Remote Learning - Tips For Learners

Having written about tips for teachers regarding remote and blended learning, we felt it was important to also look at the whole digital relationship from both sides and provide some helpful advice to learners to help them stay healthy and keep the learning going as effectively as possible. This post is aimed at discussing some of the points raised in the graphic above in the hope it provides helpful advice to share with learners.

Read the assignment 'blurb' carefully

This sounds like common sense but is often a step that is missed by the learner. Usually the eyes are drawn to the links or documents and click happy learners go straight to the resources and begin to make sense of the work and assume they understand what to do. Unfortunately, Google Classroom is not the best in terms of the assignment page in drawing the learners to the instructions. These can often be wordy and lengthy explanations where the teacher has no options in terms of editing the fonts, size, colours or bullet points although you can add keyboard symbols. It's therefore very important not to rush in and take some time reading the explanations the teacher has given and will certainly prevent undue frustration or completing the task incorrectly. This should be a part of the normal routine for learners so make sure this message is always given clearly in supporting our learners at the start of an assignment to develop good habits.

Identify the steps needed to complete the task

Following on from reading and processing the assignment task, the next step is to think about the order or sequence the task should be completed. Often times the teacher will put together the work with steps that need to be completed. Taking time to understand this order of tasks is a key aspect, particularly if there are a lot of steps. It might be helpful to note down the steps on a piece of paper in numbered points and can then act as a checklist going forward. This may also help with identifying aspects of the task that are difficult or confusing. A good combination of the above points will put the learner in a position where they are likely to have success and see their progress and help to chunk the overall task down to realistic steps that can be completed in a shorter time. 

Ask very specific questions

Both teacher and learner need to communicate effectively via the chat feature on any platforms being used, or even email. Care needs to be taken when wording these messages as it's so easy for miscommunication and frustration for both parties. Comments such as 'I don't get it.' or 'So what do we have to do?' can be a real challenge for the teachers who has spent time putting the assignment together and ensuring all the resources are available. The key is asking specific and assignment related questions. Yes this may take a bit more effort and thought but in the long run it will save time and stress, particularly as asynchronous work can often have gaps between the interaction. Give details such as what part of the task, what page or slide is causing the issue. Explain what has been completed and what is left to do. Ask questions that are specific to the work you are doing as the teacher cannot know what is causing the issue as this will be different for all. Maybe the most important tip here is to make sure you are asking a question and that this question can be answered easily.

Learn to touch type effectively

Having to type work can be both a bonus and a pain and is usually dependant on how effectively you can touch type. The reality is that this is a life skill needed in our modern world. Without this skill, typing lengthy pieces of work is difficult and frustrating and can also demand quite a cognitive load on top of the actual work bring produced. We usually measure this in 'words per minute'. Consider the time spent producing a 1000 word document and the time spend if your typing speed is 10 wpm. This will potentially take 100 minutes. If you can increase this to 20 wpm then you can potentially half the time it takes to complete the task. Of course, learning to touch type takes time and some effort but in the long run, it can save considerable time and so it makes perfect sense to do so. Check out this free website and spend some time improving your touch typing speed to make completion of work easier and to save time as well as develop an important life skill.

Learn keyboard short cuts and simple hacks

Another huge time saver is the ability to use keyboard short cuts and some simple hacks to improve workflow and save time completing simple tasks without having to reach for the mouse. Simply by learning how to do frequent tasks quickly from the keyboard helps to keep focus on the work, save significant time and prevent frustration. There are many examples of these available with a simple internet search which can be printed our for quick reference which will lead to them being internalised over time and be of great benefit. Here are some examples to get you going:

Learn to use capital letters and punctuation when typing

Typing work can often lead to poor habits given some of the issues raised above. Add to this there is an element of autocorrect with most word processors, there really isn't any excuse for not proof-reading work for correct use of capital letters and punctuation. My tip here is really about working in two stages. Firstly, get the work typed out as quickly as possible and secondly go through and correct these simple errors. This is a good habit to develop and enables you to check through for meaning and accuracy without being distracted. Managing the cognitive load in this way will be beneficial to the accuracy of the work produced and save time.

Learn to split screen for multiple resources

Depending on how the teacher organises the work, there can often be a need for accessing two resources simultaneously. Of course, flicking between two tabs is not that difficult but it can cause additional cognitive load and just a little frustration depending on how much information is being held in the working memory to complete the task. A simple hack to avoid this and speed up workflow and reduce overload is to split the screen into two.

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Routines and managing the workload

I am going to summarise the last few points into this sections as it's really all about the routine and working practices. If the amount of work to be completed is not managed and organised well, then the whole experience will be negative. Developing a timetable or to-do list with deadlines is desirable so at least you can see exactly what needs to be completed and by when. From this you can develop a plan and work schedule. This is best achieved over a weekly view which can then be broken down into a daily list. This may still be difficult to achieve but at least you can see easily what has been completed and what has not.

Finding a suitable space to work is also desirable so you can set up that space as a work area that you can leave and come back to to continue the work. This may not be possible but it can be really helpful to create a mini classroom area which is your workspace with everything set up and ready to use. If getting to the point where you can work takes a lot of time and effort then this will cause undue stress and reduce the efficiency of the time spend on work.

Developing a routine takes time initially but will improve the whole experience and save time. Working in short 20-30 minute bursts with a short break away from the screen will improve productivity and help to reduce stress and frustration. Sitting for hours completing a task without a break is not a good habit to get into and demands discipline to stick to the plan. However, the benefits of this will be more work is completed and wellbeing is promoted.

I hope these tips for learners are useful and go some way to supporting learners, parents and teachers in going forward.