The second wave of COVID-19 has compelled schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions to continue with online classes in the current and next ongoing session. Most educational institutions these days leverage cloud-based learning management systems to make students acquire and retain knowledge safely and remotely.
The LMS platforms enable students to understand topics and concepts by accessing a wide range of digital content – ebooks, audiobooks, video lectures, infographics, documents, quizzes, and simulations. Also, the LMS systems enable students like you to learn independently at their own pace and convenience by supporting self-study.
According to Cambridge Dictionary,
“Self-study is a way of learning about a subject that involves studying alone at home, rather than in a classroom with a teacher.”
You can acquire knowledge on your own at home by accessing the learning management system (LMS) on a variety of devices – desktop, laptop, smartphone, and tablets.
But the absence of face-to-face interactions and classroom discussions makes many students feel lonely and demotivated while studying independently. Also, the lack of options to get instructions and inputs from teachers make it essential for you to complete courses and pass exams by designing your own schedules, methodologies, and drives.
You must create a self-study plan to complete tasks, accomplish goals, and measure progress. The self-study plan will further help you to achieve your full potential by staying excited and motivated. But you can leverage the benefits of eLearning or self-learning fully only by focusing on some important factors while creating the self-study plan.
Create a Self-Study Plan: 9 Things to Consider Creating a Plan That Makes Self-Study More Productive
Study Environment
Both physical and psychological characters of the learning environment directly impact the effectiveness of self-study. You can acquire and retain knowledge in an informal learning environment only by creating a dedicated study space. Also, you must keep the study space relaxing and energized enough to understand, analyze, and memorize new information and data. However, it is also important to use the space only for learning purposes.
Distractions
Often a variety of factors distract students when they are studying outside classrooms. You can acquire knowledge and skills by studying independently only when your concentration or focus is not divided or diverted. Your self-study plan must focus on escaping from common study distractions like mobile apps, text messages, social media, instant messaging, online groups, and friends. You need to take the measures required to ensure that nothing disturbs or distracts you during the self-learning sessions.
Learning Goals
You can complete learning activities on schedule and track your progress only by defining your learning goals clearly and precisely. Your self-study plan must define the daily, weekly, and monthly learning goals unambiguously. The predefined learning goals will make it easier for you to cover lessons and submit assignments on time. Also, you will remain motivated and stress-free when you assess your performance and monitor your progress based on the preset learning objectives.
Learning Process
The LMSs allow you to understand various concepts and topics by accessing a variety of digital content. But you can memorize the information and retain the knowledge only by choosing the right learning approach or pattern. While creating the self-study plan, you must assess and compare various learning patterns – taking notes, reading aloud, and reviewing lessons daily – according to your preference. You must focus on deciding the learning approach that helps you to retain knowledge.
Self-Assessment
Most educational institutions evaluate the performance and progress of students using the evaluation systems provided by the LMS. But you must make self-assessment or self-evaluation an integral part of the self-study plan. The self-assessment will help you to measure the amount of knowledge you have acquired and retained. Also, you can easily prepare yourself for online exams or tests by identifying the knowledge gap.
Time Management
While creating a self-study strategy, you must not forget that time management is an art that everybody cannot master. You can remain productive and retain knowledge only by finding time to study. You must study regularly and adhere to the predefined schedules to acquire knowledge and complete courses on time. However, it is always important to work on the distractions that make it difficult for you to find time to and focus on study while learning on your own.
Collaboration
As highlighted by a number of studies, online education and self-study often make students feel lonely and isolated. But the new-age LMSs enable you to stay connected with your teacher and other students using a slew of communication options, including chats. The educational institutions further make it easier for students to communicate and collaborate using discussion features, leaderboards, query corners, and similar options provided by the LMS. Your self-study plan must focus on making you connect and collaborate with others regularly despite learning independently.
Relaxation
According to NTDaily.com,
“Students report less motivation, higher stress levels with the transition to online learning.”
You cannot make self-study productive and effective without keeping relieving physical and emotional stress. Your self-study plan must focus on keeping your body and mind relaxing by facilitating regular breaks. Instead of covering more topics in a short amount of time, you must focus on keeping the study sessions short and take regular breaks. The breaks will help you to relieve stress by talking to someone, take a short walk, drink water, or take a snack. However, you must keep the breaks short to ensure that the predefined study schedules remain unaffected.
Motivation
The new-age LMSs keep students engaged and motivated by gamifying learning experiences. But your self-study plan must focus on keeping your motivated using a slew of gamified motivational strategies. You will remain motivated by celebrating small achievements and rewarding yourself for achieving specific goals. Also, you can reward yourself for achieving something simply by watching your favorite movie, ordering your favorite book, or buy a new book.
You can streamline your learning activities and accomplish predefined learning goals by creating a self-study plan. But you must keep the self-study plan flexible and dynamic enough to make improvements and incorporate changes. The flexibility will help you to acquire knowledge and skills by making self-study more efficient and productive.
