Education

How to Study for an Online Class

A Student of the University of British Columbi...

The allure of online classes is easy to understand. Study in your PJs, never be late for class, or hold down a nine-to-five job while going to school. You control when you do classwork and you control when you study. Unfortunately, it’s a lot harder to find motivation to study when you’re in an online class. You’ve got to change your methods. Here are some tips for studying for an online class.

Review regularly.
We know you’ve heard this tip a thousand times, but how often do you actually do it? Never? It may be impossible for you to review every day, so make it a habit of reviewing every other day or every two days. The reason this is so essential in online classes is because you won’t have a live class to attend three times a week. You’re on your own, and you’ve got to keep the material fresh and active in your head. If you’re really struggling with the class, make the commitment to review every day. You don’t want to be faced with a huge cramfest right before a major exam.
Take neat notes.
It doesn’t matter if your handwriting is atrocious (you can type your notes instead). Your notes need to be orderly and aesthetically pleasing for you to want to study them. Be creative and use different colors or pictures. Make your notes inviting.
See if any of your online classmates live near you.
Reviewing with another person can do wonders in both motivating you and helping you remember certain information. If no one lives near you, start a review thread in your discussion board.

Three Productivity Secrets for College Students

Image via Wikipedia

Studying for that big exam and you just can’t focus? Need a better way to organize your class materials? Looking for ways to increase your academic productivity so you’ll have more time to party? Whatever your reasons, here are some useful productivity tips and tricks to improve your academic life.

Evernote.
Evernote is a handy app for your smartphone or computer that easily organizes your notes. Clip a website as reference for a paper. Take a picture of your handwritten notes. Evernote’s picture-searching technology allows you to search writing in images, so you can easily search and find your notes on Macbeth or the Battle of Trafalgar. Take vocal memos (perfect if you’re an audio learner).
The Pomodoro Technique.
Time to study or work on a paper? Set a timer for 25 minutes. When it dings, take a five minute break. After your fourth 25-minute block, take a 15 minute break. Welcome to the Pomodoro Technique, a productivity tool invented by Francesco Cirillo. The human brain can’t focus effectively for long chunks of time, so taking breaks help break up longer projects. Plus, that five minute break acts like a reward to look forward to while you’re typing away on your paper. Hold off on checking Twitter or Facebook until the timer dings and you’ll notice a major increase in productivity.
Do Flash Cards While You Wait.
Turn your down time into productive study time. Make up flash cards and run through them on your commute or in the doctor office waiting room. This is especially helpful for vocabulary terms on an upcoming exam or foreign language classes.

Tips for Studying Math

Studying is studying, no matter what the subject matter, right? While in general that is true, specific subjects require different techniques. You would not, for instance, study a novel in the same way you would study a history text. Math is a procedural discipline. So if you want to get the most out of your math study time try using some of these math-specific tips.

An Everyday Routine

Math requires your active participation. That means that you must work on it every day and not wait until the day before the test to try to catch up. Do your homework every day. Math is cumulative, so the more you work at it, the more you understand.

Take Notes

Take notes in class. Copy the examples from the board. Write down the laws, methods, and ideas for the lesson and be sure you understand what they mean and how to implement them. If you are unsure, ask for help.

Show Your Work

When solving math problems, show your work. If necessary, number your steps, so the instructor can see how you arrived at your answer. This is for your benefit, because by showing your work the instructor can correct your method not just your answer. Work neatly, so you and your instructor can read it easily.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Use your corrected assignments and tests as tools for your future success. Rework the problems that you missed until you arrive at the correct answer. If you can’t get the correct answer, ask for help. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn and grow and ultimately be more successful.

Learning math can be easy if you remember that today’s skill builds on yesterday’s work. Successful math students devote time each day to building and retaining their math skills.

Modern Education In The Classroom

Smart Board Technology in Jay's Classroom

Image by Mr. Jay Yohe via Flickr

There is a new educational sheriff in town, and it called technology. The technology in classrooms today has created a learning environment for students that is hands down the best that our classrooms have ever seen. The technology allows students to be active participants in their education, and allows them an opportunity to take ownership of what they do with their work, how they learn, and how much they learn. This is an important aspect for education, as teachers strive to have children recognize and appreciate education. However, there is nothing more powerful than a new game, gizmos, or gadget to get kids interested in school again. Many students are under the impression that school is about fun and games, because the technology has made the modern classroom a mecca for thriving.

