Tips for academic success in online and hybrid classes
Tips for online and hybrid learning
Check your email twice a day
Your stlawu.edu email is the official mode of communication. Please make sure you use this email account to communicate with faculty and staff, as well as classmates. Campus news and updates will also be sent to your SLU email, so check your email at least twice daily. Using filters, folders, and flags can be a big help.
Establish a daily routine
Having a daily routine can help you get in the right mindset to learn, especially now when we’ve come to expect the unexpected. Get up at the same time every day, get dressed, eat breakfast, and settle into your work. Whether you’re on or off campus, find a consistent spot (or spots) to attend synchronous classes, complete asynchronous components, and study. In addition to having a routine for schoolwork, also remember to take time to eat, sleep, connect with friends and family, and generally take care of your mental wellness.
Take a break
Most of us are spending more time in front of a screen than ever before. Be sure to give yourself breaks from screens and coursework. Get up from your chair and stretch. Do a quick meditation or deep breathing to get some air in your lungs. Check in with your friends. Go for a walk. Get something to eat. Try to avoid spending all of your break on your phone. Consider whether you can shift any of your work away from a screen. Print out an article. Outline a paper with a pen and paper or using voice memo while taking a walk.
Hold yourself accountable
You might be finding that it feels like you have more deadlines and “stuff” to keep track of. Rather than handing your paper to your professor as you walk in the door or taking a quiz in the classroom, you’ll probably need to remember to submit the paper on time in the correct format and sign on at the correct time to take a quiz. Whether it’s a paper planner, online calendar with reminders, or even just a notebook dedicated to your “to do” list, it’s important to have some sort of consistent organizational system to help you keep up with your classes.
Embrace the flexibility
You’re probably less tied to a specific class schedule than in past semesters. Take advantage of this to do work when and where you’re most productive. Maybe a class is set up so that you could “get ahead” if you know you have a big assignment coming up in another class.
Prepare for your future
It's quite likely that a lasting impact of the pandemic will be more jobs and perhaps even entire companies partially or fully remote. Prepare to spend more time in video conferences in your first job than those who graduated even a year or two ago. Consider how the skills you’re learning now – managing multiple “zooms” per day, effectively interacting with others over video conferences, corresponding over email – will help you post-SLU. In addition, you can bet that many job interviews will include questions about how this period has impacted you. Start thinking now about the challenges you are facing, how you are reacting, and the skills you are developing.
Use your resources
Campus resources have adapted to the current situation and are here to support you, some in person and many in a virtual format. Your faculty, as well as well as resources like Academic Advising, SAS, the WORD Studio, Peer Tutoring, PQRC, Career Services, and the Health and Counseling Center are all available to you. Check out their respective pages on the SLU website for more information and how to set up a meeting.
Reach out for help
If you have a question, you’ll want to reach out to your faculty right away, ideally just as soon as you get stuck or confused. The sooner you reach out, the better the outcome will be. This is especially important for a class where you aren’t physically seeing your professor multiple times per week. Don’t forget that you can always contact your advisor, Academic Advising, and FYP, too, if you have concerns about how you’re performing in classes or want to talk about other academic concerns (such as pass/fail, withdrawal, declaring a major or minor, petitions, etc.). Just as important is reaching for help with your physical and mental health, so don’t hesitate to connect with the Health and Counseling Center.
Connect
We’re all spending a lot of time in front of a screen, so it’s important to remember to take time to connect with people. Get together with friends or classmates to study, through video chat or in person (always following the Laurentian Pact). Don’t forget, if the friends you’re studying with are in the same course as you, that you should all check with the professor first to make sure that it’s okay for you to study together. If your class is asynchronous and you’re not sure who your classmates are, see if the professor could help you set up a study group. Reach out to friends who are fully online or taking the semester off. All of us – students, faculty, staff – are in this together. Many of us are facing similar challenges, like managing frequent video meetings, adapting to new technologies, and balancing school/work and family commitments. Don't be afraid to ask others how they’re doing and whether they may have any tips for you.
Asynchronous Classes
Keep to a schedule
Set specific times to do asynchronous classes – the assigned time for that class can be ideal, since the professor is probably free during that time too. Remember that you would normally be in class for 3 hours per week, plus doing coursework for about 6-9 hours per week for each class.
Online from away from campus
Create a workspace
It is important to have a dedicated workspace to do your coursework. Consider somewhere you won't be distracted by family/housemates, pets, or yourself (e.g. comfy bed or tv might not be a great space). You’ll be spending a lot of time on your computer at this workspace, so take time to make it comfortable and conducive to learning. This might mean putting your computer on a pile of books or using pillows for back support.
“Go” to SLU
Being away from campus, you might miss those subtle (or not so subtle) reminders that it’s time to do work, like walking by ODY, seeing your professor in Dana, or just being among 2,000+ classmates going about their day of being a full-time student. Related to having a daily routine and a dedicated workspace, think about ways you can get into school mode each day. It might sound silly, but this could even be something like putting on your SLU flip flops when you’re in school mode or going for a walk around the block to “get to” school back in your house. You might want to set up regular video study sessions with friends on campus or online elsewhere so that you can be “on task” with others.
Set boundaries
You might find that you’re being pulled in multiple directions by those you're living with. Maybe your parents are expecting you to help out more with chores or shuttle siblings around town. Maybe siblings or housemates are constantly wanting to watch Netflix with you. It's okay to politely remind family/housemates that you have school work to do. Let them know that you are studying but also tell them when you'll be done, so you can spend time with them.
You’re in charge!
Feel free to use your family/housemates as a resource and support, but remember that you are the one who should be paying attention to your emails, keeping up with any changes to courses, and remembering to complete all components of your classes on time. You are also the one who should be contacting faculty with questions. It is important to take responsibility for your own performance, just as you would on campus, and to enable your family/housemates to fulfill their own responsibilities at work and at home.
Connect with campus
Although you may not physically be on campus, take advantage of every opportunity to connect with campus. Be in regular contact with your faculty members and follow up promptly if they reach out to you. Remember that campus resources are here for you and campus activities are available to you. And in most cases you’ll be able to access them virtually, just the same as your classmates who are living on campus.