Speaker 1: You've all heard that online learning can be a not fun activity. Yeah, I get that, but it can be a great learning experience also if you know what to do. So in today's video, I'm going to give you some strategies that you can use to make your online college learning experience a very positive one. I'm Tanya and I've been teaching for the last 31 years, the last 15 of which I've spent teaching online as well as face-to-face. But I've had that online learning experience also because a few years ago, I think in 2017, I did a certificate program at UBC, the University of British Columbia, and it was totally online and it turned out to be one of the best learning experiences I've ever had. So I'm going to tell you what you can do to also ensure that your online learning experience is an excellent one. Come with me. Now, the first thing I always tell my students is know your why. Why are you doing this course? Why are you doing these courses? Sure, maybe some of you said, well, if I had a choice, I wouldn't be doing it online. Hey, COVID is here. We have to be online. But apart from the COVID part and apart from having to do online courses, why are you doing the courses? Do you want to get a certificate? Do you want to open your own business? And maybe you want to do a little bit of business communication courses, business ad courses. Do you want to transfer to a university because you want to do something like engineering or do you want some skills so that you can do a quick certificate program? Why are you doing these courses? You need to keep focused on your why because when it gets hard and it does get hard and it does get lonely at times, but when you know your why, it helps. So keep in mind what your why is and figure this out before the course actually begins. Know your why. That's the first thing. Once you know your why, when you get access to the course, the next thing you have to do, which I would say is step two, is figure out how the course works. Check out the course outline. It actually is essential. Read through. You don't only want to look to see which assignments you have and how much each is worth. You have to do that, yes. But you want to also figure out how the course works. When are you expected to hand in assignments? What are the due dates normally? I know for my class, it's going to be Sunday at midnight. You need to know when are assignments due. You also need to know what's the format. Are there weekly discussions? Are you expected to post every week? Are you expected to ask questions of your classmates? Yes, yes, yes. Yes to all of the above. You need to check all of this out from the very start so that you kind of get yourself oriented to what is expected and what is required of you. Unless you read, you won't know. So check out your course outline and make sure you get a sense of what is required for that course. That is step number two. Now, once you have a sense of what is required for this course, you then need to plan accordingly. This is where time management is going to be very important. It's very easy to just let things happen. If that's the approach you're using, it's not going to work. Now, I know when you did face-to-face classes, sometimes some of you only did the work like the night before. But that cannot work in an online learning environment. And it cannot work because unlike face-to-face learning where you have a set time and you go to the lecture and you leave, when it comes to online learning, you are expected to post regularly in the discussion area as you build and you learn in a community. So it requires that you plan and you manage your time well. Because if, for example, you have to post three times for the week, you have to fit. You have to factor that in. You have to plan it in. You have to make it a part of your schedule. You have to know that every Monday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., I'm going to do this. Every Wednesday before I give my second response, I have to do this. So I'm going to do it at 8 a.m. Between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. You have to plan. If you wait for chance, it will never happen. And before you know it, a week has passed and you haven't done anything. The second week has passed, you haven't done anything. And after the third week, you're going to feel so left behind. You're going to feel so detached from the class and so disoriented that you're not even going to want to continue. And you want to finish up, guys. So plan accordingly. So tip number four is be present. Interact. Participate. I know the tip before I spoke about checking in three times. And some of you do check in three times. But you don't only want to do your work and then go. But do your work and stick around. See the learning environment as a space where you can connect socially, intellectually, and even in terms of networking. You know, when you... I'm going to have a link in my course that says questions. Now, that's not really related to the actual course content. But that's a space that you can use to ask each other questions. Maybe you are reading a book and you want to know if anybody else read the book. Or maybe you're interested in apartment rental and you're living in the lower mainland. And you want to find out if there's anybody who knows of anything. Or maybe you've heard about a particular app and you want to know if that app works. Ask those questions. That's how you build community. Because you'd be surprised. You ask a question, somebody else has an idea. And before you know it, you're all talking. And before you know it, you feel so connected to each other. And as you make connections and as you ask questions, remember it's a safe space at the same time. We want to know that there's no stereotyping, no discrimination. We want everyone to feel safe. So please be respectful of each other at the same time. There are always guidelines. The college has guidelines. I have guidelines about how to operate in this space. Please read them and be sure to always be respectful of each other. And tip number five is communicate with your instructor, especially when life throws you a curveball. Because sometimes life does during the semester, right? I mean life throws us curveballs all year around. And it's not going to not throw you that curveball just because you're studying. So something may happen and it may kind of derail you a little bit. Reach out to the instructor. And if you have an assignment due and you know you're not going to be able to do the assignment on time, reach out before the due date. Reach out before the due date. I discussed this in a video when I was talking about end of semester stress. Most instructors will be very accommodating if you reach out before, not after. Don't come to us two weeks after the assignment was due and say I didn't do it because. No, we want you to show that you are an adult and that you are responsible and you're taking responsibility. So you tell the instructor before. Now when I was doing the course at UBC, my father got sick in the middle of it and I had to fly to Jamaica. Now as soon as I booked my ticket, the second thing I did was I reached out to the instructor and I said this is happening so I think I'm going to be a little bit late with the assignment. And I knew myself. I knew that I was in such a state, I was so concerned about his health that I found it very hard to concentrate. So even though when I was a Toronto person I was you know typing up and trying to get the assignment out, I really wasn't at my best until I got to Jamaica and I saw him and I realized okay he has a little bit more time left and that allowed me the mental energy to finish up the work quickly so I could spend time with him. With him at the hospital and it's the same thing with you. If something is happening, let us know if you think it's going to interfere with your assignment. So in summary, oh I just realized I keep changing the glasses. Okay whatever. So in summary, know your why, read the course outline and know how the course works, plan accordingly and schedule your study time and posting time, be present and see the virtual environment as a place for social intellectual and networking opportunities and lastly reach out to your instructor whenever life throws you a curveball. Now if you do these things guys, I promise you, you'll be successful. So welcome to fall semester 2020. I look forward to being your instructor and I look forward to learning as you learn also. Let's make it a good one.