Learning in a Dangerous Time: Succeeding with Online Learning during COVID19

This first post was going to be on setting up to succeed through online learning–the skills that we all know we should be doing, with pointers and tips to help “should be doing” to actually doing. You know, getting organized with time and place. Taking part in class. Getting assignments done. Group work. Presentations. Prepping for exams. Staying motivated. Exam anxiety. All the skills that are the same as succeeding in regular classes, but may present special challenges when there is no physical classroom and you are physically On Your Own.

    With COVID-19, however, this logical presentation is out the window. Yes, succeeding blogs will deal with all of these topics, and more. But right now, if you are a student who is doing course work online for the first time–or even if you are a seasoned pro at this–the pressing concern right now is final exams, not getting the ideal study chair.

    So we are going to address the end of the course (exams!!) at the beginning of this blog. I am sharing the techniques that my clients have found effective, that maximize mastery and control.

Admin pointers:

    1. Make sure you know your school’s policy for writing exams in your courses. Some schools may allow you to choose aegrotat standing, where you don’t have to write the final. Even if this is the case, navigating the requirements can be tricky–check with your department or counselling.

    2.  Check to ensure you have the correct times and log-ins for each of your exams. If you have accommodations, ensure you know how these are affected. 

    3.  Check to make sure that you have received credit for all course work you have submitted thus far. Remember, many instructors are new at both online teaching and course administration.

    4.  Make sure you know the formats of your exams. Open book, short answer, multiple choice, time limits, essay . . .If you can’t find this info on the course site, ask the instructor or a TA.

    5. Now that you know when to write and what type of exam, you need to determine where you are going to write. You will need to prepare a space where you can be uninterrupted and where you have room to spread out materials, texts, notes, pens (yes!), a plug-in to maintain charge of your communication devices. If finding a space where you will not be interrupted is problematic, for example, if you are sandwiching online course work with home schooling or childcare, get in touch with your school to see what accommodation can be provided. Everyone wants you to succeed.

Finding the time:

    1.  Call it “Prep Time.” Call it “The Final.” Call it “I’ve Got This.” Call it whatever gives you focus on mastery and control.

    2. Mark this time into your calendar. Also write in 10 minute breaks at least every hour. And force yourself to take them. 

    3. Work backward from your exam dates to make sure you are allocating enough time to cover the material, make up an exam, and write a practice exam. 

    4.  Allow time daily for eating, socializing, moving around (from your desk to the bathroom to the kitchen and back in these lock-down times).

    5. Schedules slip. Procrastination happens. Congratulate yourself when you spot it happening, reschedule, and pat yourself on the back for spotting and regrouping.

Preparing for the Exam: Review, Create, and Practice:

    1.  If you don’t already have a study buddy from class, get one now. Even if you are the top student in the class, you will likely do even better if you do this. Set a time where the two of you consult, and only have the course material on the agenda. Other socializing is for outside this time.

    2.  The first step in review is to scan your notes for any comments from the instructor about the importance of material, and write down the areas they prefaced by, “This is important,” “Make sure you . . .” or areas that were specifically addressed in later classes. You can even ask the instructor, “What will be on the exam?” You would be surprised at how often you get a full, straightforward answer. (Of course, sometimes you get “Anything we’ve talked about this term,” but that is not a loss.)

    3. Draft an outline of the course topics. Fill in the draft outline in as much detail as you can, referencing back to texts, tutorials, web presentations, labs, and lecture notes.

    4. Create: Make up the most detailed exam you can–not from the detailed outline you made to review, but directly from texts, tutorials, web presentations, labs, and lecture notes. Use the format your exam will be in, if you know it. You will be surprised at how much you learn from creating wrong alternatives to multiple choice questions.

    5. Practice!! With a study buddy, practice each other’s made-up exams.

Exam anxiety:

    1.  With universal anxiety heightened right now and overall uncertainty, it would be pretty normal for exam anxiety to be a bit heightened. Your school may well have websites and resources for dealing with exam anxiety–if this is an issue for you, check them out.

    2.  If you have tools that have worked for you but have been too stressed out to use them, bring them back into play! Run on the spot, if exercise is your thing; do short meditations, if long meditations seem too time consuming when all you really want to do is study for 16 hours.

    3.  Know when you need to go for help–student counselling wants you to succeed. Listen when people close to you think you need to consult counselling. If they’re wrong, it doesn’t hurt to listen. If they’re right, you’ll likely be glad you did.

    4.  Having said that, I have to add that most of my students who have grasped the five points above in preparing for exams have found that the sense of mastery and control greatly reduced their test anxiety, partly because they were too busy following the plan to have a great deal of time to ruminate. May it be so for you!

That’s the crash course in exam prep that should keep you busy until the next blog, which will address actually writing the test. This has been long for a blog, and longer than succeeding blogs will be . . . 

. . . but time is short! 

Go for it!

Use these pointers, share them, let me know how they work for you!