Some of the modern advancements that are helping students learn are the new computer programs that are available. The days of listening to lectures, or reading boring textbooks are over. Students are now able to get tutoring help via games and songs. This is all made possible by the many desktop and laptop computers that are stationary in each classroom. The other feature of the modern classroom is the Smart Board. This board allows teachers to instruct from any point in the classroom and can even allow students to take over and work with the class for a collaborative assignment. This would have been an unheard of challenge a decade ago. The other aspects are reading tablets. The day of heavy textbooks are gone, and now students read from an over sized PDA. This is saving districts valuable time and money, and students could not be happier. These also help to keep the classroom organized and neat, as there is no need for bulky books laying around the room anymore.

Benefits Of Education

There are countless benefits to having a good education, and many of them come in the form of great job opportunities. This seems to be the most appealing to students that are entering college and daydreaming of the jobs that they will one day have. The other benefits to have an education is simply that, to say that you are educated is a proud thing. Finally the other benefit to having a good and solid education is the fact that during the process you were able to grow as a person, as an independent thinker, as a member of society. This is by far the most rewarding aspect of education as this changes who you are as a person, and your ideologies. This means that who you were when you began college is not the same as who you are when you leave. For many, they are able to experience what is called a paradigm shift. This is when a persons thinking and belief systems change to accommodate a new process. This can be very exciting.

The phrase that was made popular by professors says that more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. This is essentially what a major mental shift can do to a person. They realize through opening their eyes, and realizing certain facts that they really did not know much to begin with, and now they know even less. This can be an exhilarating realization, and for some help drive them to continue on with their education to fully indulge in all that there is to learn in life. While it is impossible to learn everything, many find the task to be a challenge, and therefore become life long learners. This is a fantastic state to be in, and aside from the employment benefits of being educated, many people find the personal development to be the greatest benefit of education.

Preparing to get More out of Life

Getting more out of your life can come in all different forms. You could go to the gym and pump up until you start to look like the Hulk. You could run around the track until your muscles pop out like an anatomy chart. You could go to the club and work on your game until Don Juan starts calling to ask you for advice. You could even go to business school and get yourself an MBA. While the last one might not sound as impressive as the other three, it’ll most likely get you more money than being buff, being lean or being a player will.

But while the other three basically just involve showing up, going to grad school for your MBA is a bit of an ordeal, just to get in. For instance, they have an entrance examination known as the GMAT. Luckily for those aspiring to get in and breeze right past the GMAT, there is a GMAT class online you can take, to prepare you for acing the test itself. After all, you’ll have plenty of work to do once you’re in all those challenging MBA courses. There’s really no sense in giving yourself any more difficulties than you’re already facing.

Just think of all the great things you can go on to accomplish with your business degree. You can get a great career, where you can afford to get into the best clubs (and work on your game). You’ll also be able to afford memberships to the best gyms (so you can turn your body into a work of art). And if that wasn’t good enough for you (you’re learning), you will also be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I have a terminal degree. There are many people in the world who have not gone further with their business education than I have.”

Modern Education

SMART Board - Installed and in Operation

Image by Old Shoe Woman via Flickr

Modern education is a new term today that is all inclusive of mainstream classrooms and online supplemental. This also includes new technology in a classroom, like in the case of computer tablets replacing text books. This is a new phenomena and since technology is changing so quickly, and being incorporated into the classroom so quickly, many teachers are finding that they are in need of constant training to stay on top of all the changes occurring. This is not a bad thing, and in fact, test scores are proving that the new technology that is being promoted is drastically aiding students with special needs, higher education students, and help for average class work.

The modern class has taken a different shape since the days of overhead projectors and pull down white screens. Today, if there is a chalk board in a classroom, it is a sight to see because they simply are not present in today’s classes. Instead, they have been replaced with Smart boards. Smart boards looks like white screens, but you write on them through the use of tablet, and you can be anywhere in the room to do this. It looks like a giant computer on a wall, and teachers can access it using a laser pen, or the tablet. Students are not forgotten in this equation, as they are usually provided laptops in every class. Students can also access printers and from any room, and text books are looking like a thing of the past. With new gadgets like the Kindle, or Nook, students are able to download their textbooks, and use the tablets instead. The days of lugging huge science books are looking like another thing from the past. Another technologically savvy thing that you might see in a modern class these days are laser projectors. These projectors are based via WIFI and can accept a signal from any computer. This means that if there is a class project that is to be presented, students can do so from their seats, while transmitting their work onto the front of the class via the WIFI projector.

