The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed education at all levels. Students, teachers, and staff have had to make major adjustments now that online schooling, as well as hybrid online and in-person schooling, is the norm.
Some students who entered university or college during the pandemic have taken most if not all of their courses online. If the pandemic continues, or if it transforms into an endemic, some students will graduate without having stepped into a classroom. What made a good student before the onset of the pandemic is not exactly what makes a good student now.
In the past, being a good classroom participator meant having strong in-person social skills. Nowadays, by contrast, it means having digital social skills. In-person and digital social skills, though similar, aren’t the same; digital etiquette is different from in-person etiquette. The social rules of the classroom have changed, and good students have adapted.
Nonetheless, the main skills successful students had in the past are still the skills successful students have in the present. Here’s a look at 4 skills all successful online students share.
Table of Contents
1. Managing Time
Successful students at the secondary and post-secondary levels have always needed to have strong time-management skills. Sure, some students do well despite procrastinating, but these students are still able to set aside enough time for different subjects and projects to do succeed.
Nowadays, with online schooling and flexible education, time management skills are even more important. When students take Ontario online high school credit courses at fully online schools, for instance, they are encouraged to set their own schedules. To do well, they must skillfully set their own pace.
2. Balancing Course Loads
Good students tend to balance their courses loads so they’re neither underworked nor overworked. That doesn’t necessarily mean they take, say, three difficult courses, one moderately difficult course, and one easy course. Rather, it means these students select their courses so that they can excel as much as possible while still having time for extracurricular activities, including ones online, as well as a rewarding social life.
3. Practicing Self-Care
The stress of school can sometimes be overwhelming. Students are better able to cope with stress when they take care of their mental and physical health. That includes having a social life. These days, it’s difficult to have a social life, but that doesn’t mean students can’t regularly interact with their friends.
4. Reviewing Notes
This skill is simple but incredibly important. Reviewing their notes every day before class and before doing assignments is essential. Reviewing notes every day, rather than taking a cursory look at them last-minute, enables students to retain far more information.
Interestingly, when someone takes notes by hand rather than on a keyboard, they retain and process more information. Not all good students take notes by hand during online classes and lectures, but it’s probably a good idea.