Corona Virus Information for Students, Faculty, and Staff: Resources for Students

• Review syllabus, class schedule, and announcements on a regular basis. Instructors may shift due dates and the order of assignments to accommodate the needs of online classes. This is a new adventure for many of us.
• Create a weekly schedule for doing your school work. Block out time for working on your assignments. You may shift things around from week to week, but you still need to budget the time. Treat it like a job.
• Track deadlines. Keep track of when things are due. If the date changes, adjust your schedule.
• If you need help staying on task, use a timer to tell yourself if you’ve put in the time you planned.         
• Plan to work in a sustained fashion on one project before moving on to another. Don’t jump from one assignment to another without accomplishing anything.
• Set goals for completing specific assignments. Use the syllabus and class schedule to help you to set goals.
• Make checklists of things that need to be done for each class, and check them regularly. Crossing things off lists is one of the small rewards you can give yourself for a job completed.
• Think about when you are most alert and least distracted or responsible for other things and people. Plan your study time accordingly.
• Pace yourself for bigger assignments. Plan to do some of the work every day, or at least every week, depending on the assignment and your particular schedule. Break down the assignment into smaller parts, and plan how and when you will accomplish each stage.

• Make a space where you can work and keep your school materials organized. You will need:
  • A place for the computer, with internet access. If you can plug into an Ethernet port, you will have a more reliable connection than if you need to depend on wireless.
  • A space where you can write and take notes.
  • Room for books, notes, and other material.
  • Headphones for listening to course material and/or participating in meetings
• Reduce distractions as much as possible. Keep your focus on the school work.
• Try to make it comfortable. You’ll be spending a lot of time at the computer. Think about ergonomics.
• If your cell phone is a distraction, put it away or silence it. One university suggests using applications like Cold Turkey and Freedom to block social media. Some students advise logging off all social media during study time (Northeastern University).
• You can use music to block distracting sounds around you, but choose wisely. Songs with lyrics will interfere with your reading and writing. Look for instrumental music that makes you feel relaxed, but not sleepy.

Learning Style

• Think about how you learn best. Material posted in Blackboard can be used in many ways. If you learn best from reading, print out transcripts of lectures or videos. If you learn best from listening, use the audio functions.
• Take notes when reading, watching, or listening. Afterwards, review your notes and organize your ideas. Go back to check things you might have missed. Identify key ideas, themes, patterns.
• One organization offers the following suggestion for video lessons: For recorded video, pause and write a brief summary of what you have heard in notes every few minutes. For live video, especially if the video is available to watch later, avoid taking notes. Pay attention to what you are hearing and participate in the discussion to help keep your focus (EDX).
• Don’t overload. It’s okay to take short breaks, and then go back to your work. If you have trouble going back, set a timer.

Learning is Social

• Interact with your instructor and with classmates. If you class meets synchronously, participate in the discussions. If not, be sure to ask questions, post comments, and respond to others.
• Have a study buddy, or form a study group. You don’t need to meet in person for this to work. You can do it on the phone, or through email or Facebook, or even inside Blackboard. Help each other study for exams, and read each other’s papers.
• Think about how you communicate. Class interactions are more formal than hanging out with your friends. Written assignments are more formal than class discussions. Writing assignments will be graded on both the ideas you present and how well you communicate them. Pay attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation, organization, style.
• Be respectful in communicating with your instructor and your classmates. This fosters an environment where an open exchange of ideas is possible. An important aspect of a college education is learning to interact with people who are different from you, and to disagree productively.

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