Prof. Irina Gorea shared the results of an assignment she recently completed with her BUS 1500 Business Information Systems students. Students were asked to use the Discussion Board on Blackboard to share their best tips to learn from home and learn from each other’s experiences. The most creative tips were published in a class announcement to acknowledge the top contributing students. Below are the most resourceful tips to successfully learn from home.

BUS 1500 Best tips to learn from home

I would like to acknowledge all of you who have contributed with incredibly resourceful tips on how to learn from home. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your assignments and seeing how creative and diligent you are when learning online. Below I have included a compilation of my favourite tips to learn from home. I hope you can all learn from each other’s experience. Excellent work everyone!

Irina Gorea

Adjusting to different time zones

“As I am an international student with a half-day time difference […], I started setting alarms to remind myself of time for classes; even more, I still set up the time on my phone according to Toronto time for convenience.” – Thuy Anh Pham

Group work

“Sometimes collaborating with the groups is challenging but luckily we all have advanced technology and it really helps to cooperate for the best result. So do not be afraid or shy to text or call your groupmates.” – Oleksandra Tsukanova

“Group projects always work best when an outline is done ahead of time so the work can be divided between every group member. There also should always be deadlines set before the due date so it gives the group time to read over and edit the assignment before handing it in.” – Senia Berganza-Sandoval

“While working in groups assign one member as a group leader who keeps a track of everyone’s work and is responsible for editing and submitting the assignment on time.” – Aman Kumar

Studying for the exam

“Another great learning method, which this course specifically showed me, were games tailored to testing your knowledge on desired topics related to the course; games such as Kahoot for example. DO THESE!!!! They too add some fun to learning and understanding the course content; probably the best way to train your brain before an exam” – Aleksandar Petrovic

“I’m studying for the exam by reviewing the PowerPoints, lecture notes, case studies, and questions from the textbook. I review each section and chapter on a different day, to avoid studying everything at once. After I have reviewed each topic, I’ll make questions and answer them without the notes.”- Anika Ajodhia

“Breaking up your work time into smaller blocks, helps me focus. For example, instead of studying for 5 hours straight which will lead me to be tired and not retain as much information. I prefer to break it up and take a 15-minute break for every hour that I study, this way I am present in my work, not tired and I understand the information much more this way.” – Veronik Pouliot

Keeping yourself motivated

“I also set positive affirmations as reminders in my phone and stick them around the house so throughout the day I can remind myself to not let the current circumstances hinder my progress and these keep me going.” Kalaycia Richards

“The routineness of online learning can generally lead to apathy. In order to overcome this and to stay focused and remain keen, I look to my end goals for motivation. I remind myself why I am doing this and why I have to treat online learning like a regular school setting, because without participating, I can’t get my desired grades.” – Shaheen Lewis

“First off what has not worked for me is staying in my comfies/pajamas all day, I found that mental this was making me feel depressed, I was lazy didn’t want to do anything and had low energy. Now what is working best for me is getting up in the morning and getting dressed as if I were going to school. I am finding this is helping to get homework done rather than staying in bed and being lazy.” – Ashley Cadeau Fronce

Staying organized

“Something that has been working great for me is a “To Do List” I made of all my assignments, discussion and presentations. I have ordered it from earliest due date to last due date. I try to knock one thing off the list a day and I even made a list box to check off, checking off the box gives me so much satisfaction, that I want to do the next thing. The “To Do List” definitely helps to keep me motivated and focused, also the countdown to the end of the semester.” – Aleksandra Kuzminska

“Find a work area in the house where you’re comfortable but not too comfortable so your work can get done and must be free from distractions. Do not work on the bed where you might just fall asleep.” – Amoy Porter Sirjue

Self-care

“Get a good night’s sleep. It’s the best way to ensure that the brain is refreshed and ready to process all of the information learned during the day.” – Kemar Williams

“Do not forget to schedule yourself breaks or time to rest, eat and relax. These self care moments are just as important as working and learning from home in order to feel focused, motivated and in control of everything.” – Andrew Taggart

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash