Online Learning Articles

Tips for Online Study

Where to Study

Find a favorite place to study. Some places are more suitable than others. For example, a quiet corner of your bedroom is likely to be better than the family room floor when you or others are watching television. Your bed might seem like a comfortable, quiet place to study, but too much comfort can work against you. Some people fall asleep because the brain gets a "good night" message as soon as they hit the mattress. Learning demands energy, so you need a place that doesn't sap all your "get up and go." If you have to, hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob of your study room. Public libraries are good, but library time may be only an occasional luxury for a distance learner like yourself.

Enlisting Others' Cooperation

Unless you live alone, you share time and space with one or more persons. Without shirking your responsibilities to roommates or family members, ask them to respect your study time. You might even want to draw up a "contract" and post it on the refrigerator door as a reminder that certain times and places in the residence are reserved for your study time.

Telephone Troubles

Most Americans find themselves afflicted by a common compulsion: "Thou Shalt Answer the Phone Every Time It Rings." However, you need to make your study time so sacred that you'll let the answering machine take your phone calls until you are finished. If you don't have an answering machine, it's OK to turn the ringer off so you won't hear it. If you're one of those people who must answer every call on the first ring, a planned two-hour study session can easily slip to 90 minutes or less. Rarely are those interrupting calls a matter of life and death. Today, we have more than the house phone to contend with as a distraction. Turn off your pager and cell phone too, unless you are on-call from your job. Ignoring the telephone may be hard to do at first. Why, it's practically un-American! But, you'll be glad you learned this discipline, and even happier to know that you can actually survive for an hour or two without your telephone, pager, and cell phone.

Learn To Say No

This may be the hardest bit of advice to follow. You are undoubtedly a conscientious person. When asked to help someone or volunteer to assist with a worthy cause, you feel you ought to say yes. Unfortunately, you can't add another hour or two to the 24 allotted to each day. To succeed in getting your college degree, you must set limits. Faithfulness to your goal of devoting a set amount of time each day for study demands that you say no to some worthy requests. It's perfectly all right to say, "I'd really like to help out but I'm up to my ears in course work for my degree. If you still need me when I've graduated, I'll be happy to consider it." Saying no to excessive demands upon your time and energy is saying yes to a less stressed and better educated you.

Study and Parenting

One of the greatest challenges many distance learners face—though it's not insurmountable—is studying when small children are in your direct care. First of all, give yourself permission to divide your attention. You can't ignore the kids or pretend they aren't there. Both safety and love are at issue. Let's look at some suggestions for making this situation work for both your children and you.

1. Give children quality time. Your children have the first right to your time. Make sure you do not withhold your love by ignoring them in favor of your studies. Parents who delayed their college education must understand that getting a degree cannot be their highest priority. That's not to say that you must totally sacrifice your education to child rearing, it's just that your children come first.

2. Television. We do not recommend using your TV set as a surrogate baby sitter. However, with some planning you can use TV as an educational tool during the time you are studying and supervising the kids' activities. A number of public and cable channels provide interesting, educational programming for younger children. Give the little ones an "assignment" to watch a program and question them afterwards on what they've learned. Tell them they're going to "school" like you are.

3. Play groups and co-op baby-sitting. Many parents find time for themselves by joining with other parents in setting up playgroups and taking turns babysitting several children at a time.