Online Learning Hacks: How To Get More From Your Digital Courses

Digital courses can be an excellent way to boost your skills. Whether you’re looking to pick up simple digital skills or want to learn more about topics like digital marketing, ancient history and others, an online course can be incredibly valuable.

A great thing about digital courses is that they allow you to further your career or pursue your personal interests without leaving the comforts of home. So if you’re currently taking an online course or plan to do so, it’s imperative that you know how to make the most of it.

Today, we’ll be sharing some time-honoured tips for setting yourself up to make the most you can out of online courses.

Use Tech Tools to Maximise Your Note-Taking

Although digital courses maintain video lectures that may even be accompanied by subtitles and PDF notes provided by teachers, students are advised not to let these resources lull them into a false sense of security when it comes to absorbing course materials. You should still take your own notes during lectures and tutorials, just to make sure that you’re retaining information in a way that aligns best with your unique learning style.

We also highly recommend using digital tools to do this. For instance, using split screen functions or dual monitors can allow you to take notes in one window while watching your tutor in another. And then there are online PDF formatting tools like Adobe Acrobat, which allows students to edit, compress, merge, or even convert PDFs with ease. Using this tool, students can convert PDFs to Word documents, allowing students to add to class materials with their own notes in order to create totally personalised course resources.

Set up a Learning-Friendly Space at Home

An essential tip to learning as much as possible from a digital course is to create a physical space that’s conducive to learning. One of the best things about studying from home is that you can actually create your very own study space. So take the opportunity to do so and don’t simply study at your dining table or in bed, as these places can distract you from your online course. In fact, you ideally should want to set up a room solely for studying. This might be a guest room that’s hardly ever used or a home office.

There are several key pieces of furniture to add to this room. An important one is a desk on which to do homework and attend online lectures. If you don’t enjoy sitting for hours on end, a standing desk might be for you. You also want to include comfortable lighting, a good ventilation system and wall padding to block out external sounds if you live in a noisy area.

Obviously, you also want to invest in a good laptop or PC, an ergonomic mouse and a keyboard you enjoy typing on. Using tools you’re comfortable with will create a much more enjoyable learning experience.

Get High-Speed Internet

Whether you’re taking a short course or doing an entire online degree, a fast and reliable internet connection is crucial. You don’t want any lag when watching lectures, attending workshops or speaking to your teacher one-on-one.

If you’re not satisfied with your current internet connection, consider investing in a high-speed broadband option like a fibre optic cable connection. Read up on various internet plans and choose one that suits your specific needs. You want to take factors like price and internet speed into account when making a choice.

If you plan to do part of your course on the road, it’s important to invest in a good mobile internet plan. You don’t want to rely on finding cafes with fast internet.

Invest in Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Anyone sharing a home with friends, family or pets will testify that background noise can be incredibly distracting when trying to learn online. They can be a nuisance when you’re trying to understand a particularly difficult lecture or when you’re trying to speak during a class report. The other side of this coin is that the sounds coming from your online course can be a distraction to everyone else you’re living with.

A great way to eliminate distractions is to invest in a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones or earphones. As their name suggests, noise-cancelling devices prevent outside noise from reaching your ears while you’re wearing them. This allows you to focus on the audio that’s coming from your device.

Certain headphones/earphones will offer both a noise-cancelling and regular mode. Being able to switch between the two lets you tailor your listening experience based on whether or not there’s anyone else at home and how noisy they’re being.

Use Time Management Hacks

Online learning, just like any other sort of learning, requires time management skills. If you’re an adult, you might think that you’ve mastered this, but it’s always worth brushing up on your time management skills in order to balance your online education with your job, family commitment, household chores and other tasks.

An excellent time management tip is to block out certain parts of your day for studying. This might be a couple of hours early in the morning before you leave for work or after dinner. During this time, you should free yourself from all other distractions and give 100% of your focus to your online course.

It’s also important to make time for activities you can’t reschedule. These might include live lectures or assessments with deadlines.

Balance Work and Study

As an adult enrolled in a digital course, chances are you'll have to balance your job with your online education. Thankfully, one of the many benefits of online learning is that the flexibility of these courses does allow you to strike your own balance. However, it’s up to students to utilise that flexibility for themselves, and that begins with learning how to prioritise between work and study.

If you work full-time, you may want to do a part-time online degree that allows you to study at night or on weekends. Make sure to give yourself enough time to relax, as doing both a full-time job and an online course can get exhausting and can even lead to burnout.

Another option is to negotiate a reduction of working hours or a flexible arrangement that lets you work at your convenience at least some of the time. Many workplaces will agree to this, especially for workers who have been around for a while.

We’ve just gone through some top tips for maximising your learning when taking a digital course. Improving time management, optimising your physical setup and implementing strategies to balance work with studies can all boost online learning and help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

If you’re looking to make the most out of your online education, there’s no time like the present to start applying the tips in this article to your own life. Start doing this today and supercharge your learning.