific profile tend to outperform the others. Here are 5 characteristics that describe this profile:
1. Autonomous: These learners know how to do things independently.
They are aware of what they know, and more importantly, what they don’t know. Plus, they know how to ask for help when their resourcefulness is maxed out.
Studying online doesn’t always give you the luxury of hanging around after class to chat with the prof or to visit office hours. Students should know the best way to contact the prof to ask questions.
In general, autonomous learners take responsibility for their own learning and don’t rely on the prof or their classmates to push them through.
They push themselves so hard on the back that it takes them right through to the final exam period.
2. Goal-Oriented: Successful online students make their own goal-posts and keep moving towards them.
They focus on capitalizing on their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses by creating action plans to correct them.
Goal-oriented students know what work needs to be done to meet these goals, and they stay as focused as Mr. Miyagi (wax on, wax off).
3. Organized: These learners use checklists (check), to-do lists (check), and write down tasks (check).
They check (check) their independent study modules regularly, finish tasks well, and finish tasks on time.
Organized students know how to prioritize the most urgent and important tasks, even if it means putting off laundry and having to wear those socks for one more day.
4. Time management: Successful online learners have more going on than just class, but they can organize course tasks among other life items.
I once took a very intensive course and at orientation, they told us to tell our boyfriends that we were dead for the month. I did no such thing.
Yes, you can study and have a boyfriend.
Yes, you can study and go dancing.
Yes, you can study and study some more.
The key is to understand how long is required to perform tasks and save time for self-care and friends.
5. Proactive: Top online students are active in their own learning.
They avoid procrastination even during playoff season (or just manage their time to accommodate them).
They reach out to the prof right away if there is a problem.
They don’t hesitate to catch up with class material if they were absent.
Perhaps most importantly, these students check their grades as often as their DMs.
Grades should never be a surprise because surprise grades are rarely as exciting as the surprise party you always wished for but more often like the surprise visit from your least favorite aunt.
Granted this short list of 5 characteristics describes students who would normally succeed in face-to-face studies, but these traits become ever more so important when engaging with blended or online learning.
So, if you are considering studying in a blending learning format or if you are currently studying online, understand the profile and think about if the shoe fits.
Note to the reader: This is my third blog post ever! I am brand new to Medium and if you like what you see, it would pull my heartstrings if you follow me or clap at my article. I will be sure to follow you back. :)
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