Understanding Your Options for Student Loans

After four years of higher education, many graduates are lucky if their student loans are under $20,000, especially if they attended a private university. While you must know how you will afford your monthly payments, you should also consider the options that you have as a debt holder. Understanding what “debt consolidation” means, as well as “forbearance” and “deferment” will enable you to make an educated decision.

Debt Consolidation: Using a debt consolidation service can be a great option for students who have several loans from different lenders, as many students will if they took out a loan for more than one year of school. This can be a good option because it can cut your monthly payments in half, as well as make repayment easier by having all of your loans payable in one monthly payment. This option is much easier than juggling all your loans and remembering when to pay them during the month.

Deferment: A deferment means that your loan payments are suspended for a specified length of time. You may be granted a deferment if you are re-enrolling in school or have an economic hardship. For certain loans, you do not gain interest while the loan is deferred. If your loan is unsubsidized, you will still be responsible for the interest that accumulates during this time, and if this interest is not paid off, it can significantly increase the amount you owe.

Forbearance: Forbearance is similar to a deferment. It can suspend or reduce your loan payments for a length of time. A forbearance is available for those in financial difficulty who are not eligible for a deferment. There are more restrictions on this, however. A forbearance can only be given for a maximum of three years, and there is always interest accumulating, regardless of what kind of loan you have.

Understanding your options for repayment is a key way to becoming a responsible and successful graduate.

It’s All About You

Everybody makes it seem like taking an online class is simply the easiest way to continue our education. That may very well be true for many people, but the truth is not everyone is well suited to the idea of online learning. Online learning takes a specific kind of student. One that is able to self motivate, self teach and who exhibits exemplary organizational skills. It is only with these skills that a student will successfully navigate an online class

The primary skill needed by those hoping to take an online class is that of self motivation. Almost all online classes are, at least a list degree, self-paced. This makes a critical that online students have the motivation to complete coursework, reading, reports and exams in a timely manner. Failing to do so means that it will be impossible to finish even one class. Self motivation is crucial for success online.

Students should also exhibit the ability to self teach. While it’s true that online courses utilize a variety of teaching methodologies, the truth is students must be able to comprehend reading material, lecture notes and other resources on their own. While all online classes have a professor or teacher that moderates them, the most successful students are very adept at processing information on their own.

Organization is a final skill that online students must master. This ties closely to the self motivation factor of online learning. Students must have the ability to organize their time in order to successfully complete all aspects of an online class.

The funny thing is most online classes are so user friendly and intuitive that most online students don’t have advanced knowledge of computers or the Internet. Instead the most successful online students are individuals with the drive, motivation and need to succeed in their online class.

Pace Setting

The growing popularity of online classes has created a unique phenomenon among online students – the ability to self-pace a class. That sounds of a complicated process, but really a self-pace class is nothing more than a class in which the student has no finite period of time in which to complete its goals. While some self-paced classes do have an end date of sorts, most are truly self-paced allowing students to take as much time as they need to master the material.

This sounds like a rocking idea and in most cases it is; however, understanding the process of self-paced teaching and learning and mastering some organizational techniques is critical for students who hope to successfully complete one or more self-paced classes online.

Take for example an online English class. In this class the student must read four works of American Literature generate several reports on the material and pass eight different tests. The student has 16 weeks in which to complete the work. This is where the problem starts. It is so easy to say “I have plenty of time,” and leave their reading of the books off until week 15. Instead students must develop a logical plan that allows them to cover the material needed in a timely manner. It isn’t as easy as it sounds.

In fact, many students struggle with the idea of self-paced classes. Many have difficulty passing their first self-paced class. It’s a great idea take a minute at the beginning of a semester and set milestones for the class. Using our English class example, the student might want to determine that book one must be completed at the end of week two, book two at the end of week four and so on and so on.

Self-paced is just that – it’s about the student’s ability to set the pace for entire semester.